Why Time Management?
When asked to identify things that stress them, adults almost always list time as one of the top three. Children learn from adult-modeled behavior. Is it any surprise, then, that children, like adults, almost always list time as a major stressor? It is an even more certain truth that as children reach their teen years, time becomes even more limited. It's as if they have been taught the worst skills imaginable. The issue that stresses most adults today will go on to stress their children, and their children's children, and generations yet to come. There is a fundamental truth that has been ignored, and the ruse is up!
The simple reality and ultimate truth is that time is not manageable. Time is a finite, limited, predictable, but renewable resource. There are 1,440 minutes in a day, seven days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year. All the time management in the world will never change that. It is not time that needs to be managed, but rather the utilization of that resource. Time spent today is forever gone, but tomorrow you get a new day and a new chance to manage your life within the limited parameters of the minutes, hours, and days in your years. With time limited, how do you learn to do better when managing your time and teaching your children to do the same? The answer is that if you wish to help children with time and life-management skills, you as an adult need to better model those things you would have your children do. You need to model good time and life-management skills in order to teach.
The single best teaching tool for time management is to model the desired behavior. Learn to be a time manager yourself. The best way for you as an adult to learn time management is to take a time management course including the use of a tool that will help you organize your life. There are many companies that manufacture time management planners and calendars. For a fee, some of these companies also offer time management programs. Enrolling in one of these, taking one of the many other time management courses, or retaking one of the courses, is an excellent way to learn or to remind yourself of the things you can do to make yourself a better time and life manager. Consider using a system or a planner or enrolling in a course.
"But I don't have time to take a time management course." If that sounds like you, run, do not walk, to the nearest time management course! In your case it may be a matter of urgency, not just importance, but if you are having difficulty managing time, you may not understand that yet.
Time management is so important that many companies insist that their top performers take time management courses to improve the efficiency of those managers. However, time management is not just about improving your efficiency at work. The efficient utilization of time gives individuals the opportunity to maximize their potential to do what it is they will do with their time. The efficient utilization of time improves efficacy, productivity, and personal satisfaction. Learning to manage your time will so improve your life quality, by whatever definition you choose, as to make time management a high priority for completion. Schedule it now!
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, believes in time management. Covey believes that to be successful you must take charge of your life. He has identified seven practices that lead to successful lives, and the foundation of his seven habits are the notions of time management.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
- Be proactive. Take responsibility for your life.
- Begin with the end in mind. Define your mission and goals in life.
- Put first things first. Prioritize, and do the most important things first.
- Think win-win. Have an everyone-can-win attitude.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Listen to people sincerely.
- Synergize: Work together to achieve more.
- Sharpen the saw. Renew yourself regularly.
Of these seven habits, habits 1, 2, 3, and 7 (or 57 percent of the seven), involve the better use of time. Have you had enough of the argument? Take a time management course! Meanwhile, continue reading self-help tips on time management.
Reference
This was adapted from Covey, S. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York: Free Press.
U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). Why time management? Retrieved June 19, 2024, from https://www.state.gov