Create Your Own Time: How to Work 48 Hours in a Day

By Alok Jain

Create Your
Own Time How To Work 48
Hours In a Day

Is a book about Personal Time Management: Using time effectively and
efficiently in personal life, to achieve more. The book illustrates,
through simple real life examples, how you can increase your efficiency by more
than 200 %. This book is for anyone who wants to take advantage of the
opportunities provided by life by controlling the time and thus creating ample time
for oneself.

This book explains the strategies and
techniques you can use to save time in order to make an optimum use of time. The
book also explains the importance of organizing and planning in personal time
management. It illustrates the correlation between your self-control and time
saving. The book depicts how you can control time by controlling your behavior.
It also introduces you to basic concepts of time management and provides you
with insight into how people waste time.

The book contains hundreds of tips on how
you can save time in daily chores and around the house. It deals with the time
savings using computers, internet and technology. Some of the older books
published a decade ago will fail to give you insight of how to use the
technology to your advantage.

Later chapters of this book give you some
tips organized by the role of a person. Some roles discussed are moms,
homemaker, working women, couples, teenagers and students. It also familiarizes
you with some interesting ways in which you can utilize your time when you are
waiting or traveling.

Included in appendix are some sample
check lists and other templates like To DO lists, travel checklist, party
checklist and goals template.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 6, 2008
• ISBN: 9781467841979

Alok Jain

Alok has worked in different areas in Project Management and Planning. He is a PMI certified Project Management Professional and he takes pride in time management. For last few years he has been working as a computer consultant. His successful implementation of Time Management Principles at work and in personal life was a major factor in motivating him to write this book. He is a family person with two children - one toddler and one infant. Apart from writing, the author has numerous other time consuming hobbies like golf, wood carving, photography, coin collecting and many more. After his second child was born, his schedule got totally upset. Devoting time to hobbies, work place and family had become a real challenge for him during this period. During the next few months he slowly got his life back by applying some of the time management techniques to his personal life. A number of time management tips in his book are based on his personal experience.

Book preview

CREATE YOUR OWN TIME

HOW TO WORK 48 HOURS IN A DAY

A GUIDE TO PERSONAL TIME MANAGEMENT

______________________________________

First Edition (e-book), 2005

Second Edition, 2008

US%26UK%20Logo%20B%26W_new.ai

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2008 Alok Jain. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 4/29/2008

ISBN: 978-1-4343-5363-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-4197-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008901448

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

To my loving wife, Reena

and

my children, Anushka and Nikita

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Introduction

2. How And Where Do We Waste Time?

3. Strategies For Saving Time

4. Organize, Plan, And Schedule

5. Manage Self, Manage Time

6. Save Time All Around You

7. Technology, Computers, And The Internet

8. More Time-Saving Ideas By Role

9. What You Can Do In Your Free Time

Appendix

Epilogue

About The Author

References

Preface

Being from a project-management background, I myself am very organized and I take pride in doing my daily chores very effectively and efficiently. One day, while waiting for an oil change for my car, I thought, How can I utilize my time while waiting for an oil change? I jotted down a few points immediately. Later, I went to the library and sat down to write some more points. Then I said to myself, Why only oil changes? What about doctor’s visits? What about the time we waste at home? Slowly, the list grew so big that I decided to write a book so that I can pass on my thoughts to the rest of the world.

I could have called this book 1,001 Tips to Save Time, but that was clearly not the intent. I am sure you are very smart and can think of hundreds of ways to save time. Besides, you can always find novel ways on the Internet. The intent here is to get you a head start from where you can easily create your own methods to save time. Also, I want you to understand how an individual wastes time and what the possible solutions are.

The tips, guidance, and techniques given in this book are by no means a comprehensive list. Some tips suitable for one individual may not be suitable for another. Similarly, tips suited for one locale or culture may not be suitable for another locale or culture. The reader is advised to use his or her judgment in deciding what suits him or her best. The tips are for guidance purposes only and are by no means any guarantee for improving time management. Some tips may contradict each other if used in conjunction with other tips. I have used the terms him and her interchangeably in this book. Most tips, unless specified, apply equally to either gender.

How this book is organized:

Chapter 1 introduces you to the concept of time management and explains some important terms.

Chapter 2 provides you with some insight into how people waste time. This chapter is important if you want to devise your own methods for saving time.

Chapter 3 explains the strategies you can use to save time, in order to make optimal use of time.

Chapter 4 gives you the importance of organizing and planning in personal time management. It also introduces some techniques for keeping you organized.

Chapter 5 illustrates the correlation between your self-control and time-saving abilities. It shows how you can control time by controlling your behavior.

Chapter 6 presents hundreds of tips on how you can save time in daily chores and around the house.

Chapter 7 deals with the time savings using computers, the Internet, and technology. Some of the older books published a decade ago will fail to give you insight on how to use the technology to your advantage.

Chapter 8 gives you some tips organized by a person’s role in life. Some roles discussed include moms, homemakers, working women, couples, teenagers, and students.

Chapter 9 familiarizes you with some interesting ways in which you can utilize your time when you are waiting or traveling.

Included in the appendix are some sample checklists and other templates.

January 2008

1. Introduction

Have you been leading a life where you often think, I wish I had more time? Do you go to the parties and give this excuse? Sorry, I could not call you. I have been so busy lately. Do any of the following comments remind you of yourself?

    I have too many things going on!

    I am booked for the next five weeks!

    Only one person can work at a time because of our toddler.

    If that is the way you think, then this book is for you.

    How long has it been since you called your parents, children, or your loved ones? Are you one of those people who is invariably late for parties and appointments? Do you often rush to the grocery store to pick up a single item or condiment? Do you keep postponing your activities related to your hobbies, health, or classes because you don’t have time? If your answer to any of the above questions is yes, then you seriously need to consider implementing personal time management.

Once, my boss asked my colleague, How come you never stay late after work? Everyone else stays back! To this, he replied: If I stay late, it means either I am inefficient or I am overloaded. If I am overloaded, it implies you are inefficient.… and I am sure you agree that neither of us is inefficient! It was true. He, indeed, did manage time very well and was very sincere. His boss never asked him that question again.

If you are busy in day-to-day life and want to do more or enjoy more, but you can’t, then there are some very useful tips for you throughout this book. This book was written basically for anyone who wants to utilize his time for his personal life in order to take maximum benefit out of life. This book has essentially been written keeping in view the time management related to one’s personal life.

Even though this book is not written with the salesperson or businessman in mind, they can still use the techniques described in this book for the benefit of business time management. Outlined in this book are some simple tips and techniques I found practical in my life. Through this book, I am not going to motivate you to work harder. What I’m trying to communicate here is simply how you can work more efficiently (and effectively, as explained below) and enjoy your life, making the most of it.

Efficient vs. Effective— What Is the Difference?

Effective: Working effectively means you are using the time to its best advantage. If you utilize the time that you would have otherwise wasted, you are being effective.

Efficient: Working efficiently means producing more work in a given time period. So, when you use technology (say, a vacuum cleaner), you are producing more work in given time than you would have in its absence.

If you were to take a notepad and start writing down how much time you waste, you would be surprised. One wastes time all the time. It’s interesting that sometimes, one does it without realizing it: Waiting at the mall for your spouse; waiting at the doctor’s office; traveling in the car, looking out of the passenger window; traveling on the train for work; traveling on the bus; waiting for your flight; waiting during the flight; waiting for your car wash;