Manage your time strategically
One of the most common complaints in the hectic world we live in is being “too busy!” Often, people are simply too busy dealing with day-to-day life to find the time to pursue their dreams.
When asked how things are going, they reply, “Things are OK, we’re just plodding along…”
The danger of just plodding along is that you may never find the time to pursue your dreams. The most precious asset we have is not money or real estate… it is time.
Time is also the one thing in the world that is truly equitable. No matter how rich or poor we are, we each get 86 400 seconds each day.
It’s how we spend this time that makes all the difference.
The way you spend your time determines how you live your life, and that determines who you are.
Time is a unique resource.
Time cannot be saved; it can only be spent wisely.
Time is irreplaceable.
To be an efficient student, you will need to set goals and budget your time to get things done.
Unlike other commodities in your life, time never returns: once it’s gone, it’s gone.
So, to be an efficient student, you will need to use skill, thought, imagination and also time to benefit from your studies. Like most important factors in your life, the time you invest can be made more effective day-by-day in small ways, because time is an hour-by-hour, day-by-day investment. People are creatures of habit, and the way we spend our time is largely habitual. Learning to control your time means changing some of your time habits, but it is very difficult to change your time habits until you find out what these habits are.
Here is one way of finding out. Keep a record of how you spend your time during the week.
Record whatever you do as you do it. At the end of the week, summarise what you have done, and check the time you spend on each activity.
Next, check how must of this time you spend on goal-oriented, prioritised activities, and how much activity was aimless, repetitive or of low priority.
This will also give you a good idea of whether you are controlling your own time. But what about all the other commitments in my personal life? How do I coordinate my time to achieve other personal goals?
Most of us seldom think about goals. We just respond to pressures from other people or the circumstances in our lives.
We are often governed by the tyranny of the urgent, as we are constantly surrounded by events which call for immediate attention. However, if your time is accounted for, you can effectively withstand this pressure, and make logical plans to help out only where necessary.
If you want to control your own time and life, then you must decide what your goals are.
If you do not plan your time well, it may be difficult to say no - and important issues will suffer.
All great achievers understand the value of their time. What to do and when to do it are crucial. When you kill time, you begin to kill the ideas and direction God placed within you.
The Living Bible’s paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 11:4 says: “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” The best time is now. Gain control of your time, and you will gain control of your life.
Preparation matters.
Abraham Lincoln is sometimes quoted as saying, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”
(Reverend Jan A Scholtz is the former chairperson of the //Kharas Regional Council and former !Nami#nus constituency regional councillor. He is a holder of a Diploma in Theology, B-Theo (SA), a Diploma in Youth Work and Development from the University of Zambia (UNZA), a Diploma in Education III (KOK), and a BA (HED) from UNISA.