Super Cop Gives Tips for Time

There are some people who are invariably late no matter how hard they try to be in time. It is for the simple reason that they did not manage their time well.

Such people always feel beleaguered by different tasks they have to do each day. They feel exhausted and tired. The solution lies in being in control of your life so that you wake up each morning feeling calm and rested.

Time management is a way to control our activities and an aid to making choices so that we can make the best use of our time. Both the rich and poor alike have the same number of minutes and hours available in a day, a week, a month or a year.

It is how we use these moments which is crucial. Effective time management will give us more time to do what we really want whether it is reading, writing, sports or any other pastime.

Time management can have a spectacular effect on our professional and social life. All of us can get started with a ‘to do’ list. Most winners and champions use “to do” lists so that they can use their limited time effectively.

Indeed, whatever I put on my ‘to do’ list gets done, and whatever I do not remains pending. I keep a diary next to me and keep on adding to the “to do” list as and when something strikes me.
This enables me to keep my focus on what really needs to be done, keeping away from unimportant tasks that don’t have much value. This approach is invaluable in helping me to decide where my priorities lie.

Updating the ‘to do’ list frequently is very important to sift between the (1) urgent (2) important but not urgent and (3) neither urgent nor important. Again, you have to decide about (1) and (2) while the tasks in (3) can be attended to after you have finished with others.

While you work on the basis of your ‘to do’ list, some unexpected matters may crop up, requiring all your time and energy. In that case, it becomes vital again to reorganise your ‘to do’ list.
Some people trust their memory to prepare and prioritise their ‘to do’ lists. My experience has shown that quite often we may not be able to do all the things we want to unless we put things down in writing.

So I keep a pad and pen near the telephone so that vital details of any message could be written down. Even when travelling, I keep a note book and pen handy and avoid taxing my memory as far as possible.

If I don’t note down things, then I have to keep my mind busy by constantly thinking about a few things which need to be done. And yet when the time to do them comes, they are forgotten completely.

Another important point in time management is to keep your things in order. You would feel demoralised if you allow piles of unsorted papers to overwhelm you. If some paper is important, make it a point to file it there and then, otherwise chances are that you will misplace it or lose it.

A neat environment facilitates working efficiently, making it easy to find whatever you want to find. Make a determined effort to keep your environment clean. You can do so in bits and parts. For instance, when I notice things cluttering up, I make it a point to put one item away at a time. It does not tire me and the task does not look daunting.

Never lose focus on what you are doing. If you recall that you should be doing something else when you are on one project, simply write it down on your “to do” list to get it out of your mind and take it up, if it is that urgent, after you have finished the task at hand.

Telephone is an integral part of most jobs. The phone calls cannot be neglected. However, if you are busy doing something important, do not break your concentration and answer the phone calls after you have attended to whatever you are doing. But do take care to answer all calls reasonably promptly.

Sometimes, we get invited to meetings and programs that have no relevance to what we are doing or what we want to do or in what we are really interested in. Instead of wasting time on things which do not add to your happiness or productivity, just send a polite refusal note. It is equally important that you should invite only those people who are relevant to your programs, meetings or plans.

I have noticed that many a time, people are not clear what they want to say during telephonic conversations and a lot of time is wasted in first creating misunderstanding and then clearing them up. But an email leaves no scope for ambiguity. So do write email instead of making a telephone call whenever precise communication is required.

Lastly, we all have many distasteful jobs to do. It could be lodging a complaint or giving a junior a piece of our mind. It is better to do such unpleasant tasks the first thing in the morning. This will reduce your stress level and you will have a feeling of having put the nastiest task out of the way.

Someone has put it well, “Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions.” So use every minute of the day well.