If you are reading it, then i am sure you very well know the value of time. So without wasting much time, let’s discuss some points. First, after reading the story will you get 30 hours a day? No, you will still have 24 hours a day. So will you have to stop using mobile phone/social media to save time?No, i also understand it is not easy to do that. So i will not ask you to reduce your time on social media or ask you not to enjoy. Enjoyment is part of life, so i will show you ways to get you free time without asking you to reduce your free time. Just read and implement the below discussed steps and you will have the free time to do what you want to do.And a request if you are reading it, then read the complete story as i am going to change your some beliefs. So, reading half may be dangerous.
There are many articles on time-management and as a result people are getting confused what to do. I have summarized all the important points into these 5 steps. So it will be easy for you to manage your time efficiently.So let’s start.
So what we are going to do if we want more free time in a day. We are going to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time and thus increase our free time. As Lao Tzu has said
Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time” is to say “I don’t want to”.
Always remember there is never enough time to do everything you have to do. You can never do all of your task by becoming more productive because there will always be more tasks to do . So what to do? You can get control of your time only by changing the way you think about dealing with tasks. So we will focus on changing our mindset. As Brian Tracy has said
There is never enough time to do everything but but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.
So we will apply 80/20 principle in our every day routine which says that our 80% of work output is due to 20% of our efforts. So we will focus on these 20% tasks as there is almost enough time for important tasks. So the first step for achieving free time is plan everyday in advance. Take out sheet of paper and write down a list of everything that you have to do the next day. Remember to perform this step at night so that while you sleep your subconscious will think about task so you will be subconsciously programmed for the task and when you will wake up you will have clear goal to take upon.
Always think on paper.
Second step is to use ABCDE method in the prepared list to know your important tasks. Start with a list of everything you have to do for the coming day and then place an A, B, C, D, or E next to each item on your list.An ‘A’ item is the tasks that is most important for you(see long term consequences ) like your office project. A “B” item is defined as a task that you should do. But it has only mild consequences if you don’t do it . You can discuss with your boss to get know about your A and B tasks. Because in every office ,everyone is there for particular task. A “C” task is defined as something that would be nice to do but for which there are no consequences at all, whether you do it or not. A “D” task is defined as something you can delegate to someone else and ‘E’ will be those which you can eliminate . Remember the saying why do it youself if anyone else can do it for you better than you. So delegate most tasks if possible and you will be amazed to see how many tasks can be easily delegated on which you are wasting your energy for a long time.
Now that you have marked, rememberer to perform any B task only if there are no A tasks remaining. Discipline yourself to follow these 2 steps for a month and you will get atleast 2 hour freetime just by following these steps. And remember
Avoid the temptation to do small tasks first.
You can also prepare a list similar to daily task list for months and year for your bigger goals in life and from them shift a task to daily list. Step 3 is to remember 80/20 principle and always choose important task from others task. This is key determinant of your success in life and work that on which tasks you focus and on which you delay.
Multitasking is the biggest myth, my friends.
Step 4 is to take cut a big task to small task and to do one task at a time. Human minds are not meant to multi task. So never try to multi task because when you think you are multitasking, you are doing only 1 work with focus and putting other in non-focus zone which decreases quality of work. And it is experimented world wide when you focus on one task at a time, then you can do those tasks faster and with more quality if done via multitasking and one biggest cons of doing many tasks at same time is that you get attention space(thoughts of that task in mind when you do it) of one task interfere with other tasks which degrades quality of work. As Brian tracy has said
“It is quality of time at work that counts and quantity of time at home that matters.”
Next step is to do deep work that means perform the tasks with great concentration. You should also keep your phone on don’t disturb while doing important tasks. You can tell your mind that first i will complete this task faster then, i will have more time to use mobile phone(or can be able to play game calmly) . Try to treat technology as servant, not as master. So use mobile phone but only after completing important tasks.
“Resist the urge to start turning on communication devices as soon as you wake up in the morning.”
And for making timetable, i will advice you to divide 24 hours into various big chunks of time and then assign task to different chunks. But remember A tasks first. This method is used by Elon musk to manage time.
So i believe by applying there 5 steps discussed, you will be able to do your office work of 8 hours in 4 –5 hours if you discipline to use them for month. Beacuse I believe everything occur due to cause and effect.So a particular thing have worked for many great leaders then they will also work for everyone if they believe. Thus as i have promised you will get extra free time and now it is up to you to use it to get the time to enjoy yourself.
I have written this story as a summary to one of the greatest book on time management “EAT THAT FROG” by Brian Tracy . Author has written this book by keeping quote of Mark Twain in mind which is
“If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.”
So it will be good to eat the frog but author in this book is not asking you to eat the real frog. Instead he used frog to represent the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life and that is very energy intensive too. So he used the frog to teach time management. He had given some rule for frog eating:
- Always eat the frog in the morning.(start the day with eating the frog).
- If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.(start with the biggest task).
- If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long. (So once you decided to do the task then it doesn't do any good to think much about it. So take action immediately).
The worst use of time is to do something very well that doesn’t be done at all . Don’t let that happen with you . As William Pen has said
Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.
So use it wisely. I hope you enjoyed it and will implement these steps to do a good time management. So, go and eat that frog now.
I have read many self-help books and is willing to share that knowledge with you in a way so that you can easily implement.Give it a clap if you enjoyed. So comment down the topic or book summary you want me to write next story. And also feel free to comment any mistake that i have done.