In the landmark book of Dr. Stephen Covey, "The 7 habits of highly successful people", the third habit he has listed is putting 'first things first' or in more common business language, prioritizing and allocating time for each action. This is broadly classified as Time Management. Most of us carry our notes, checklists, calendars, appointment books, diaries and planners. In fact printed, comprehensive planners are a very big business today. Laptops, PDAs and digital pocket diaries are also available. We are all familiar with on-line organizers, calendars and planners, which are being offered free. The pity is, in spite of all these modern aids, many of us do not follow the above principle of putting first things first. Many of the most successful people carry important things in their head and do not need any reminders. Some of the busiest and most successful people I know, just carry a small pocket diary with a pouch for pencil and not even a digital one.
LEARNING TO SAY "NO" - Another area where people make mistakes and get into problems is that they do not say "no" at the right time. You should have the courage to say "no, not possible" to your boss, if you feel something cannot be done in the stipulated time. Most of the times the boss is likely to say " I want this done yesterday" - often glorified in movies as the symbol of a tough leader/manager who means business. Agreed you will not be popular with your boss, but it is always better to under commit and over deliver rather than the reverse. This is where assertiveness comes in. A subordinate can also be assertive, without being obnoxious or overtly aggressive.
Finally, people must realize that there is a close link between Motivation, Morale and Time Management. It is amazing that even very professional and good organizations miss this point. Poor time management by most employees, invariably reflects that they are not motivated enough. When the motivation and morale is low, people tend to waste time. Another problem a lot of people have expressed is that their priorities are often changed by their bosses leading to loss of time, confusion and stress. If you find a large section of employees not managing their time well, you might as well look into the leadership, as the problem could lie there.
There are many excellent books on time management. I have only one comment to make. You can read as many books or attend to as many programs on time management. If you do not develop it as a habit, you will continue to waste yours and others time. Having said that, I am a firm believer that habits are formed early in life and inclcated. Time management is basically a form of discipline.
© Copyright, Written on September 06, 2008. Without prejudice. All rights reserved
Time Management and Motivation - To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.
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Madhavan T Gopalachary
(Visit Madhavan's Website)
Madhavan Gopalachary, nick name "madgopes"
(g pronounced as in go) given by IIT
classmates, is a Mechanical Engineer and
an alumnus of Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras having passed out
specializing in IC Engines &
Thermodynamics.
He has nearly 35 years of experience in
the Corporate World. He started off as a
trainee and handled sales, marketing,
manufacturing, product management, profit
center management, strategic planning and
corporate development including R & D in
various organizations and at various
levels before becoming a CEO. His last two
professional assignments were at CEO level
before embarking to start management
consultancy business on January 01, 1998.
He has worked for British, Swedish MNCs as
well as very large Indian business houses.
He has spent a large portion of his time
from June 1998 till date in East African
Countries practicing as an independent
Management Consultant.
More details can be obtained at the
following web sites:
mmg.name
/mtg.html;
mmgconsu
lting.biz/
Madhavan's articles can be accessed at www.madgopes.com
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