The problem is that these tight schedules often advance our corporate of financial goals but starve us of emotional and spiritual nourishment. This model of time-management is not sustainable as it's skewed towards certain needs and not others.
The key then to an effective time-management model is balance. If you divide your life into four quarters, they would roughly fall into these broad categories:
First, your basic needs - this quarter contains all the essential things your physical body needs in order to function efficiently. This includes things like wholesome foods, quality sleep, enough water and exercise and so on.
The next quarter comprises our creative faculties. This mainly includes our store of knowledge, talents and skills, but can consist of anything creative or inspirational like new ideas, empowering attitudes and self-improvement practices. This quarter also includes work and projects that help develop our skills.
The third quarter is concerned primarily with intellectual thought. It is different from the creative quarter because it doesn't include any action. This is pure thinking - things like introspection, evaluation of the people and things around you, planning, problem-solving, analyzing, learning and decision-making. This quarter is also heavily involved with the metaphysical or the philosophical realms of your being - what's our purpose? What gives our lives meaning? This quarter is what gives passion and intent to our activities.
The final quarter involves our relationships - with our partners, our kin, our friends, our colleagues and associates. The activities we engage in that involve or are related to them - the time we spend with them, the love and care we show them, the conversations we have with them, the emotional rewards that we get from quality relationships.
Spread your time equally among these four quarters and you are well on your way to achieving the success and happiness you want.
Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd
