While tidying some of my books and reading materials, and selecting some books to give away, I came upon this small booklet given to me many years ago by one of my superiors. The title of the booklet is “Technique of Time Management” by “A. Parthasarathy”.
In the crux, it shares that when we think we need to better manage our time, it’s because we are unable to manage ourselves well. This might be a dreadful idea for many to swallow because if we admit this, does it mean that we are failures?
But if you dwell deeper, you will see there is some truth in this. We are all given 24 hours. How is it that some people seemed to have all the time to do what they want to do, but others are in a rush for time? If you talk to people, it seems that majority of people are the latter. Did the blessed few know something that the majority don’t?
The case is not that we are failures, if we find ourselves unable to manage our time, and thus ourselves. It’s because we have not found our purpose, mission, or passion, whatever you called it. It’s something that calls to us, internally.
The booklet advises that with this purpose, mission or goal, you can plan how you would go about achieving the goal, what it is to be accomplished in 10 years (or more), 5 years, 1 year, 1 month, 1 week and today. You’ll work backwards, so that you know what you need to accomplish today.
Although there are many practical advice in this book, I don’t agree with the book’s idea of planning your life’s project(s) across the span of your lifetime as suggested. I feel it’s unrealistic for such a plan. A 5-year plan seems more feasible in today’s context.
Besides, if we consider for example another 40 years, it’s an awfully long time to contemplate. We don’t want to overwhelm ourselves, because most people would freeze, and decide to do nothing.
So, do you know where you want to be 5 years from now? If not, devote some time today to find out, because you’ll need to know the destination before you can have a plan to get there.
I’ll like to leave you with the following lyrics from this song “Any Road” by George Harrison.
And if you don’t know where you’re going
Any road will take you there.
