The final point about time management is the concept of balance. The most important thing that you can instill in your life is balance and moderation. By practicing the methods, ideas, and techniques in this book, you will become a master time manager, and have more time for your family and your personal life.
Often, people take time management programs so that they can increase the number of things that they can do on a day-to-day basis. However, as the wise man said, “There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.”
The main purpose of learning and practicing time management skills is to enhance and improve the overall quality of your life. It is to increase the amount of pleasure and happiness you experience.
No matter how appropriate your job is for you, the quality of your life is going to be largely determined by three things. The first is the quality of your inner life: how well you get along with yourself, how much you like yourself, and how good you feel about your character and personality. Inner development takes time and reflection, plus reading and thinking about the great questions of life.
The second area is your health. No amount of success will compensate for ill health. Take time to eat the right foods, exercise regularly, and get proper rest and recreation. Sometimes, the best use of your time is to go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep.
Finally, and most important of all, take time for your relationships. The people you care about and who care about you are the most critical factors in your life. Never allow yourself to get so caught up in your work that you ignore the primacy of those key relationships with your spouse, children, and close friends.
A great life is one that is in balance. If you spend sufficient time preserving and enhancing the quality of your relationships, you will find that you get more joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment out of your work; you’ll find success.
A wise old doctor once observed, “I never spoke to a businessman on his deathbed who said that he wished he had spent more time in the office.”
Thank you, and good luck in using these ideas in every part of your life.