The Daily Growth Blog #18/365 | Time
At a very high level, there are two types of people I’ve come across —
A. People who respect time (theirs & of others)
B. People who do not give a damn
And with all due respect to the rockstars living life large, carefree and ‘being flexible & chill’, I’ve found that type A are the sort of people I’d truly appreciate in life. (Yes, I know no one cares about my appreciation but since this is my blog/article, I get to say this).
The thing about time is that it is a great equaliser. It is probably the only thing in life that we will always have the same ‘amount’ of no matter who we are or what we do. As humans, we have a varying ability of control over almost everything around us based on the money or stature we’ve built. We can even make the air we breathe purer if we have the money to buy purifiers or fly to the Nordics (look up Helsinki, Finland). But time is that one variable that cannot be bought. A day will end in 24 hours and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. (Yet).
I’ve also seen my relationship with time change over time. As a kid, I was a very skilled procrastinator and I loved putting things off till the very last moment. When they became ‘urgent’ I’d try to do everything in a fit of emergency-fueled rush of adrenaline- very stressful and not at all recommended.
My grandfather was always a stickler for time, and for getting things done asap. He took it to the extreme, at times and I used to get very irritated with him for pulling me away from a game of cricket to complete a house chore. I never understood why I couldn’t do it after I finished playing. He was like that. If he saw that something was incomplete and I was putting things away for too long, he’d make sure I got around to completing the task at the earliest. I am grateful to him for pushing a young teenage rascal like that.
Three cheers, Appacha. :)
With that training and with some of my own experience, I’ve learned to manage my time better. Now, I like to get to my tasks well in time, and make sure that I do not let things stay on my to-do list for too long. Yes, it is a daily struggle and yes, I do falter a lot but, I do have a sense of respect for time. I don’t want to waste it (deliberately) anymore.
Anyway, so now that I’ve become an ‘adult’ (my family will still disagree), I’ve come to realise that there are no two ways about it. We can either respect time or we can choose to live in a space where we are always playing catch up. So based on my experiences, here are some top learnings or hacks that I try to live by. These have helped me stay on top of ‘time’ and ensure that I’m able to get through the varied sets of responsibilities I somehow manage to agree to, in any given day.
#1 — Load the day right
When I look back at the various instances in my day to day life when I’ve not done the things I’d have planned to, the core reason is because I’ve not balanced out the day or the task. For instance, if I over-load a certain half of the day (mornings or evenings) with many calls thinking that I can use the other half of the day to work on my tasks, it never works out. I’d miss doing the tasks or the meetings properly because I’ve not loaded the day right.
A balanced day, with tasks & calls spaced out properly, tends to be a much more productive day.
#2 — It’s not about the entire wall, it is about laying one brick properly
Whenever I’ve been over-stressed about a major task, I’ve let it be and tried not to think about it. I’d distract myself with lots of other tasks and in the end, this major thing that I’d have to get to, would become very very BIG in my head and then get to it. Over time I’ve started breaking down larger tasks into much smaller chunks and trying to get to one chunk at a time, and not think about everything together.
Will Smith, in his YouTube special says the same thing about ‘laying one brick at a time and not worrying about the entire wall’. Very very cool!
#3 — Getting a head-start has worked well (mostly)
I’m a morning person and I love getting most of my stuff sorted in the first few hours of the day — workout, meditation, language-learning, journaling, house chores, a run etc. This helps me get into a doer’s mindset right from the get go. You know how life coaches will say, ‘Wake up and make your bed right away’. That also is a favourite of mine — making my bed as soon as I wake up.
This worked well at work too. I loved getting to work at 8am on Monday mornings and before 9am on all other days of the week. Those 2 hours or so of quiet, focused time to get started on my work before others had a chance to get to work, made a huge difference in being able to get a lot of things done through the day.
#4 — Setting time limits to tasks
I’m a very good starter and a very poor finisher. To change this, I started challenging myself with time limits. Has worked well for presentations, blogs, emails I have to write or people I have to get back to. Setting a time limit goes a long way in disciplining our wandering minds with a self-imposed deadline. This simple technique has boosted my productivity a lot.
#5 — Managing the concept of ‘resting’
I find it very funny when people come back from a flight or journey and say they want to rest. I’m referring to the young generation. They say no to various experiences because they’ve seen older folks do this and assume that’s how life needs to be lived. NO.
I’ve tried to keep mind over body over the last few years, and pushed myself to get more out of a day. I am nowhere near the amazingness that ultra-productive individuals exhibit (Dwayne Johnson, Barack Obama level) and I do like taking care of my body too, but I would not say ‘No’ to an in-person meeting at 9am even if I’ve just flown in at midnight. I would be more excited to do it asap.
Caveat — This takes a lot of general love & care with a well planned schedule of eating right, sleeping right and staying fit. Then our body will allow certain random exertions without skipping a beat. If we don’t take care of the body and push it beyond its limits continuously, we are asking for trouble.
#6 — Planning is everything and a calendar is a great tool for doing this
A lot of my near & dear ones hate me for this but I like to plan days a lot. And ever since I stopped working, I’ve been filling my calendar and my family’s calendar with things like ‘Tax Filings’, ‘Dinner Outing’, ‘Long Walk after dinner’ and all other mundane things I can think of. But it helps, a LOT!
Just putting things on my calendar ensures that I don’t miss them. Beyond the calendar, the iOS reminder app is also a great tool. And with Siri, you can set reminders without doing anything. It really helps.
#7 — Taking ‘nothingness’ breaks
Amidst all this madness, keeping the mind in tip-top shape requires us to take mindful (or mind-free) breaks every now and then. Doing nothing and feeling bored, in the core of our being, is a great way to rejuvenate after a period of continuous activity. Doing nothing means, just going for a walk without thinking about the steps, not taking our phone with us and just getting lost in the world around us.
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Overall, these (and other) hacks have helped me manage time a little better and continue to improve on being a better person. I’ve found that being able to manage time and being able to do a lot more in a day than the average person, really helps me go through many experiences, say ‘Yes’ to a lot more things and grow much faster than I would have otherwise thought possible.
Loving and respecting time is now a core skill-set!
Cheers!