Photo Credits: Google Images
I know we all are busy throughout the day. We don’t have one task at hand, but multiple tasks to complete within a day. Whether we are working in an office, or we are at home, our tasks seem to be never ending.
That sounds truly great! You know why? Because, all of us are sailing in the same boat and we all love singing this song, ‘no time in life, tasks to handle too many more’ ‘we are busy people, so go and knock at someone else’s door’. But, you know what, singing this song neither gets us nomination in the lyrics category nor in the category of best singer in our LIFE’S AWARDS.
So, what do we do? I think, it’s better if we change the lyrics and together sing this song, ‘We have all the time in the world and we do what matters to most to us’. Because we get what we ask and together we should ask for the best, I hope you remember, the lesson from the Secret, our wish is his command (the Universe). And even if we don’t get any trophy in this, I think, we will still be happy by singing this song together! What say?
So here are 4 tips, which I think, if you follow, you can get more time to read the best books in the world. Or you can find more time for your own self to develop a new habit, which you have been procrastinating since very long . Although, I would want you to start with reading habit first, because I want you to be the best, the best in whatever you do, big or small, in whatever field may be you in. So here are my tips:
1. Become Your Own James Bond 007. This is truly interesting. One day my son was watching James Bond movie (by the way his movie tastes are much better than mine) and I sat with him, and soon I was drawn into the 007 world of action, suspense, thrill, romance and intense drama. Gosh, I was just into it. Sitting glued to my TV Screen. And soon my mom joined in without making head and tail out of the story which was going on the TV screen. All three of us there, two hushed and the third one shouting at our heads. Ok, I must stop this description right away and come to the main point. What surprised me was this- how he does what he does. I mean finding out the secrets and getting the right clues and then connecting them one by one, ultimately finding the culprit. And then, suddenly this idea popped up in my head what if I too become my own 007, The James Bond.
And you know what? When I become my own 007, I detected the culprit within me. I detected the procrastinator, the purposeless finder and the unfocused offender inside me who was escaping from the penetrating detector. I was constantly delaying the things that I wanted to do, I was doing mindless surfing on the internet and was jumping from one page to another everyday, was one such detection. More are given at the end.
2. Become Your own Mathematician. Although, I am brilliantly poor at Mathematics, but my book mentors like Earl Nightingale, Brain Tracy, Antony Robbins , Robin Sharma and bloggers like Leo Babuta and Michal Hyatt forced me to do this simple calculation. Now, it’s you turn.
Monitor yourself and count the seconds, minutes and hours spent on each activity done in a day. Out of 168 hours in a week how much time do you spend on watching serials, sensational news, checking your mobile phone every now and then, engaging in social media and checking Facebook notifications, whatsapp messages and purposeless internet surfing. I calculated, I was spending 30 to 40 hours in a week. And I think, I could have used these hours in doing something more meaningful like reading a book for 30 minutes in a day, exercising for 20 minutes, meditating for even 5 minutes in a day, which is indeed difficult, going for a walk, say for 30 minutes or writing on my blog! Being my own Mathematics teacher has helped me, I think that would be of great help to you as well.
3. Find the Empty Spaces in Your Life. We all have empty spaces in our lives and we just need to use these spaces to be more creative and productive. Whether we are travelling in a metro or waiting for our next flight at airport, we have some empty spaces and we can use them more judiciously. Download the books or audio tapes by your favorite authors and you can greatly enjoy them in your travelling rides or empty spaces. And yes, when you are stuck up in traffic snarl-up, or standing in queue at a general store, waiting for your turn to come, you can always enjoy to read or to listen the audio book. And you know what; there are the added benefits as well. You feel more engaged, relaxed, more productive and less stressed. What else do we all expect?
4. Schedule Your Reading Hours. If you are quite serious about reading books, then make it a regular habit and schedule it in your calendar. One of my favorite blogger these days, Michael Hyatt, suggests that whatever gets schedules gets done. He is a big believer in that. And I think, I am also becoming of that sort. Early morning hours are the best, but you may schedule it according to your weeks’s and day’s plan. We follow schedules and complete most of those scheduled tasks like we have schedule for meetings, for lectures, for Parent Teacher Meetings and what not, so why not schedule for Reading hours. While thinkers, philosophers, researchers, writers and teachers have such schedule for reading hours, so I think, we as students, engineers, managers and parents should also fix our reading hours. And again, I would re-iterate, if Bill Gates and Warren Buffet too can schedule their reading hours, why can’t we? I think, we too need to sharpen our saw which is habit number 7 by Stephen Covey and must set this as one of the priorities in our lives. It is all about setting priorities in life, reminds me, one of my dear students and I think he always makes his priority well defined in his life. He knows his priorities, what about you?
Now, it’s time for me to share my full report. By hiring 007, and becoming my own mathematician I found this, I was watching a lot of TV, of course, including some good shows , but most of them I was watching without any rhyme and reason. I was checking the same, old mails, and reading them again and again. And next, after every few minutes, my mobile gave alarm and I was jumping like an Olympic high-jumper to see who has said what to whom and why. And I don’t know why? At times my presence and contribution was not required, I think most of the times it was not needed but ironically I was present in all those moments. all the times. And I think, I was just filling my day and completing a day, without any purpose and without any meaning and without any accomplishment. Most of the things were automatic and I was not even thinking what I was doing. I was doing it because it was automatic and I was on an auto pilot mode I guess, but heading in wrong direction. Now I think, I am happy that I hired 007, I was not embarrassed in public, he only showed me my own mistakes and I am sure you too would not share my these discoveries in public with anyone else. It is between you and me (Promise me, you won’t).
So, I suggest you to hire your James Bond and a Mathematician and let them monitor what you do all day long. What is the first thing that you do in the morning, check you mobile phone, right? Because that is all I have been doing all these days, at times, involuntarily. This just became a ritual before brushing the teeth in the morning. Tell me, if I am wrong. I know I caught you right. I am not against anything; I just want you to monitor this.
Because I don’t want to hear that you don’t have time to read books and to do what matters most to you.
And here is another gift for you by Michael Hyatt, his latest free eBook. Enjoy and schedule your own time to read great Books!
Have happy reading hours and enjoy his free-eBook!
Credits: Google Images
Credits: Google Images