I just don't have time !!!

One of the most critical thing in today's life is "Time". So often you find someone saying  "Sorry I didn't get any time". Little did we hear about the "time management" birdy in 80's and 90's. But now ... it is a big deal.
It seems today's life has become like a race and  a typical morning starts with an alarm on your mobile knocking you out of sleep, saying "Get up !!!, your time is running out " .

The elderly generation says that there is so much mechanical help these days as against their time and yet the current generation is always in the get set go mode. Has "time" become more critical than "money". Indeed !

People are making lots of money. But, specially in a typical Asian kinda environment, there is no time to spend the money.  Or if at all you are able to spend it, you dont have enough time to really enjoy it. 
 
I thought about writing on this topic encouraged by 2 people, must say 3 including my husband. One, an ex-colleague who provided excellent feedback about my timing skills during my appraisal. Second , a friend & ex-colleague who appeared on my facebook account after reading my blogs and said "Do you get more than 24hr a day ?"

 Well I dont think I am a time management guru. Without much thinking I would say I dont apply any special rules or anything. Just do it. May be that's the way I am. But this has certainly made me think what is it if other people wonder how I do it.

From my own personal sense, I think I inherently follow a few key things like : 

1. 1st thing first. Define priorities. It is important to know what should be done first and what can be kept for last. Chalk out a plan. Doesn't need to be always on a paper or laptop. I usually do this in my mind even for my sunday activities which would include grocery shopping , weekly cooking, taking my son out to a park, gardening , cleaning, ironing etc etc. You need to know if talking to your girlfiriend, preparing for an exam, watching a movie or painting your house has to be prioritised. Similarly it applies to your various contributions at work. 

2. Time budgetting. Like money, time can also be accounted for. While you are making a priority list of things to do, budget a time for every activity and get it done in the stipulated time.
Lot of times , specially over the weekends , I observe my partner unintentionally under estimating travel time making it difficult for him to follow up on the trailing tasks and he ends up struggling by the evening or missing out on important tasks. It is really important to have a rough idea of what it takes to finish a chore.

3. Keep your commitment. I always try to meet my committed time. Be it as small a task as to meet a friend at a pre-fixed time at a train station, though mostly I end up waiting for them :(
Learning to keep commitments saves lot of time and helps you maintain your timing for the next task.

4. Multi tasking. There are things that can be done at the same time. If you can plan even small routine things parallely, believe me it gets you so much time. Simple everyday example, I dont have to cook dal, rice , vegetable and chapati one after the other. I put the rice in microwave for 20min. At the same time I put the dal in pressure cooker on hob and also start cooking the vegetable on 2nd hob. And by the time these are cooking , I can make chapaties on the 3rd hob. So not more than 1 hour for everyday cooking. Before I start cooking, 2 min to setup my washing machine and by the time I finish cooking, my clothes are washed. I'm sure most of you would be doing things like this but just wanted to stress that little things if done deligently can help you save lot of time here and there.

5. Treat your body. I read somewhere in a Yoga forum that it is your duty to give enough rest to your body and mind. It's your body that does whatever you want to do. Life is hard with an unhealthy body. So for me, missing out on one or two not so urgent tasks to give some rest to my body is more sensible than anything. But again, it depends on the circumstances. With a calm mind and a restful body, you are certainly more efficient. Dragging a tired mind to another day will only lead to delaying tasks further and ineffective results. So always try to keep you mind and body fresh.

6. It's an attitude. Leading an organized life is an tendency. Bring it in your mind-set. Make it your attitude not to make someone wait, make it a habbit to reach on any invites in time, make it a practice to plan little things quickly in your mind every time you are faced with multiple tasks. That doesn't mean you need to live a computed life. But certainly applying it at relevant places will help you save enough time for yourself and the ones you love.

Time is precious .... dont keep it locked but spend it wisely.

15th Aug .... Independence day ... Are we ??

Happy Independence Day Dear India.

Of all the Facebook status updates this morning, many of which talked about Independence day , flag hoisting and laddus, here's a message that made me re-think :

"Freedom is not political , but of the mind, from the chains that hold us back from realizing our own potential, the possibilities that lie ahead.. freedom is when no one tells you what you cannot or should not do, freedom is when you can pursue your dreams unfettered by the constructs of age, gender, culture and class, freedom is when you do not have to bribe hundred people to get things done, freedom is when you do not have to elope with someone whom you wish to marry, freedom is when you do not have to fret over how to afford a decent education for your child, freedom is when you are free from the favor of affirmative action"

 ... alas .. my dear India .. are you free ???? 

This morning I asked some odd 20 foreigners, engineers or professionals like me,  if they would someday even think about living in India ...None said yes owing to the corruption, poverty , politics and general notion about the country. Unfortunately, it was the biggest shame I had ever faced. 

The job opportunities, atleast I know about IT, are much much more in India. So why does no one even think about going there.  Although it seems, with the growing economy we have, time is not far when the world will start looking upon India for opportunities in terms of mass migration and living standards. But something that has always bothered me is the gap ...the gap between the rich and the poor, the gap between Bandra and mumbai slums, the gap between qualified and unqualified. Unless this gap is filled, the conditions of corruption and crime are difficult to improve. So when and how can we build the country to a stage when global community will strive to go to India. Honestly I do not have an answer ...

A very simple example I can think of the "complexity" of improving India is driving. Can we ever improve the driving system in India. How can we implement rules, regulation, discipline on Indian roads. Millions of drivers are already on the road ... is it possible to re-educate them. It may be possible for the new drivers but the existing ones ?

But of course there are much more important and difficult issues to challenge India's contention to be a world power. Freedom is what we want from poverty, illiteracy, corruption, caste-ism and dirty politics. And then , we are no doubt the number one.

As for now, there are miles before we can  proudly say "Welcome to India" and not face shame when someone comes back from a business/holiday trip to India and complains of stomach bug he had. There are miles before we can say we are doing what we chose to do and say boss ... I am better-of in India.

It seems impossible though, but if I look back at India as it was 20 years ago, it has really come forward and successfully placed it among the top "developing" nations. I wish and I hope India takes over the world with his hospitality, culture and potency, abolishing the images of corruption and offering an everyday life of high standards. I may have sounded downbeats , but I am what my country has made me and I am proud of it.

Good Luck Freedom.