Time management – an impossible task or a surrogate measure for many failed things?
I used a filofax when they were available, I use a dozen calendars and about three different project management programs to try and manage my time. Time, I have been told, is the most valuable resource and unless I manage how I use it, I am wasting it.
The thing about time is that it will continue to pass by, not too concerned by what you have achieved or not achieved. Weeks and months fly by without any consideration for my goals, my ambitions or the obstacles that stand in my way. Why then am I so obsessed with time? Is it the ultimate scarce resource that I squander?
I believe that the moment we equated time with money we messed up. If time is precious and irreplaceable (as it appears at the time of this writing) then surely it is priceless, no amount of money will buy me more time.
Money allows you to free up time – absolutely – you can buy the services of a gardener so that you have that time available for doing something else. So is money a time creation mechanism or possibly a time appreciation mechanism?
Effectiveness and efficiency come to mind when we talk about time. The lean movement has taught us that if we touch things once, co-ordinate processes and orchestrate activities we can do things quicker, make more and have better quality goods in less time. If we make the right type of things we also have less waste and subsequently more profit. Back to money again to buy freedom from tasks so we can do something else with the ever diminishing time we have.
The point of the ramblings so far really is to make you think about what time means to you. Is it a precious asset that you guard and treasure or is it something you use as a commodity, once used up you move on to the next set of time chunks to be consumed?
Regardless of your view – time will pass and what you do whilst that time is passing is as important to you as my use of time is to me. Make sure you are doing what you want to do and I believe you will find that time passes more slowly and it is most definitely a more enjoyable experience.
