CA JEETENDRA MISTRY
ARTICLE - TIME MANAGEMENT – 4
Time Wasters – Part One
In last 3 articles on Time Management, we identified Characteristics of Time, concept of Time Management and how it shapes out to be Life Leadership and lastly G-D-P (i.e. Goal, Direction and Process) of Time Management. Today we shall identify Time Wasters, and shall look out for solution as how to tackle them?
We all have only 24 hours a day, whether it be Aishwarya Ray Bachhan or you. She recently complained that 24 hours a day are shorter period for her to complete her all assignments of a day. What is the solution, as we all have more or less similar problem. Simple answer is to keep as many watches as required to get 24 hours from each watch!! Is it workable solution? Not at all. We will search for better solutions shortly.
If you are cricket-lover, you would have definitely enjoyed the GAPs found by our players like Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid or Mohmmed Azharuddin. They were classic players who used to find Gaps in the fielding and make their stroke to reach boundary line even in tight fielding situation. How is it relevant to Time Management? If we look closely, we need to know where do we spend our current time of 24 hours a day? If we keep records and analyze it honestly, we may come across many such Gaps, where we may be able to save our time spent on unnecessary matters.
So let us analyze as to HOW and WHERE do we waste our time?
First one is PROCRASTINATION. Our life mantra is “Aaj kare, so kal kar, kal kare, so parso, itni bhi kya jaldi hai, jab jeena hai baraso??” If we study it by standard of psychology, procrastination (– i.e. delaying the action to be taken immediately to future unknown time) is the product of human-mind by default and not by design. Firstly, we need to change our habit of delaying action, by our conscious awareness that a particular work needs to be completed within pre-determined time period allotted by us only, as per our existing time schedule. We need to have paradigm-shift for the avoiding prey to procrastination.
Let us analyze WHY procrastination takes place? Once a press-reporter asked Javed Akhtar, our popular lyricist, as how much time do you take to complete a song? It was a normal question, asked out of anxiousness, but answer was wonderfully simple and superb. He said “It depends”. “It depends on what?” Reporter asked immediately. Javed Saab told him that “If recording of a song is after 30 days, the lyrics of song would be ready by 29th day, and if recording of the song is after 7 days, it would be ready by 6th day, and if you need to record the song day-after-tomorrow, you may get lyrics by tomorrow.” May we conclude here that Javed Akhtar is also the victim of “procrastination”? No.
What a wonderful scientific reply it was! I said it “scientific”, because it is based on the principle of Parkinson’s Law, which says that “Time will expand to fill the gap till the work to be done.” We all have faced it at time of our examinations that reading and preparations never ended till start of examination itself. In other words, until the time is fixed for delivery of end-product, the process shall prolong. If I were to deliver this series of articles within specified time-limit, I need to write accordingly. In other words, more time to complete the work at our disposal, more time will be taken to complete it.
What is the solution? Simply, we have to work with inverse of Parkinson’s Law. This brought in the concept of “mile-stones”. If work is lengthy, we may separated in small tasks in order of work-schedule and set time-limit to complete each small task within specified time. We should also keep cushion time in between 2 small tasks, if one may take little longer time.
There are procrastinations at 2 levels – one over action and another over decision. First one is discussed above, but second level happens especially when we have to take unpleasant decisions. Here, we have to take quick decision after considering all aspects of the question.
If we dissect the word “decide”, we find it as “de-cide”, like insecticides, pesticides, suicide, which mean killing of insects, pests, self in order. Here we have to kill other options and to take decision in favour of one, rejecting rest all others. We must be ready with the consequences attached to option preferred by us, as it is like another end of stick lifted, which comes automatically, when you lift any one stick out of stack of sticks. In other words, result is attached to each solution – may be good or may be bad, may be positive – maybe negative.
Another small but very effective Time-waster policy is “To do the Best – Always”. We always strive to do our best in any task, which we like to do, hence it may take longer time than required, as we prefer Perfection in everything. Now this word “perfection” is very subjective term and varies from person to person. When you try to put your 100% is sufficient as per my view, rather than to ensure that whatever done is 100% perfect. There is a trap in “Perfection”, as the best is yet to come, is normal phrase one uses commonly. If we do our best with 100% of our heart and mind in work, that may be sufficient.
If you are confused with such suggestion, let me provide for its alternative as well. When we try to do only the best, it may happen that it may much longer time than permitted and still we remain not fully satisfied with the result. Instead of that “Let it be Excellent - may not be the Perfect”. When I say “excellent”, it may the best with limitation of time, resources and efforts put in. When we start doing consistently good, it would lead to the best ultimately.
There will be one more series on “Time-wasters” and also the tool of “Time-Savers”. Let us try to understand each one separately in detail and then to combine it and work with “holistic” approach, which would make our “Time Management” – an excellent tool in our armory.
CA JEETENDRA MISTRY
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