Time is the most precious thing in the world, even more than a diamond. Time once gone cannot come back. This makes time management an important skill to learn.

So what really is Time Management? It is all about mind management. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Our mind should have the attention span and energy to utilise this time effectively. Time management is needed for all people, whether they are school students or employees.

A lot of people are unable to manage their minds and thus tend to waste their time. Each person should know what is to be done. This alone is not enough. It is also essential to know what is to be done, i.e., prioritization. Urgent and important tasks should be tackled first. A lot of tasks are important but not urgent, and vice versa. It is important to focus on the important tasks. One must also learn to minimize distractions and interruptions.

For a student, good organization is the most important thing to become successful. A great way for students to manage their time better would be to set daily, weekly, and term plans. A daily plan can hold an account of assignments and areas of study. It is said that the best time to prepare a study plan is in the evening. The weekly plan should consist of an overall list of approaching tests and tasks to be achieved. Term plans should give a view of the semester and should help in planning it accordingly. When it comes to studying, a timetable is really important. The timetable should not be too demanding because it will cause stress; it should be simple. These aspects will make a student more productive as a result.

For an employee, it is important to start early. If a task is to be completed in 10 days, it should be started on day 1 itself instead of waiting for the 9th day. Putting off tasks until the last moment can lead to substandard or unfinished work. It is important to break down big tasks into manageable, small sub-tasks. It often happens that a task involves some sub-task for which someone else is responsible. It is best to hand over the sub-task to someone else as soon as possible instead of keeping it to oneself. In colloquial terms, it is also known as 'taking the monkey off the back'. It is not good if one continues to carry all the load on their backs instead of handing it over.

People who cannot manage time are unable to manage their work and family life. It is important to strike a balance between the two. It is always the quality of the time spent that matters more than the quantity. By managing time well, one can keep both the people at home and the office happy. The nature of our work determines the time spent on it. For example, a Police SHO might have to occasionally spend two days in a row in his office due to work pressure. When he goes home, he should inquire about his family's welfare instead of discussing work. If he discusses work, his family might end up getting frustrated.

Another way of better time management is making a list of all work to be done the next day, the previous night itself. We should also learn not to take too much work on our plate and end up with poor performance in some areas. Resting in between work is equally important to avoid exhaustion and a fall in productivity. In all these little ways, if we manage our everyday our tomorrow is automatically managed. It is important to remember that tomorrow never comes. Thus, if we postpone work to tomorrow, our success also gets postponed. It is thus important to finish work on the right time. Managing our time is in our hands alone.

For any query, you can ask a question to Dr. J C Chaudhry related to the information provided above.