Time management essay

With the many tasks I have to do, it sometimes seems that 24 hours a day is not enough to complete everything: meet deadlines at work and school, develop relationships with family and friends, do household chores. Yet, we all have the same finite amount of time.

That is why I thought of looking into time management, because I recognize that if I can maximize the use of my time then I would be able to do more and with doing more be better fulfilled. I plan to study the subject intensively, knowing that whatever I learn I will be able to use for the rest of my life, in all areas of my life. I checked the internet for the most popular books written on the subject, and checked the library which ones are available.

I wanted to know if there were techniques to improve the use of one’s time, and how effective were they by using them in my day-to-day. It is amazing how much is being written on the subject of time management today, reflecting how the times have changed especially in this fast-paced, globalized society where convenience is king and every second has an opportunity cost. The earliest relevant work for me would be Arnold Bennett’s How to Live on 24 Hours a Day written in 1910. In it Bennett gives a full detail advice on how to find time to do things that will improve your skills like reading and writing instead of dilly-dallying and spending time with the non-essentials like reading a paper on the breakfast table when you can read it on your way to work instead. Although the setting has changed dramatically since Bennett wrote his book, his basic tenets still hold true: I will have no more than 24 hours a day and I should be conscious of how I spend it, for it is what life is made of. Myers Barnes made an important observation when he pointed out that that time management is actually an oxymoron because one cannot really manage time – it cannot be saved, lost, turned back or have more tomorrow because it is constant , but what I can do, as John Maxwell suggests, is to change my approach to it (2004).

Maxwell points out that an integral aspect of changing approach to time would be to know my priorities, because only I would be able to focus my energies on the things that matter. This is the same principle that Stephen Covey gives in his work First Things First, where he first made the four-quadrant matrix for importance and urgency to guide readers where they should be and what they should be doing (1994). This research gleaned seemingly commonsense solutions, but it is actually more difficult than it seems to apply – since the worst adversary would be my own self, and the habits I have already made.

Already I have decided to bring my notebook with me at all times so I can review my notes while I am travelling in the bus and the subway. Additionally, I can record the professor’s lectures and my notes on audio format and listen to these when I am rewriting my notes. I am determined to follow through – Maxwell also stressed that following through a plan is the key because I will be no different from a person who do not have a plan, and I suppose a person who has not read their works, if I do not act upon this new knowledge.

REFERENCES: Barnes, M.  “ Executive Time Management: A Guaranteed Solution,” Housing Zone, www. Housingzone. com/topics/hz/sales/hz01ea605. asp (accessed April 25, 2009). Bennett, A. (1910, 2008). How to Live on 24 Hours a Day.

Diggory Press. Covey, S., Merrill, R. and Merrill R. (1994). First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy.

New York: Simon and Schuster. Maxwell, J. (2004). Today Matters. New York: Warner Faith