QUALITY TIME

The quality of time is the only variable, since you cannot increase the quantity of time you receive. Your time is your time. It belongs to no one else. No one else can spend it for you. Other people may make demands on how you spend your time, but it is still you who must do the spending. Only you can improve the quality of your time. Ultimately, you spend your time as will.

No one can force you to spend your time effectively; no one can prevent you from wasting your time. Many people maintain that others control their time, but this is not totally true. In the last analysis, no one has any more control over your time than you are willing to allow. Most people have far more potential for managing their own time than they realize. Much of the control they impute to others is really lack of self control. They are intimidated by the demands of others and thus allow themselves to be controlled.

The way you spend your time defines who you are. More than what you say, what you wear, what friends you choose, or what you think, the way you spend your time describes you. Many people say one thing, but their actions relay another message. For example, they spend relatively little time playing with their children, relating to their spouse, or visiting with their parents- participating in the myriad activities that define family relationships. It is what a person does- not what a person says- that is important.

To discover where people's values lie, look at how they spend their time. the person who claims to value family above all other things yet spends little or no time with the family has some serious questions to consider. Is the family truly as important as claimed? Or is family only supposed to be important? If the family is actually a high priority item, quality as well as quantity of time should be placed on this aspect of a person's life. Excuses for why this is not possible won't do. Remember, time is life. The way you spend your time defines your life- who you are. Your time is your own and your commitment to time management is really a commitment to yourself- and what is important to your life.