Making the Time

Today’s thoughts; As Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be… the greatest prodigality.” Keeping that in mind I ask, how much time do you waste? Wasting time is not truly a problem until there are things left undone. When work is left unfinished, projects to be completed, and skills left to be learned. Reflecting on my own life I look at my busy schedule as a full time student at OSU and a full time paramedic I would consider myself quite busy, but in spite of this busy schedule there is much time wasted. When a man has wasted time and desires to be fulfilled it makes the most sense to fill your idle time, waste as little of this precious resource as possible so that you can be as effective as possible. There are a few methods I have employed to make myself more effective.


The first of these methods being the importance of making a plan. Scheduling your day and forming a plan of attack takes only a few minutes each day and yields your time much more effective. Schedule in order of priority and then in order of those things taking up the largest blocks of time. Once you have filled the largest portions of your day you will have a general idea of what you need to do.

Then it’s time to fit in the little tasks, making phone calls, paying bills, and writing letters. I found that making a list of all of the small things gives you a better way of keeping accountable for the little things. Rather than schedule a time to take care of the little tasks try to fit them in to the odd hours of your day. While you are waiting in line at the store make that quick phone call. If you have canceled meetings make use of that time to run an errand or pay a bill. By doing this you will find your day having larger blocks of free time with less going on allowing you to take on bigger projects or take advantage of this time to actually rest.

Work out often. Even though working out takes away time it can make you much more productive during your day since you will be health and more full of energy. A good work out can take as little as 30 minutes and can be done at home or outside, you don’t need a gym membership to get exercise. Remember the most benefits will be gained by cardiovascular exercise. Tied in with a good work out are healthy eating habits. These habits don’t develop overnight so work at it slowly buy first adding in healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables and then deleting unhealthy habits such as soda, sugary snacks, and fatty foods. Don’t forget this is a lifelong goal not a sprint race so be slow and realistic with your goals so that you do not become discouraged and fail.

Sleep is another interesting topic when it comes to time management. Sleep I’ve been told by a very special lady is about balance. If you sleep too much you will be wasting time and too little sleep makes anyone ineffective. “The sleeping fox catches no poultry… there will be sleeping enough in the grave.” Benjamin Franklin. I agree here to a point but I have found in myself that in the pursuit of my goals I frequently choose work over sleep and after reaching a certain threshold I have found that without sleep you will find yourself in an early grave.

Don’t kill yourself but keep busy because there is always work to be done when the job is self improvement!