One common trait of successful people is that they don’t waste time. They Invest time rather than spending it. Throughout the World and all history, every Greatness, every Success story, every commanded respect, all begins, is sustained or crumbles by the art of personal time management. I believe Africa is greatly despised by the Globe due to our Lack of and poor time management skills. Anyone who can’t manage his time can’t manage his own life and easily become a slave to the ones who can make use of that time properly. I guess this sadly explains why most Africans work better under other races.
Brilliant Personal Time Management Discipline is a sign of self-led leadership that can confidently be converted to great organizational leadership. It is only when we Africans begin to channel our, Time, Focus and Energy toward our Purposes, Dreams, visions, and things that add value to our Lives, that we shall see our African Continent become the envy of the Globe and earn respect. I also strongly believe Time management must be instilled in us from our childhood stages if we are to grow up into self-led responsible Leaders that shall in turn Lead Africa into its Development and Economic Freedom. It must be taught and strictly practiced in all African schools.
Look: You can’t feed every Social media attention, you can’t chat to everyone nor visit everyone’s house and still manage to read 50 books each year simply for personal development and global growth as Bill Gates, the 16th time richest man on earth does each year. It is impossible! Social media interaction REGULATION is impossible without time management Discipline.
With poor or a lack of time management, idleness is inevitable and an idle mind is the Workshop of the devil, explaining all the hype of the Get rich with no sweat scheme, that’s going on all over the African continent Churches lately, well, except in Muslim African Countries of course where they believe in, ‘’God only blesses the works of one’s hands.’’ Indeed God has to find your Brains and hands diligently engaged and working on something he can breathe life upon, before he can ‘’Bless’’ you.
My Dear fellow Africans, Even the richest people on earth know what it means to spend several sleepless nights working and engaging their Brains for their health benefit, Global development, growing Wealth, Talents and influence. It is actually impossible to be Wealthy, Lazy and Poor time manager at the same time. It is impossible. It is a Myth!
Get your brains engaged, make closest friendships with Libraries, making Great and wise use of your Gadgets even if it is a little Blackberry phone you only own. I have been there and it worked. The very first time I ever downloaded all the Leadership Books I needed in 2009, it was in PDF format, I did it with my Blackberry Curve, then I loaded all the books to my laptop using a USB, from online Libraries called b-ok.org, HopeFaithPrayer and sermonindex.net , that I had discovered in my inquisitiveness that led to keenly and intriguingly searching for Online Libraries and thankfully spending nothing much on Data Cost, except my monthly Blackberry subscription and if you own a Blackberry, you can still make use of that service, actually.
Please, urgently Turn your phone into a Library and Research hub. Research in the area of your Purpose and relevance, research the lives of people that once walked your desired path, check the Biographies of those who succeeded and those that failed in it and see what you can learn from both journeys.
Instilling the importance of Time Management in our African Children.
It is our responsibility as African Women to teach our Teenage Girls and Children at large that, If you want something big to happen, you need to dedicate time to it, even if you don’t know exactly what has to be done.
Most adults struggle with time management and teens are no different. Actually, Teens and Time management are words that are not often used together and our African Teenage Girls and boys have to be taught and prepared with facts that, Yes, High school can be very busy. But the adult world can be even busier. So it’s important to start teaching our them how to manage their time now, especially in an era where our teen’s time may easily get taken up with video games or social media if they have no counsel and adults they can positively emulate. It is also important to help them note that according to a scientific research, students who used devices late at night performed worse on various measures than their well-rested peers.
Unfortunately, Teenagers who don’t learn time management skills are at risk of becoming lifelong procrastinators and that’s one on of the bad habits that has stagnated Africa’s growth until now. And besides, waiting until the last possible minute to get things done could cause problems ranging from social to economical trouble.
Parents, please note that, while your teenagers may get by OK by waiting until the last possible second to complete their high school science lab or their math project, procrastination can be a big problem later in life. Your teen’s future boss or college professors aren’t likely to accept late work, or the excuses that accompany delayed projects
Let’s talk to our Teenagers about how to prioritize activities, based on his values and commitments.
It’s important to teach our Teenagers how to behave responsibly and that means managing their time wisely without requiring constant reminders or assistance to get their work done. Let’s Teach them to schedule their day so they can set aside time for chores, homework, and other responsibilities. Let’s encourage them to schedule free time as well, so time doesn’t idly pass without feeling like they haven’t done anything fun. Let’s teach our African Teenagers that it all fits in the 168 hours they (and we) have each week and 168 hours is a lot of time which can pass by too quickly if you don’t figure out where those hours should go, and you’re relying on chance to get things done.
Every night before I go to bed I plan out my day, I figure out what time I need to wake up, and plan the rest of the day in 30-to-60-minute increments. By planning everything out, one, I know I’ll do it, and two, I know I’ll do it in a timely fashion. Having a schedule means keeping myself sane through all the crazy things I have to get done. It is really vital and helpful.
Let’s teach our African Teenagers that by showing them how it’s done, not just by words. They learn better when they watch it consistently being done.
Teenagers that do make the choice to organize and manage their time are going to succeed.
At the same time, we need to help our Children find what really works for them instead of imposing our old ways of doing things on them. For example, I tried experimenting using my cell phone to keep lists and schedules to help manage my time, but I found that writing it down with pen and paper increases my commitment, because that’s what I was initially introduced to, growing up and it has always worked for me. Writing it down with pen and paper means I really have to do this. On a cellular device it’s less real, less solidified to me.
Let’s allow them to go with what works for them, that is what is important. Let’s make it our priority to encourage our Teenagers to establish healthy habits, like doing their designated chores right after school. Once they get into the routine of doing things in a certain order, they won’t have to waste time thinking about what to do next.
And remember, it can be tempting to nag your teen or offer repeat reminders. But, telling your teen to do his/her homework or his chores over and over again reduces his/her responsibility. Just Set rules about your expectations and follow through with consequences when necessary. Then, your teen will learn to manage his/her time better in the future.
Overall, Be strict with your time. Don’t Love Sleep. Be stingy with your time. Invest your time, Do not spend it. Your life on earth and all you are to accomplish down here is wrapped up in time. Let’s invest time in who and what matters most. Africa Desperately NEEDS us. The Future of Africa can clearly be seen right now in the daily routine of its people. Will it be Total Freedom or Enslavement of our Children? #Selah
