Entrepreneurial Farmer

Character Of Time

by Ambrosio R. Villorente

Many people say, both Filipinos and foreigners, that in order to accomplish more jobs, workers must manage his time; he must establish priority in doing things.

Among the students of management, they have that “time and motion” theory. This is the theory of accomplishing more in less time and movement.

But Voltaire, the great French writer and philosopher in his book “Zadig: A Mystery of Fate” asked: “What of all things in the world is the longest and the shortest, the swiftest and the slowest, the most divisible and the most extended, the most neglected and the most regretted, without which nothing can be done, which devours all that is little and enlivens all that is great?”

Without hesitation and instantly, Zadig answered, “TIME.”

Voltaire explained: “Nothing is longer, since time is the measure of eternity. Nothing is shorter since it is insufficient for the accomplishment of our projects. Nothing is slower to him that expects; nothing more rapid to that enjoys. In greatness, it extends to infinity; in smallness, it is infinitely divisible. All men neglect it; all regret the loss of it; nothing can be done without it (time). It consigns to oblivion whatever is unworthy of being transmitted to posterity, and it immortalizes such actions as are truly great.”

Do you agree with Voltaire? I hope you do and from now on, make good use of your time. A person does not manage time. He spends it. He manages himself to utilize   time for his benefits, for others, and for his community.

Anyone who does not manage himself properly just spends time for nothing. This is one reason: spending time for nothing ties him to his economic level and has the tendency to be poor; he drags his community to be poor.

4P’s project is implemented to enable people to work, to utilize properly the time and therefore empower the 4P’s beneficiaries to provide for themselves education, food, shelter, health, water, recreation, and other needs.

To manage time is to manage ourselves. This means conducting our affairs within the time available so that we achieve gratifying results.

Many people believe that they really do have enough time for everything if only they could organize their time efficiently.

While people are adaptable, time is not. Therefore, people must adapt to the passage of time. If time is out of control, it follows that we are out of control.

Personality, age, and career development stage influence one’s time orientation. But some people do not believe on this. Some people believe they can control their environment, but they cannot. They can only modify and mitigate the risk.

Another group of persons are those who believed that they are at the mercy of their environment. They tend to feel pushed around and simply react to the environment. Those who spend their time wisely are successful in whatever they do. Quality in time related to who you are, where you are, what result you seek, what you spend time doing, and whom you spend time with.

When we say time management, it really refers to self management. To successfully manage yourself, here are some tips for you:

Clarify your objectives, put it in writing and set priorities. Focus on objectives, not on activities. Set one major objective and fulfill it. Record the time log and analyze how you spend time. Eliminate at least one time waster each week. Plan your time each week and ask what you wish to accomplish each week. Be sure to list what activities to do each week.

Make a time schedule from day to day that includes objectives, priorities, and estimated time to finish. Include time provision for the unexpected. Set time limits but do the right thing on the first hour of the day.

Eliminate recurring crisis in life, institute quiet hour and develop the habit of finishing what is started. Set your objectives, clarify priorities and resist impulses to do unscheduled task.

Take time for yourself, time to dream, time to relax, and time to live. Develop a personal philosophy of time, what time means to you and how time relates to your life.

Remember to manage yourself and spend the time usefully. /MP