Small distractions have been taking the space that belongs to your most important goals |
NV Paulose, Chairman. Global TV +91 98441 82044
We often say, “I do not have time.” We say it when we miss a meeting, postpone an important task, fail to call someone, or find ourselves unable to do something we genuinely wanted to do. Being busy has become almost a status symbol. The busier we are, the more important we feel. But I have learned that not having time and not managing time are two different things. One of the most useful lessons I received about this came from Mr. M. B. Nair, who was then the General Manager of Corporation Bank and later became Chairman of Union Bank. I had met him several times and was always surprised by how busy he was. Yet, on one occasion, when six of us went to meet him, he was waiting for us at the appointed time. He welcomed us, offered us hospitality and spent thirty minutes with us. I could not understand how someone in such an important position could find thirty minutes for ordinary people like us.
Later, I asked him directly. I said, “Sir, you are such a busy person. In such a busy schedule, how did you find time to spend thirty minutes with us?” His answer gave me a simple way of thinking about time. He told me to imagine that everything we need to do in a day can be placed into five categories: bricks, stones, pebbles, sand and water. The bricks represent the most important things in our day. These are the activities that require our attention and cannot be ignored. They could be an important meeting, a major decision, an essential piece of work, time with family or anything else that genuinely matters. We should identify these first and place them properly in our schedule. We cannot put two major meetings at the same time and then complain that we do not have enough time. Once the bricks are placed, we can fill the remaining space with the stones, the next important activities. Then come the pebbles, followed by the sand. Finally, whatever space remains can be filled with water.
What Mr. Nair taught me was not simply a time management technique. It was a lesson about priorities. We often do the opposite. We begin the day by filling our time with small things. We answer messages, check notifications, attend to minor requests, scroll through our phones, respond to emails and deal with whatever happens to arrive first. By the time the important work demands our attention, the day is already full. Then we say we have no time. But the problem is not necessarily the amount of time available. The problem is that we allowed the small things to occupy the space that should have belonged to the important things. If you put sand into a jar first, there may not be enough room for the bricks. But if you put the bricks in first, the smaller things can fit around them. The principle is simple: important things must be given space before less important things consume that space.
I understood the lesson even more clearly when I thought about the thirty minutes Mr. Nair had given us. When we came to meet him, we were not one of his major responsibilities. We were the water. Yet he did not tell us that he was too busy. He organized his priorities. He entered a meeting, started it, assigned responsibilities to other people, stepped out, spent thirty minutes with us and then returned to the meeting. Someone else briefed him about what had happened while he was away. He had not magically created extra time. He had simply organized the time he already had. That is the difference between someone who manages time and someone who constantly complains about not having it. We often think successful people have more hours in their day. They do not. They have the same twenty four hours. The difference is often in what they allow into those hours.
So if you feel that you have no time, do not wait until the end of the day to think about it. Look at every hour. Take a piece of paper and ask yourself, “What was the brick in this hour? What important thing did I actually accomplish?” Then look at the stones, the pebbles, the sand and the water. You may discover something uncomfortable. You may discover that much of your day was filled before the important work ever had a chance. You may discover that your phone, other people’s priorities, unnecessary meetings and small distractions have been taking the space that belongs to your most important goals. Time management is therefore not about making every minute productive. It is about making sure that the important things get a place in your life. Put the bricks in first. Once the important things have their place, there will always be room for the rest.
