Using time wisely [Archives:2008/1127/Community]
By: Shafeek Al-Homaidi
Modern life is busy, with the pace becoming faster and faster every day so that one must hurry to utilize every moment.
It's much nicer to dwell on the present and the future rather than the past times elapsed. Much remains a mystery about time. It goes so fast that a single second never returns again.
Time is life that we can't control, speed up or slow down, so we fully appreciate what we've done over the course of the past weeks, months and years. But we sometimes blame time for being so flitting and fleeting.
I think the young themselves hang up their gloves, unwilling to challenge the heavy weight of their responsibilities.
Time gives us license to embark on a position about which we've dreamed. If we have long-term pledges and objectives, then we actually should be apathetic about time. Most of us might not even know which year, month or day it is now.
We sometimes gather at qat chews or on special occasions, where everyone complains about things being so bad and getting worse and worse. Thus, we spend so many hours gossiping and chatting that by the end of the day, as soon as we go to bed, we vow to spend our time more wisely once we awaken again.
However, we soon realize that such a decision was in vain because it merely evaporated. It's like making a decision in one's dreams because most of us continue going around in the same routine circles.
If we weighed a lifetime of the costs of each action against a lifetime of benefits, we'd more likely make better decisions regarding our health, our money and our use of time. We all know that “time is money,” so maybe our poor money skills result in poor time management skills.
We claim that it's an indulgence, but it's really about deserving, so have we earned it? Have we met all of our goals so that we can truly relax during our “leisure hours” at day's end or did we steal some time from the morning? If I haven't earned a vacation by completing everything I must do, then it doesn't matter how much I enjoy relaxing because I'm going to come up short later regarding my goals.
The question that keeps coming to mind is do we realize that if time is money, then scheduling is time? If budgeting our money and investing it both wisely and farsightedly is so important, then scheduling our time and using it wisely and productively is equally as important.
Maybe this is obvious, but the thought made quite an impression upon me because how often have we said, “I'll do it tomorrow have something to do today and there will be something to be done tomorrow.”
In fact, we've allowed so many cracks to appear in our initial decision, that it's become something standard regarding our goal setting and our value of work because we don't follow a schedule. Instead, we find our society full of leisure time.
The way one spends his leisure time is the test of his education. For example, a truly educated individual will spend it on those cultural activities that provide pleasure, as well as lead to self development.
However, in our society, we generally misuse our time because education is viewed as bookish and being intellectually curious isn't valued. People aren't eager to learn or do things because they haven't been educated in the real sense of the word to seize those opportunities time affords.
Because they don't know to use their spare time right properly, we often hear people complaining of tiredness, especially during holidays and vacations.
They spend their time on passive activities wherein they do nothing accept sleep or play cards, gossip idly, listen to radio programs or watch television. Such negative activities don't require any use of their brains or necessary social skills; therefore, such people feel bored and instead of wishing for more time, they desire less of it.
Don't get me wrong, spending time wisely and planning a schedule isn't easy, just as it's not easy to say, “I'm not going to buy that book, gift or whatever because it's not in my planned budget.” It's not easy to say, “Even though I'm tired, I'm not going to watch a movie tonight because I don't have leisure time scheduled until tomorrow.”
Although doing this is not easy, it is necessary. If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for your “future self” because, after all, he's the one who will pay for it…
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[archive-e:1127-v:15-y:2008-d:2008-02-07-p:community]
