How to effectively manage time

No one in this world has more than 24 hours per day and no one has any less of it. But it is our management of time that creates a perception of shortage or excess of it. So, what are the basic fundamental directives that we must have to use the time effectively as it is definitely limited if not more/less for someone.

When it comes to student life, time management is even more important as they have definite goals to be achieved in fixed amount of time,  although time management must be a part of our personality independent of age. The following phrase sums it up effectively – There should be time for everything you need to do and everything should be done at its time.

Let’s discuss these fundamental directives:

1. Knowing oneself: Understand yourself in & out on the basis of what is your nature, efficiency, capacity, and then try to improve upon them.
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   (????????, ????? ??) which translates to – Arise, awake, find out the great ones and learn of them; for sharp as razor’s edge, hard to traverse, difficult of going is that path, say the sages.
2. Prioritize Health: Not enough can ever be said about health as it is the only way to be truly happy because everything is sourced from a healthy mind and body. Unless you are healthy you will not be able to be efficient in anything you do, let alone academics. Sound mind lies in a sound body.
3. Procrastination: It develops in mind when we go for quick release or instant gratification and ignore well earned gratification for a simple reason that effort is needed for doing something worthwhile and it takes time to fructify.
   On the other hand instant gratification is cheap, its cheap pleasure and not lasting happiness. Effort in disciplined way can take us towards true happiness.
4. The Power of a “List of To Do Things”: A List is the fundamental step in managing one’s time as it will keep your mind focussed on what all things you must get done. For example, let’s say you are preparing for any exam which is scheduled 6 months from today. First thing is to be clear about the syllabus of that exam and then make a plan on what units you need to finish and in what order. But when you sit down to start your preparation and you do not have a list of topics you need to cover on any given day, you will not know when to stop and will lack a sense of completion after you leave your study table.
   A list helps in two ways in this situation, first, it gives you limited things to cover in a given time and, secondly, it will make you feel accomplished after completion.
5. Discipline: A list will be of no use if you devalue it by ignoring. This calls for discipline in the way of life along with a sense of respect for the things you have set out for yourself.
6. Fine tune your plans: Some students are so focused on their goals that they are conscious of every hour and act accordingly. There are also some people who set weekly or monthly targets. Find out what works for you best . Although it varies from person to person and their level of consciousness and awareness, A day is the best unit for most people.
7. Small Goals: Set small and achievable targets, completing these minor milestones will give frequent dose of satisfaction and contentment and then slowly increase your potential. Most people who set very big and challenging targets usually burn out their will power within few days. You do not go out with intention to build a wall, place one brick at a time as perfectly as a brick can be laid, soon you will have a wall!
8. Evaluate before you Sleep: Before going to sleep do a little analysis on how productive your day has been and how you could have done better. No one achieves 100% targets on 100% of the days, cherish daily the ones you finished.

Having mentioned the fundamentals, let it be said again, that it is only the will power that can turn your thoughts into actions and then actions will lead to results. So, after all that have been said about time management in this article it’s finally upto the person, to turn it into action and not as an event (or stunt of one or two days) but as a process which, if followed with discipline, will become your way of life.
I will end this with a phrase from Atharva-veda (????????) which goes like,
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And translates to – “higher thoughts, emotions and goal that lead to social upliftment is the ultimate Dharma.” Therefore, social upliftment is of supreme importance and as such everything must ensure the social good. Keep this in mind while going through the journey of achieving anything and your mind will always be pure and keep you satisfied and provide you more energy to do well in your respective domain.