This article is Part one of 3 part Series:

1. Poor Time Manager or Effective Time Manager, you decide

2. Five Reasons why people fail at Time Management

3. Five Secrets of an Effective Time Manager

If we know the harmful effects of being a bad time manager, And if we know
the positive effects of being an effective time manager, then it really becomes easier for us to decide what we want to become!!

Attributes of a Poor Time Manager

1. Inability to Prioritize

A bad time manager tends to spend more time in tasks that are less important as compared in those tasks that require more attention.

For Example, A student who has an exam the next day, and if he plays computer games just before the day of the exam for more hours rather than studying, that clearly shows he is not able to prioritize

2. Confusion and Lack of Focus

Someone who is not able to manage his time effectively will be confused regarding the time he should allocate to a particular task and thus will be less focused than the one who manages his time effectively.

3. Making inappropriate decisions due to lack of time

It can happen that due to lack of time, a bad time manager is not able to think about the result of an action in detail, and hence take a decision which he regrets later.

For Example, If you had to buy a new laptop, and due to lack of time management you end up buying a laptop which does not have the configuration which you desired, Wont you be regretting your decision?

4. Cluttered and Messy Desk

When people are not able to prioritize well, they tend to procrastinate about things, and thus, leave tasks for doing them later. And gradually, with time their desk and the workload of files become messy, aggravating their stress levels.

5. Not being able to spend enough time with Family and Friends

If somebody is not able to prioritize on his tasks, he might default deadlines. In organizations, if a responsibility is shouldered upon you, you need to fulfill it. That may require putting extra hours in work because you have to complete the tasks that your management gives you.

Just imagine you and your girlfriend or wife decides to go out on a date in the evening. You both fix a time for 7 P.M. And due to lack of time management, you meet her at 9 P.M. Will you really be able to have a wonderful evening after that??

6. Giving False Commitments

When a person is not able to manage time effectively, he miscalculates the estimates required to complete his tasks. This leads to giving false commitments to people around you.

I have a friend in an I.T. company, He always keeps on chatting with his colleagues during the day, and when the clock strikes 5 P.M., suddenly he remembers that he has to do a lot of work, hence he is not able to complete his tasks on time and keeps giving false commitments to his peers.

Due to his lack of time management, others also suffer.

Every time he meets me, he keeps fretting that there is loads of work in the office, whereas the actual problem is not the workload, but his lack of time management. I am sure you also must be having colleagues in your office who behave in a similar fashion… Do ask them to read this article

7. Fear of not being able to complete the deadlines

Just imagine you gave a commitment to your boss, but were not able to meet the deadline. Will you have the courage to face him, knowing that the delay is caused due to your lack of time management??

8. Stress caused due to all the above

What else can we expect? Due to one incorrect habit, one problem leads to another problem. Ultimately Stress and Tension are caused. But you don’t need to worry, you are at ‘The Positive Life’, and I am here to take out your stress and tension and make you feel on top of the world and bring loads of smiles on your face!!

Here are the Qualities of an Effective Time Manager to inspire you to become one!!

And if you are already an effective time manager, then these qualities will surely make you feel proud of yourself.

1. Clarity in Decision making

Once a person knows how to manage his time effectively, he has a clear understanding towards his priorities and he gets a lot of clarity in his decision making.

If we take the example of the student mentioned above, if he knows that before the day of an exam, he needs to spend maximum time on his studies and preparation, and he can play the computer game after his exam, he can take a clear decision.

2. Determination

And once the student has taken a clear decision for giving more time to his studies, don’t you think he will study with more determination?

3. A methodical approach

I have a friend who is a Sales manager in a company, He has to go and meet several customers in a day. We keep discussing about Self Improvement and ways to motivate ourselves. He told me that he spends maximum time of the day with those customers who give him the maximum business. This is so because, if he spends more time on customers that give him less revenue, he will be in trouble.

Thank god he is a good time manager, and hence he is able to use this methodical approach to achieve his sales targets.

4. Punctuality

This one was the next obvious point. Good time managers tend to be more punctual then poor time managers.

Talking about the same friend who is a Sales Manager, he has seen people losing big contracts worth thousands of dollars just because of lack of time management. So, he always prefers to reach his customers 5 minutes before the committed time. This is an inherent habit in good time managers.

5. Good Reputation among peers

I am sure even you will respect someone who respects time, because as the saying goes – Time is money!!

6. Focused Approach

Someone who manages his time well, knows what his priorities are, and hence, he is able to work effectively on his goals by having a focused approach. Wow, you just discovered another secret to achieve your goals effectively.

7. Calmness due to all the above

Yeah, it gives such an enormous satisfaction to know that you have accomplished what you desired. Managing time effectively is one of the most important steps to achieve your goals. And once you start overcoming the obstacles in your path one by one by good time management, don’t you think you will more calm and serene!!

Do you think there are any other benefits of being a good time manager?

Or are there any more disadvantages that can create problems for a poor time manager?

Are you using any strategies to manage your time effectively?

Speak your mind by sharing in the comments section below; I would love to know your response.

Happiness is in your hands…you decide what you want to become

In one of my previous posts, you read about taking the first step to achieve your dreams. But not many of us do all that is required to achieve our dreams. Do we?? We feel as if our feet are tied to something. We want to work towards achieving our dreams but we don’t.

If you are hungry and you have the ingredients available to prepare food and you have the time to prepare it, won’t you make food to satisfy your hunger??

But, why is it different when it comes out to chasing your dreams? We know that Human mind has limitless potential and we can achieve anything we set our mind to.

The question is, Why don’t people take action to achieve their goals? What stops them?

Here are 3 reasons that give an insight on “What stops you from achieving your dreams and goals?”

1. Waiting for the Perfect Situation

We keep waiting for the perfect situation. We think that we will start when the situation is favorable. But my dear friend, situation will not become favorable by itself. Think about it….. Will the situation become favorable by itself if you don’t work towards it??? Somebody has to work towards making the situation favorable and that somebody has to be ‘YOU’.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

In 1980’s, when Sam Pitroda came to India from USA and tried to make a call to his wife(in USA) from a 5 Star Hotel located in India’s capital, He could not talk to her because there were disturbance in the phone line. This disturbance was due to improper Telecom Infrastructure in India.

Did he accept the situation as it is?? No, He did not sit quiet, he said to himself – “I am going to fix it.”

Just imagine, a guy coming to India from US, not being able to talk to his wife because of improper telecom infrastructure, and imagining that he can fix the situation!!

Was that goal unrealistic?? He had faith that he CAN DO IT!!!

He worked with the then Prime Minister of India (Rajiv Gandhi), and finally after a few years of hard work, his dream got converted into reality. And today, we have wonderful Telecom infrastructure in India.

The situation was not perfect but Sam Pitroda did not wait for the perfect situation, he started working to change the situation and finally triumphed.

If he can do it, so can you…..

2. Waiting for others to agree with you.

My dear, don’t wait until others agree with you. In 1909, When Wright Brothers dreamed of creating a machine that would be heavier than air and would fly in air. People did not agree with them, people called them mad. But Wright brothers did not wait for others to agree with them, They had faith in their dream and they kept working to achieve it. And today, we are able to travel in luxurious airplanes only because of Wright Brothers’ WILL to achieve their dream and because Wright Brothers did not wait for others to agree with them. If they could do it, so can you…..

3. Waiting because you do not have the required skills.

Many people keep waiting because they think they do not have the required skills to do what they wish to do. But cant’ the skills be learned?? Aren’t their enough teachers/tutorials available?? How about googling on a subject you do not know??

I understand that for many people, learning something new can be difficult. But, its only a matter of quitting procrastination and trying (yes, trying and taking that crucial first step) to get the skills required to achieve what they want.

I was keen to have a website of my own. When I started last year with blogging, I could have quit easily because I was a noob in blogging, Yeah, really. I did not know anything about blogging. But I learnt from the tutorials available on internet, I started my journey on the path of learning about blogging. In fact, I am still learning something new every day !! But because I made efforts to get the skills required, today, I have been able to touch lives of more than 50,000 people through this blog!! Is that bad??

If I can do it, so can you…..You just need that Passion -”Yes, I can achieve my dreams”

Now, You know the reasons that stop you from achieving your goals. The choice is entirely yours. The power lies in your own hands…

Do you think knowing these reasons will help you in taking action to achieve your goals?? Do you find any other obstacles in your path of achieving your goals??