JOIN USWe are in the era of the pandemic, where there is the new "normal" and Work From Home. One must get accustomed to the new life. An important component of our altered lifestyle is the absence of a structured routine to manage time strategically without squandering and wasting it. Indeed, if one is not careful and cautious about clever time management, valuable time will be lost daydreaming, oversleeping and use of social media, TV and video games.
So, while time management is an important topic for everyone, it is more so for those working from home during the pandemic. Also, the lines between home time and professional time should not be blurred. One must chalk out a routine, and even though there are no strict routine boundaries, one must see that one adheres to reserving some time to be spent with family and some strictly for professional work.
Suppose one is expected to write a precis in an hour and email it to the office editor, how can one manage? First of all, one must keep the workstation devoid of any clutter with only the computer or pen and paper at hand. A clock or smartphone to say the time and an inspiring picture of a God or a saintly person, whom one believes in, for motivation.
To manage one’s time during this one hour, one can imagine that one is superman or Mandrake the magician and has in hand a “time-saver”— this can be the computer mouse, a pen or pencil or even the ring on one’s finger. One should just start writing the precis. Every time the mind wanders or strays away, think that the time saver is there to help remember to finish the work on time, and if distracted or one starts daydreaming, think that the time-saver, i.e., the mouse (without which the computer will not function), the pen/pencil or ring will be taken away and not returned. This is a valuable incentive to stay focused and prevent the mind from vacuous thinking or daydreaming. This small hack is guaranteed to give results, and the precis will be ready in one hour.