By Younas Chaudhary
Time and tide wait for no man.
-Proverb-
Time is our most precious asset, the greatest source of urgency, our best healer, and the greatest gain or loss-maker in life and in business. My first recognition of blocks of time came in grade school where a loud bell would signal the beginning and end of a class. This signal taught me early on in life that time is a finite resource. Later, the Pakistani military taught me to respect time and the importance of time management.
As you open your planners and start blocking periods of time, remember the following tips:
1. Time is a finite resource.
The time we have to live, work and play is a finite resource that gets depleted every moment. Once gone, it is lost forever, and it will never come back. So, make wise use of every moment.
2. Time is the greatest differentiator and healer.
All of us, irrespective of our demographics, ethnicity or color of our skin are blessed with the benefit of time. Time is a great healer after a loss. When the playing field is the same for two people, it allows us to differentiate those who use their time wisely and those who make excuses by saying they do not have enough time.
3. In business, time can be life or death.
Time is not just about money but about being proactive in controlling costs in your business. When a bleed happens, it is a signal for us to stop it on time, right there or it will destroy your livelihood.
4. Prioritize time effectively.
My companies own and operate many oil and gas wells and prioritizing the time on what matters is an important task. Always focus on projects that are losing money, small or big, and fix them immediately. The first steps to building a lean, effective operation is to learn how to take care of loss-making projects with immediacy and intensity.
In my line of business, my team focuses on the highest producing and most profitable oil wells as well as those oil wells that produce little and lose the most money. By prioritizing time on those that produce more makes me think how to make them more efficient, while giving more time on oil wells that lose money helps my team fix problems in a timely manner.
5. Record how you use your time.
In meetings, ensure that deliberations are adequately recorded, action items are assigned and shared, and tracked properly using the latest project management tools and technology. This avoids wasting time by people saying, “he said,” “she said,” “we talked about it.” What did you do with your time is the most important question.
6. Write an agenda to save time.
What gets written gets time managed effectively. So, write down your tasks from most important to the least important and learn to focus on important tasks. Brian Tracy’s book “Eat the Frog,” is an excellent resource to learn how to use time effectively and stop procrastinating.
8. Always respect other people’s time.
A cardinal sin in life and in business is to waste other people’s time. Each time you keep someone waiting whether it is for 5 minutes or 15 minutes, remember, you are taking away precious time from your life and theirs. When somebody gives you time, use it effectively and be on time.
9. Time and passion are interlinked.
If you are passionate about something, you won’t worry much about how you manage your time. Passion and time are interlinked and once you are deeply immersed in your craft, you will learn to manage time wisely. Stay blessed.
Disclaimer
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. Further, I make no warranty regarding the accuracy or effectiveness of my recommendations, and readers are advised to consult other advisors as well as their own judgments in making business decisions.
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