Time as an Enabler

“Time is God’s way of not letting everything happen at once.” It is also a resource that used wisely can increase productivity and our effectiveness on the job. Say you work a typical eight-hour day. This eight hour block of time can be viewed as an opportunity and not as an obligation to be endured or squandered. You should be getting the most out of your time. Some simple procedures and concepts can help to maximize your utilization of time.

One. Use a little time to plan the rest of your time. By planning you set in motion the day’s activities. These activities are guided by your planning and do not happen by chance or coincidence. If you’re able to control the events of your day, you have a much better chance of accomplishing your goals. The more specific the better. This is the time to be detail orientated. With a step-by-step plan you eliminate time wasted by going back to decide where you’re going. You know where you’re going when you have a plan. No middle-of-the-day confusion and indecision. Taking an hour or half hour to set out your day will have divdends far greater than what it takes out of your work schedule.

Two. Consider time as something you spend. You are a consumerof time. Instead of being a puppet on a string controlled by an abstract entity, you are put in the driver’s seat as to how your time is spent. When you view time this way, making the most of it becomes easier. By having the concept of time as a good to be consumed, it becomes more valuable to you. You are less prone to waste it. Also, it helps you prioritize. You realize you do not have infinite time (which we may unconsciously think). We realize that eight hours, although allowing us to do a lot, also prohibits us from doing everything. When you view time as a commodity, it gains a value that can motivate us to use it wisely.

Three. You can share your time with others. Teamwork involves give and take. One of the things you can give and take with is your time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a gift. In most cases, it will be happily accepted. Then you have been useful with your time. It may even work to increase the time you have at your disposal. By pooling your time, you not only have your time, you have the time of others. Because we all have different talents, this means the whole will be more than the sum of the parts. That is the notion behind free trade. What one person can do, we might not be able to do, and what I can do, the other can’t, but together we can make a fine piece of work.

Four.Realize that when you’re not using your time, you’re wasting it. That may seem obvious, but how many times do we sit doing nothing. I think it can be quite a bit. The time you’re idol is the time when your competitor is gaining on you or passing you up. Become aware of your gaps in producitivity and work to eliminate them. These patches of voidness do not serve you. Make your time go forward, not backward. Keep busy!

Five. That said, take an alloted amount of time to analyze what you’ve accomplished. By reviewing your day, you can see your successes and failures. Hopefully you learn from them, and this will aid you tomorrow. Taking a breather and looking back are O.K. Nevertheless, look back honestly and make an accurate portrayal. Let your history work positively for you by viewing it objectively instead of painting an unreal picturre.

Time is one of the top if not the top resource we have. View it that way and use it accordingly.