We all are human and tend to procrastinate things at the slightest pretext. We need not feel guilty about the same as most of us would have done it in some things in life. It may be worthwhile to understand as to why we do it and what can be done to overcome it.

Time is an invaluable resource and all of us are gifted ,with the same quantity in our lives. But some of us are able to gainfully utilise the same while others fritter it away ,thinking it is cheap and can be substituted with other resources.

It is important to realise that when time runs out, we can do nothing about it. It could be in our final school -board exams, where we did not prepare well and hence missed a distinction ,by a few marks. It could be that we did not apply on time and missed a college admission and thereby a year in life.

We may have missed a train or plane since we always have the excuse of bad traffic on our roads. But, the day we realise that the train or the plane does not stop for anyone in life, we may never miss it again.

I should confess that I have procrastinated many things in my life and I cannot blame anyone else other than myself. However, the good news is that ,when I realise that time will not wait for me, I do become self disciplined and then work like a machine.

This may be true for many of us. When we are working against the tide, we may be choice less. However, why do we need to create such a situation in our lives ? What prevents us from planning and organising ourselves in such a way ,that we are in control of our time ,at all times.

One of the basics of managing our time, is prioritisation. We need to segregate our tasks into important and urgent ; focus on the important and then the urgent. Our natural tendency is to focus on the urgent and the easier things in life and postpone the important ones.

The second important tenet of time management is our ability to “say no” to ourselves and others. We sometimes get overcome by greed rather than need. It is like having that extra sweet, when we do not need an additional one. We have to develop the skill of saying no to ourselves. Similarly, we need to say no to others, when we are sure ,we do not have time to do what they want us to do.

The third and the most important aspect of managing our time is planning. We tend to jump into action even before we plan. If we plan a trip well in advance, then execution is easy. However we generally jump into the train and then wonder ,where we need to stay and where we need to visit ,during a travel.

Life is no different. Time management is prioritisation, our ability to say no and meticulous planning. If we are clear what we need to do and what we need not do, that could be the first step. Then our ability to say no to what we cannot do. Thirdly planning in detail ,on what we need to do. Then we realise ,that time waits for us rather than we being overtaken by time.

I am reminded of a famous quote of poet Kabir, who said – “ Tomorrow’s work do today, today’s work now. If the moment is lost, how will the work be done ?

Time to reflect

S Ramesh Shankar

13th Sep 2023

 

Driving has always been a passion in my life. Today, it struck me that “the journey of our life” is almost like a drive on the highway. Where we are likely to be born we do not know and where we may die is not in our hands. But the journey in between is all in our hands.

Let us explore life. like our drive on a highway. Everyone who loves driving, may not plan for a trip all the time. Sometimes, we plan and at other times, we may take off ,without any destination in mind. Life is almost like that. Some things happen as planned while others may be called destiny in life.

We need to learn to enjoy life, the way it is ,rather then the way we want it to be. On the highway, we enjoy the stretches of the road where it is smooth and scenic. We feel like going on and on and suddenly there is a road accident and a traffic jam and we regret our decision to drive.

Life is no different. We may be enjoying every minute of the day, when things go our way and we are enjoying life ,as we celebrate some successes. But, when some things go the wrong way and we feel sad, we do want to experience it. Life is a total package. Some days are like gold and others may be like rusted iron but we have to learn to take ,both sides of life.

Another interesting aspect of the journey on the road is that ,you cannot always plan for the weather. It is bright and sunny and you have started your journey ,imagining great weather, right through your journey ,to your destination. However, somewhere on the way ,it starts raining and you are forced to slow down and time takes a different turn in your journey.

Life is also like that. There will be some days when you feel you are on top of the world ,after a promotion at work but then suddenly a crisis will dawn on you ,and you feel all the joy has suddenly vanished ,in your career.

Another interesting aspect of driving on the highway ,is to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Many a time, we seem to be in a hurry to reach our destination and do not enjoy the journey. There are hills, rivers and forests on the way and we do not seem to enjoy them ,as we are focused on reaching our destination on time.

Life is no different. Sometimes ,we are so focused on our goals in life that we may not be enjoying the journey. It is like having a child and focusing on the child’s future education. We sometimes ,may not spend enough time with the child ,to enjoy playing and growing up since our energies are focused only on educating the child to reach her goal.

Every journey in my car in my life so far ,has been a new discovery of life. Every person I met and every place I have visited along the way, has taught me life lessons. So is life. Every person you meet and every place you visit in life ,may teach you new lessons in life. It is up to to us to learn, unlearn and re learn ,as we discover the journey of life.

Let us discover life as we drive along.

S Ramesh Shankar

20th June 2023

 

Everyone of us have a choice, everyday of our lives. Many of us wonder if we have a choice at all. In my book, we have a choice in every stage of life. We can choose the way we want to live our lives.

As a kid, I grew up in a lower middle class family. We had limited resources and facilities at home. We could not afford a fridge, TV, beds or a dining table at home. We had to eat and sleep on the floor. We had to keep the rice in water overnight and have it in the morning ,as there was no fridge at home. But, these things did not force us to be unhappy or sad.

We were a happy -knit family and enjoyed life in every possible way. Our parents were our role models and they never made us believe that we had any limitations in life. They encouraged us to pursue what we wanted to study and also pursue our hobbies and passions. We chose the career of our choice.

Our parents had the choice of cribbing every day and limiting our possibilities in life. But, on the other hand, they chose to enable us to lead a happy and contended life. We had our family dinner together everyday ,sitting on the floor and pursued our dreams in life ,without any limitations.

We were instilled the right values of honesty, simplicity and encouraged to be grounded in life. My father led a simple life as a government employee and still could build his own home and buy his own scooter ,with his savings. Our parents never made us feel that we had limited resources in life.

Then after completing my education of choice, I started my career in my chosen field. Joining a leading public sector ,gave me the security of job and the privilege of a new role ,every three years. My family then supported me to take risks in my career ,as I moved from the public sector to private, joint ventures and then full fledged multinationals. Every place I worked and lived ,gave me new choices to learn and grow.

I had a satisfying and gratifying career. As parents, although we also began our life with limited resources, it never came in our way , to give the best of education and learning ,to our children. They also could pursue subjects of their choice and then chose careers ,where they would thrive and grow.

Today both my children are grown up, independently working and married. They also have a choice ,to be the way they want to be. They can be happy or sad, the way they choose to be ,in every stage of their lives. We cannot blame anyone else ,other than ourselves ,to the choices we make in life.

Today, after retirement from active service, I still have a choice to pursue my hobbies and dreams. I am able to coach, consult, mentor and teach ,as I always want to do , and at my own pace. I still have time to travel, read, write and listen to music. I am also blessed to contribute back to society ,in my limited ways.

I believe ,everyone of us have a choice ,at every stage of our lives. We can be happy with what we have or cry all day and night ,and want more. Contentment and gratitude may enable us to be happy. On the other hand, greed and unlimited wants ,may lead us to be unhappy and sad at most times.

We have a choice to make and let us learn to make the right choice, at every stage of our lives from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

20th May 2023