What if somebody told you that you could increase the amount of time, like have 27 or 28 hours instead of 24. It would be a boon to most of us as more often than not 24 hours fall short for our over load of work.
The family complains of not spending enough time with them, the boss howls for pending files and the eyes wish they could be sleeping longer. Having 28 hours is a helpful but wishful idea.
But a little discipline can do the trick. The amount of time will be the same but the amount of work you complete will be more and yet the amount of stress will be less. Learning the trick seems worth it. The trick is called Time Management. The first rule of time management is working towards quality. While preparing for exams children need to memorize certain things. One child memorizes it in an hour and the other does it in 45 minutes. What explains the difference of time consumed. It has nothing to do with intellect or special ability. It is a simple matter of concentration or the quality of time devoted. We are in a particular job or position because we are skilled at it. But time management makes our efficiency effective. It rather makes our entire existence effective because then we have more time to nurture our relationships and nourish our self.
So, how do we work towards quality time. The atavistic oriental system of Yoga is the answer to it. Only an energized and fresh mind can be expected of unwavering focus. Yoga is a science of mind body and soul. Specific postures or Asana of Yoga relax us deeply that makes the mind calm, decisive and concentrated. Our body is a power house that can generate and recoup its own energy. The tools of Shavasana, Yoga Nidra and Pranayama can generate vigor speedily and abundantly.
Yoga Nidra is a sleep with inner awareness. It rejuvenates the entire being, healing psychosomatic ailments and awakening the mental faculties of intuition and concentration. Pranayama is a concentration on your breathing i.e. consciously controlling the brain centers which regulate the breath so as to achieve deeper insight into the energies of the body. In our mad rush called living; we are cutting down on our sleeping hours to meet the Sisyphean work. The repercussions show through dark circles, drowsiness and tepidity. A despondent body and mind is dilatory. But investing 35- 40 minutes on the right kind of sleep like Yoga Nidra will be highly beneficial.
We are now at a point where our increased buoyancy and concentration can transform paucity of time into plenty. But this time has to be channelised correctly to provide optimum satisfaction and growth. Thus the second rule of time management is learning to say NO. Be assertive to say no to yourself and to others. We are extremely susceptible to devote more than permitted time for relatively unimportant pursuits of personal joy. A student has to read for exams, but naturally his inclination to read Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code will be much higher than reading the physics book. It is here that the discipline and will to say NO to yourself must come into play.
In his book “The Road Less Traveled”, the author M Scott Peck, rationally explains the concept of “Delay of Gratification”. He says that there is always a stronger desire in us to first gratify the lighter, easier and body tingling urges of ours than those which require incisive thinking and application of intellectual faculties. Procrastination of work is the virus against successful time management.
Then comes saying NO to others, which is a tactful but crucial element in our short-of-time situation. The great visionary Late Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of world’s largest oil refinery Reliance Petroleum Ltd., had a unique and adept way to save precious moments. He kept a number of sand timers on his desk with different timings. Depending on the importance of his visitor to him or a phone call, he would set the respective timer on. It implied that within that time he must make the relevant conversation with the visitor or the caller on phone and waste no time on small talk. Further, his staff was instructed to serve moderate temperature beverages so that the guest did not waste either of their time by sipping it leisurely.
This shows how he valued each moment of his day and such an attitude goes a long way in putting the people on pedestal.
The third rule of time management is setting out your priorities. Everybody is running a rat race today. It is an individual choice whether a person prefers opulent bank balance and an ailing body at the age of 40 or slightly less wealth but a healthy body at the age of 60. People invariably come up saying that they do not find the time to exercise, to read books or listen to music. It is again about weighing your priorities. If you choose to drink and dance till dawn or read and rise at dawn? As for the workaholics hard work is a sure way to happiness and satisfaction but it is unwise to confuse happiness with relaxation. A relaxed and rejuvenated mind and body actually helps you to work harder and happier. Sparing time for revival of your body and mind has no alternative.
The fourth and final rule of time management is as put in the words of Swami Chinmayananda, “The concept of time is a trick of the mind”. Our existence is only in the present tense of NOW. The past and future cause attachment and anxiety that ruffle the present. Much of our time is spent in reminiscing the past or preconceiving the future. We worry about the future which we might not even witness. The agitated mind does not let you focus at the present which is the only time in hand. Living in the present time brings the present of peace for the mind.
For all incomplete tasks and things undone the simplest excuse we have is lack of time. But understand because we are lost in our self created meddle of thoughts do we cause loss of time. So before complaining about shortage of time we must remember that while creating the impeccable world, the Divine could not have mistaken with the timing from dawn to dusk.
