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You have only twenty four hours at your disposal in a day; Out of these, you have got to allocate necessarily your time for eating, sleeping and daily ablutions. When you are hard pressed for time, would you not normally squeeze the available time in these biological necessities? Most of us do and it is precisely wrong.

A healthy body requires 7 to 8 hours of sound sleep a day. If you squeeze it, you feel sleepy and lazy at waking hours and lose concentration. Consequently, without your knowledge your work stretches more, petty mistakes creep in that eat up time in doing rectification. Though it may sound queer, the sound advice for saving time is - sleep well!

For want of time, people eat less at breakfast; hurry their lunch. Researchers say that for sustained energy needs for the day, one has to take a sumptuous and nutritious breakfast. If you miss it, you feel restless and tensed up which builds pressure at work; Result? Loss of concentration and efficiency, which in turn eat away valuable time. Though it may sound weird, the healthy advice for saving time is take your time to fill your stomach healthily!

Apart from these two out-of-ordinary suggestions, here are some solid tips to save time in a day:

(1) Avoid unnecessary meetings with your boss:

Most of the bosses think that they have every right to eat away the productive time of their sub-ordinates. If you go to your boss' cabin for a consultation, he will keep himself busy attending phone calls while keeping you waiting. He would be interested in discussing with you all matters other than your core issue. Remember: Your time could be more valuable than his!

(2) Avoid unnecessary meetings with your subordinates:

Assuming that you are a different type of boss who is hard pressed for time, make your meetings with your sub-ordinates brief and to the point. If a scheduled meeting could be avoided altogether, it is best to cancel it.

(3) Switch off your cell phone:

Be determined to complete your urgent task within a specific time and until that time, be bold enough to switch off your cell phone. Ask your secretary (if you have one) to attend to the incoming calls from the office phone.

(4) Travel less:

By better oral and written communication, avoid making unnecessary visits to meet any one whether customers, sub-contractors or higher ups. Traveling is one of the greatest time wasters.

(5) Do one thing at a time:

The secret of time management is concentration and the secret of concentration is focus on one thing at a time.

(6) Say a firm but polite "No" to obligations:

A colleague may want to discuss with you about his problem with girl friend; A senior may like to share a hot office politics with you. Do not allow others to eat away your valuable time just because you want to be courteous to them.

Time is like money. Never allow it to boss over you.

Learn more about this author, C.V.Rajan.
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