These days I feel I do not have enough time to do all the things I’d love to in a day. My routine, seems to be fixed, busy and inflexible- wake up, shower, rush to the office, run around and get work done, knock off, walk back home, cook, shower again, time to sleep- then next day- same routine again. These days more than ever, I have been curiously questioning myself, is this all there is to life? Can’t we do more than trek between the office and home? I wonder? My questions, on this tightly boxed routine have led me to two of the most constant and powerful forces of the universe: time and change!
Everyone has the same twenty four hours in a day. Some people seem to do and achieve more in the 24 hours of their day than others. Some people even seem to be more in control of their time and outputs more others, enthusiastically living their values and time’s working for them. Change is a constant that moves along with time and my observation, especially during this time as a Fellow is that we have to manage our time well in order the lives we want. This also call for a paradigm shift, a tilt in our routines, focus, priorities, beliefs, and to be ready for whatever form of change we may encounter. For example, one may ask, what economic activity can I engage in, to still have the time and financial freedom I desire?
What then, is my solution to being more in control of my routine, having the time freedom to live up to all my other values and manage change? It is planning! The same way we plan our projects at work, is the same way, I am now resorting to planning my days, to every detail of the second. Whatever was not planned for, I have also planned to either, postponed it to the another time, or completely do away with it.
Great leadership comes with planning our time and change in order to live a life of purpose. “Time changes everything, except something within us which is always surprised by change”, Thomas Hardy.