STRANDS OF TIME

"You don’t need the whole day to do the big things you want to do. You can do them in many few seconds" - Terry Mante

AS AN author I have come to discover that I don’t need to have eight straight hours to produce one script for publication. I don’t even need to have one hour to be at my disposal at a particular moment in order to put together one piece of literary work. All I need is what I call “The Strands of Time” – a minute here to do a sentence, another minute there to cross a ‘t’ or dot an ‘I.’ The strand of time is probably the most powerful concept that has dawned on me in my quest to manage time effectively.

A strand is a thin piece of something such as wire, string, rope or hair which is put together to make up a complex whole. The strands of time refer to the inevitable moments of time that are often vacant. They are the minutes in-between meetings, hours in the queue at the bank, time spent in traffic, the ten or twenty minutes you spend waiting for the waitress to make good your meal order, the few seconds you spend while waiting for the lift or when you are in the loo.

The line “I don’t have time” comes up a lot when I interact with people, especially young executives. They are so busy that they are unable to even make time to add value to themselves, pray to God, maintain friendships and stay in touch with family. But then, in-between their busy schedules, they could exploit some opportunities to take care of certain important aspects of their lives. When you have a meeting and the meeting has not started, what do you do? When you are in a queue at the bank, do you complain or use time well? You don’t need the whole day to do the big things you want to do. You can do them in many few seconds.

Bathroom time: When I was much younger, I used to read newspapers in the toilet. At that time I was not conscious of the fact that I was redeeming time. But as I kept reading the papers over time, I realised I had become quite abreast of current affairs and that I could discuss many issues. In my present life, I read not only the newspapers in the toilet but I also read the Bible and other books. So I am able to kill many birds with one stone. Sometimes, I use that time to meditate and pray. So while I attend to my needs in the toilet, I also get other things done. But hey if you are experiencing constipation and you find yourself on the white throne, this advise may not be good for you. Just stay focused on your mission for being there.

Waiting time: In Ghana, one of the ways we experience leakages in time is to be on time for a programme or meeting. You arrive on time for a meeting with a CEO and you are asked to wait because the person is engaged in something else. Or you arrive at 5:30pm for a programme scheduled to start at 6pm. What about when you arrive exactly at 6pm and the programme starts half-an-hour or even an hour later? In all these situations – waiting for CEO or waiting for a programme to start – how do you make use of the waiting time? When you visit the restaurant and place your order, do you just sit and wait? Have you considered the time you spend every Saturday waiting for your turn at the hair salon?

From my experience, I have seen that such waiting times could be used productively. Most of the time, you would find me reading a book at that time. Other times, I would be sending a text message or checking out what the latest news in town is or updating my Facebook page – courtesy my phone. You must also decide to make those moments of your life count. While you are in a queue at the bank, that’s when you could send a quick “I love you” text to your loved one, determine your shopping list, or read a few lines of an enriching book you might have on you.

In-traffic delay: Traffic situation in Accra gets quite annoying and frustrating sometimes. A simple trip that should last as short as 15 minutes could take over an hour to complete. How can you make the best use of such a situation? If you are driving your own car, that’s when you may want to catch up on radio stuff or play some uplifting audio – music, book, training material, sermon, etc. If you find yourself in public transport – taxi or what we refer to in Ghana as trotro – you may read, meditate or do something else that is practicable and important rather than merely being anxious or angry at the traffic.

REMEMBER that time that has passed is irrecoverable and that there will be moments when circumstances may want to push some of your time under the bridge. That is when you can redeem some time and use it to do a bit of something that you may not have the bulk of time to execute.

© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana
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