LIFE HAS AN EXPIRY DATE!

Just visualize that you are credited with Rs. 86,400 (readers can replace rupee with your local currency) every day! It is not a savings account but a spending account. The account is such that you cannot keep any balance for the next day. (I am reminded of the story of exodus where Moses was directed by Yahweh to tell the people to collect the manna for their daily use, but spoiled if kept for the next day – for the detailed story you may read from the Book of Exodus chapter 16).  

As you have guessed, the bank account is the time. At the tick of 12 a.m. every day the account is credited with 86,400 seconds and at the tick of 11.59 p.m. the balance is invalidated. It is up to you to use, abuse or under-use it. The loss or gain is yours!

Management of time is the wise process of organizing and planning your life. It enables you to work smarter -and not harder.

The time management experts give some tips for the best use of time:

1.     Carry a schedule and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious moments are going. You'll see how much time is actually spent producing results and how much time is wasted on unproductive thoughts, conversations and actions.

2.   Any activity or conversation that's important to your success should have a time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they're unworkable. Schedule appointments with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.

3.   Plan to spend at least 50 percent of your time engaged in the thoughts, activities, and conversations that produce most of your results.

4.   Schedule time for interruptions. Plan time to be pulled away from what you're doing. Take, for instance, the concept of having "office hours." Isn't "office hours" another way of saying "planned interruptions?"

5.    Take the first 30 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don't start your day until you complete your time plan. The most important time of your day is the time you schedule to schedule time.

6.   Take five minutes before every call and task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what's missing in your next call or activity?

7.    Put up a "Do not disturb" sign when you absolutely have to get work done.

8.   Practice not answering the phone just because it's ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don't instantly give people your attention unless it's absolutely crucial in your business to offer an immediate human response. Instead, schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls.

9.   Block out other distractions like Facebook and other forms of social media unless you use these tools to generate business.

10. Remember that it's impossible to get everything done. Also remember that odds are good that 20 percent of your thoughts, conversations and activities produce 80 percent of your results.

Life is a gift and it is just for a day - it is not meant to wake up and end up with regrets. Enjoy life now with its productive use and remember: it has an ‘expiry date’.