Time Management in Changing Times

This post is labeled under Personal Development


Are you caught up on a situation where you felt guilty of the things you haven’t done? Did you ever commit to someone to meet up and spend time with but tangled with other activities where it seems also important? If only you can have more time…

Many of us wish to do more in a given day but end up stressed and sometimes depressed of things we failed to fulfill. There is so much to do where you feel your hands are tied of the responsibilities given to you. And you ask, “How can I manage my time more effectively?”

According to Dr. Stephen Covey, author of First Things First, our activities can be classified with the following matrix.


Quadrant I (Urgent, Important)

We put an undivided attention on these activities because someone might get fired or lose a business opportunity if we failed attend to it. These are stressors which sometimes put your life miserable. There is always a stake to consider why you need this job done. How you wish you can handle these effectively.

Quadrant III (Urgent, Not Important)

The phone may not be for you but you need to answer it because it will keep ringing unless someone answers. Your colleague interrupts your work and tells you about the latest gossip in the office. Not to be rude at all, you entertain his/her story. I made an article how to handle gossiping in the office. We have a lot of these in the workplace.

Quadrant II (Not Urgent, Important)

You are planning a vacation with family. At the same time, you are setting a surprise birthday party for your mother. Finally, you found a course seminar that will enhance you career. At the end of the month, one of your former college buddies invited you to be a resource speaker on their on-going community fund drive campaign. Your spirit is uplifted and fulfilled. How you wish you’ll have more of these activities than the other.

Quadrant IV (Not Urgent, Not Important)

You are watching TV and video gaming all-day; you deserve it for a long weekdays of work. Browsing the internet during office hours; checking all the activities of your 300 friends in Facebook. You entertain calls from your colleagues and friends during work hours; needed to attend a party of not-so-closed colleague because she invited you when she accidentally bumped you in the pantry. Most of us are guilty staying on this quadrant.

And you ask, “Which of these quadrants shall I spend most of my time?”

Highly effective people spend their time on Quadrant II. On this quadrant, we give time to build relationships to our loved ones and friends. We take time to plan our activities on a given week and reflect how we could manage tasks that are stressful in nature. We do not forget to “sharpen the saw”. We believe that in order for us to be effective in our job or to other people, we need to improve and re-discover new things that give cutting-edge performance, relationship building, and meaning to our life.

The more time we spend on these activities, the less we spend on other task that eats up a big chunk of our time.

“How do I manage to spend time in Quadrant II if my personal and professional time seems vying equally of my attention?”

Please expect answers on the next issues…