It’s an oft-heard exclamation or lament, signifying the relentless passage of time especially when one’s hard-pressed for it. It’s indeed odd how time does fly when one’s busy doing something one likes and, conversely, snails along when one’s drudging at a disagreeable task! A busy schedule, whether official or personal, is perhaps the biggest “thief” of time.
Time, of course, is one of our most precious resources, though it is often misused, mismanaged and insufficiently exploited. Unsurprisingly, many among the elderly (including yours truly) seem to understand this better than younger people do. For as elders progressively age, they realise that time is running out for them, to put it plainly, and try to maximise its productive use.
Perhaps no one understands (or appreciates) the crucial value of time better than a doctor or medical specialist handling a critical emergency. In such a situation, time is of the essence as often every second gained matters. I once saw an ambulance, siren wailing, furiously speeding, with a brain-dead accident victim’s heart, through a hastily set up “green corridor” to a hospital in Kochi where a recipient-to-be awaited it. The incident forcefully drove home to me how vital time is in such cases.
Making every minute (let alone second) count may not always be possible, given the hectic and unpredictable nature of daily events, but we can certainly maximise use of the available time by careful planning. One way, of course, is to draw up a time-utilisation plan tailored to one’s individual needs — and scrupulously follow it. This will enable optimum use of the time available and thus make our lives more productive and meaningful. Further, it will also minimise the loss or waste of precious time.
Time lost or wasted is, of course, seldom or never regained, underscoring the need to plan and utilise one’s time sensibly. Truly has it been said that time steals away faster (and more quietly) than a thief when one least expects it to — as when one is writing a crucial examination or working on a time-bound assignment with a rigid deadline. Fortunate indeed is the person who can manage time effectively and judiciously.
People who value their time are perhaps among the best and most effective time managers. For time spent usefully and productively is acknowledged to be time well spent – and is never regretted. Indeed, for some, 24 hours just isn’t enough to do all that they want or need to. Compounding the problem, as mentioned earlier, time has a well-known peculiarity of slipping away, absolutely unnoticed, when one’s preoccupied.
Above all, next to somehow finding the time to do what needs to be done, doing it earnestly and well is of the utmost importance. For as American author Alexander Woollcott pointedly put it, “Many of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing!”
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