Have we ever heard the phrase time “management is key, “well this statement cannot be truer, one of the things that human beings always wish to have is more time, but time cannot be stopped neither can it be reverse. If you aspire to become successful in a particular field whatever field it could be, there is one fine line that exist, which is time management. In Achieving your dream managing your time is key.
This is a proven method I have used and modified to suit my own particular taste and I will like to outline both systems.
Trident Method
This was popularized by Ali Abdaal, a renowned productivity coach and a doctor turned entrepreneur, and this is a game changer when it comes to time management. This trident method involves having your plans in a single view which can span form a Year, Month or Week in a single view, however to get the best out of this productive method I like to restrict it to a week. Hence, what this method entails is for you to schedule your week at a glance, know what you are going to do on from Sunday to Saturday. You can either do this manually by getting a piece of plain white paper drawing rolls and column, columns should represent the days and the rolls should represent the time frame. However, I prefer to using google sheet. using Google sheet plus different color coding to properly organize your Ideal week.
RT-System (RAW-Trident System)
Although the placement of raw in the name of this system isn’t just a play on my initial. Actually, I have always believed that one should have their ideal week planned out, but on a day to day basis review your weekly plans with activities you have planned for a specific day. Hence not making it as strict as the trident system.
For example after planning your ideal week, let say on your ideal week on Wednesday you have a your devotion in the morning from 7am-8am, then followed by a meeting in the morning for 10am-12pm, in the afternoon you have a book review from 2pm-3pm, then lastly organizing your online business from 7pm-8pm. What a busy day I most say, but then you realize things pops up because life don’t always go as planned and some events maybe moved to the following day or events from the previous day need your attention in the present day.
Hence you take your planner or a normal book and paper, nothing to fancy and you plan that your day within the scope of your ideal week for that particular Wednesday. so, events that pop up you will able to fit it into the time slot available and also be able to move other events to another day.Hence, despite the fact that your ideal week has been planned out, don’t neglect the fact that things happens and event may pop up or be canceled, thus we follow our ideal week on a day to day basis, moving around event that become pressing or urgent in a simple planner.
Key to Productive
There isn’t a better place to talk on this matter, I see a lot of people fall into this trap, productivity isn’t busyness, because quite to contrary the more productive you are the more time you have for other events in your life, being productive doesn’t mean filling your calendar, or schedule to the brim but organizing your time and making the most out of the 24hours all human being have in a day.
I fell into the trap of this mindset of busyness is productivity in my 200level period, my close friend Timiyo and Gloria, well were worried sick about me this period. I had days were my mornings to 9pm in the evening were filled up buying food late and eating late and all, it was like I was trying to run from reality or deceiving myself that I was doing something meaningful with my time. And why I mentioned this my two friend they saw what others didn’t see; they saw that something was up.
I remember the day I realized this often to well, it was on a Friday evening when my friend Gloria came to where I usually read and she was like we are hanging out today, well I was reluctant but later on agreed, we walked with talk and she said something that really resonated with me “that you being busy is not you being productive, that if I continue like this my body will just break down.”
Why Rest is needed
This is very profound in this fast paced world, we often forget to rest, a mentor of mine phrased it well, our body is like a car and it need to be frequently checked if not it will break down, no rest in the fast paced world will lead to frequent breakdowns and burnout.
often times people don’t feel like they deserve to rest, they keep pushing their body, while some feel guilty when they rest, because they don’t feel productive in this state. I deal with this in a very simple way, by being intentional about My resting period.
You might be wondering, didn’t I mention two friends what about my other friend Timiyo , well his case is special because he forced me to schedule this rest time in to my day, often time I will go to meet him to catch up and we will end up discussing for hours or so, we had similar things in common our loves for anime and he is a good story teller, somedays he come and meet me in my room, forces me to rest watch movies and anime, little did I know that those periods really made me realize that I need to rest and beyond that I need to schedule my rest to remove my feeling of guilt and properly have time for all this without it interrupting my normal study session or work session.
Meaning in your ideal week there should be one day in which you do nothing, that day should be blank, me personally over the years, I love Friday as my rest day. what this those it allows your brain to function effectively throughout the week knowing there is a day of guilt free rest, even God rested on the 7th day, so don’t deny yourself rest. until next time be positive, be patient, be productive.
