Time flies swiftly, leaving a helpless man struggling at the rate of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. The article explains the terms `free time', `discretionary time', and `time pressure illusion'. The life or death of a business corporate depends on the effective use of production time. Time spent on `obligatory activities' and `discretionary time' should be controlled in desirable proportions.
"The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on: Nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a Line," said the famed Persian poet, Omar Khayyam in his poetic master piece, "Rubaiyat". Time is as mobile, as irretrievable. It moves on. Very often runs. At times flies too! No Newton, no Einstein, for that matter not even the contemporary Intel could invent any mechanism that could control its obstinate flight and `lure it back'. Even the astounding brains behind the landing of Rover on Mars could throw no light on any gismo, which could `cancel half a line' streaked by it. The years, the months, the weeks, the days, the hours, the minutes roll ruthlessly by. But what has `man' learnt?
The only lesson the helpless `man' has learnt from this intractable, shapeless element, was to utilize it in the best manner, but only on its terms, i.e., that it would make itself available to man only at the rate of 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a yearno more, no less. The Hobson's choice, therefore, for `man' was to utilize every minute or every hour of this `time' in the best manner, i.e., to resort to `time management'. |
