Time Management and Multi Tasking

Of all the natural resources which can't be replenished, TIME tops the list. It is not a physical quantity, hence may not fall into the category of resources, but life is wrapped around time and time bounds everything, natural or not, Time is a commodity which is important.

Anyone who earnestly enjoys life, has aims of utilizing every moment to the fullest is also acutely conscious of TIME. This set of people, want to make the most of every moment, want to get best out of every moment too. Rightly so, because TIME missed is time lost and it is within the capacity of every individual to do the most and the best of every moment.

So how does one get best and more of the same time slot? One word - Multi tasking.

Multi-tasking is applicable to who? - to all, students - teachers, subordinates - managers, consultants - investors, customers -owners, women - men, and entire family.

Multi-tasking why? - If one wants the job well done, would like to avoid rework as much as can, wants to squeeze a moment out of every planned and allocated time slot, one must practice multitasking. It is for self-growth.

What is multi-tasking? - It is simple, and it is constantly done, if at all one is being conscious of it. The experience and wisdom one gathers at every task, apart from executing the task to completion, is the simplest form of multi-tasking, but there is more to it and below are some examples.

1. Do you have a to-do list done for the day / week / month?
2. Do you carry a pen and paper / notebook / diary while stepping out of the house?
3. Are you in the habit of making notes as things keep cropping up in the mind, things which need completion, things needing input, things to be followed-up, things to be handed-out?

If you are, you are at Multitasking already.

1. Set your mind on the tasks at hand - don't set the mind wandering aimlessly
2. Prioritize the tasks in your mind, what when and how at any time of the day, while eating, traveling, watching television, listening to music, including fidgeting with your fingers
3. Put a plan, of what is first and what is next and how - all in the mind
4. Check the rework, retrace and lost time and energy or resources in the plan and optimize the same so to get a single pass of money, time, energy
5. If you are mentally comfortable and happy, finalize this plan, set the date and time for execution and execute it

A simple example. You have little time for shopping, hence want to make the best of the time and most of the time. How to go about.

1. Identify all shopping needs of self and family, ask individual members if you can shop for them - put down the list on paper
2. Categorize the items and also prioritize
3. mentally review the shopping location and which all from the list are available at single spot

At this stage, you should will have a list of say 20 items, available in about 3-4 shopping locations.

Now plan your path, which require what kind of time to buy, how many of these are heavy/light, and plan your shopping path so that you travel that street only once with least time and energy.

And while traveling, get into conversation with the neighbours and gather more info on the same, their knowledge may help you optimize still.

This kind of planning works for the kitchen, for entire house hold tasks, for a manager to clear the desk as well as e-mails, to meet relatives and visit friends, and if you are professional at multi-tasking, you may deploy this even for vacation and leisure planning 

All the best for an optimized YOU!