Use your time… While you have it!!
If someone were to ask us “what is one thing that you are most passionate about?” a lot of us would give an enthusiastic response in a heartbeat. If it were followed by the question, “What have you done about it?” I am sure most of us would have answered, “nothing much”, “I DON’T HAVE THE TIME”. Or, how many times have we sat at our monotonous day jobs and wondered, “if I only had more time to read that book” or “if I only had the time to learn how to play the guitar”. Still better or worse, how many times have we watched something really interesting on YouTube and known for sure, that we could have done a better job at the same concept than the current creator?
We humans are extremely complicated beings. When we get something in abundance, we often don’t know how to deal with it. We need not look further than a lottery winner to understand this weakness we all suffer from. I once read an article that said, 70% of the people who win a lottery go broke in a matter of a few years. That’s mind-boggling, considering the windfall is always pretty staggering. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Most people don’t really know how to handle money. Financial management at its worse!
The quote, “Time is Money” now suddenly makes a lot more sense. but, from a totally different perspective. We are just as bad at managing our time as we are with our Money. We always say we don’t have the time and when we do, we don’t really know how to use it. We don’t do the things we ought to do because we don’t manage the time we ought to manage!
Enter COVID-19!
And suddenly we are found with large swaths of time (Depending on the nature of our work) and way more companionship with our own mind and Voices! The question is how are we appropriating it? Are we sitting on the couch all day scrolling through social media? Or, Binge watch a series on Netflix? Or, go down the YouTube rabbit hole like Alice? If the answer is a loud Affirmative, then that begs a louder question – are we really passionate about the things we claim to be passionate about?
The flipside of being that Complex creatures is that we have been endowed with this Innate ability to learn and grow. To share our experiences and experience through our imagination. We have the capacity to pause when we have to, change when we need to and head in a new direction when we want to. But the question is, are you willing to?
Stephen Covey, the author of famous time management Matrix said, “The key is not spending time, But in Investing it”. Time is the most valuable possession in our hands and yet many of us value it the least. We often choose to blame the circumstances for the many miseries of our life. But, not for once do we reflect on the misuse of our time that got us there in the first place. That is not to say that all our issues proceed from the mismanagement of our time? No. But I do believe that it plays a significant role in many of our problems. There is no denying the fact that better use of our time can put us in a better position to deal with the uncertainty of our life. Our past impacts our present and our present determines our future. We might not be able to see the future, but we can certainly prepare for the possibilities. Numerous studies over the years have shown how time management has a positive impact on people’s lives.
If we investigate the lives of the current day paragons in various fields, the one characteristic that runs through their otherwise different lives would be there sense of time management! And by managing time they are and have prepared mentally and Physically for the future.
The current COVID-19 Situation is a call for reset. A silver-lining in the vast stretch of nimbus. A blessing in the midst of relentless turmoil. So how can we reset? So how can we use this overflow of time at our hands? How can we build a wall that separates us from the pre and post Corona? How can we set a path that makes the most and best use of our time?
We need to spend this time wisely to grow and learn, and try to come out of this as a better version of ourselves If you already know how you are going to make use of this time? Great! Get to it! But if you are somebody who is not sure where to start; then here are a few things (In no particular order) that i believe is a better use of time.
Remember, the idea is not to come out of this quarantine as experts in a field. The Idea is to get a kickstart that could hopefully lead to a more personalized and permanent lifestyle. Here are some of the Best Things to do during Coronavirus Lockdown.
Things to do during Coronavirus Lockdown
Reading Books
Ah! The activity that the entire world seemingly loves and hardly ever does! Now Imagine, if someone walks up to you and says, they have done years of research and have knowledge on a particular topic and would like to transfer all that knowledge to you. Would you dare to say, No? Well, there is no such possible humanly transfer. However, there is an Alternative – Books!
Years of efforts, Knowledge and Experience handed to us on a silver platter. What took someone years to learn, you can now learn it in a matter of days.
Books are a reproduction of someone’s years and years of acquiring and learning and available readily for our taking. If you look through history a lot of the millionaires credit their success to reading books. Reading books not just increases your knowledge but there are multiple other proven benefits. Well, to name a few; Reduces Stress and Anxiety, Helps sleep better, Enhances your imagination, Better Focus and memory, Better Vocabulary and Better writing skills.
I am sure a lot of us could use some of the above-mentioned benefits. So, what are you waiting for? Go pick up a book and start reading. If your excuse is that you don’t have a book and can’t get one because of the lockdown? Well, the very phone that traps you down the rabbit hole is also known to be a very effective e-book reader! There are thousands, if not millions of free books out there on the internet. You have a ton of paid and Free Applications for both Android and iOS that you can download and start reading. Starting a new habit has never been this easy!
Workout
There is not a soul in the world who doesn’t wish to live a fit and healthy life. but when it comes to putting in the effort, not a lot of us are keen on it. This is a no brainer. “No pain, No gain”. We don’t need to be an expert to understand the benefits of working out. For centuries physical activity has proven to be directly beneficial to the health of humans. Yet, a lot of us hate working out. Well, this is your chance, the chance to make that lifestyle change! Again, you don’t need to come out of the quarantine ripped like an Athlete. Let’s save it for another day. The idea is to get started. To Begin that healthy lifestyle you always dreamt of, a small step towards achieving that fitness goal you always spoke about. In this Technologically advanced world that we live in, we don’t even need to go to the gym to workout. There is a ton of resources on the internet that can help you get started. Not to mention the scores of Apps that are at your disposal. Apart from the health benefits Physical activity has other benefits too; it Gives you a Confidence boost, help you feel more Happier, helps your Skin health, makes you mentally stronger, can even Help in Controlling Addiction and the list goes on and on…
Disclaimer: If you do not have prior experience of working out, we would suggest you start slow and increase the intensity gradually. Also, if you are suffering from any medical conditions, we would recommend consulting a doctor first.
Meditation
A lot of us are familiar with the word Meditation but not all of us completely understand its meaning. For a lot of people, the first picture that comes to mind when they hear the word meditation is a monk sitting in isolation! There is a lot to meditation then meets the eye. Meditation is more about training yourself to increase your awareness and to have a different perspective about the things in life. Meditation is to our mind and soul what physical exercise is to our body and yet we seldom care about training our minds.
The state of mind we are in at a particular time determines the outcome of the activities we are performing at that particular time. How often have we experienced this in our day to day activities? Let me tell you, meditation is definitely not an easy skill to master. But, not impossible. It takes practice. And if you are willing to put in the effort, you can learn it too. The more you practice the better you will get.
There are various kinds of meditation that you can practice. Below are a couple of popular ones:
Focused Meditation:
This form of Meditation is the most popular. In this form of mediation you try to focus your attention on your breath. This is more difficult than it sounds. Our mind is always at work, there are always thoughts that are running through our head. The idea is to control these thoughts and focus all our attention on our breathing.in the beginning You will experience your mind starting to wander after a few moments, but with practice you will learn to control it.
Mindfulness Meditation:
This is another popular form of meditation and highly recommended for the beginners. In this form of meditation, you try to be fully present in the moment. You focus all your attention on the thoughts in your head without being judgmental or getting caught up in them. We can use this form of meditation to teach ourselves to stay calm in a pressure situation. Learning to be present in the moment can help us stay focused and make better decisions. It also helps us to reflect on our own selves. We can understand our patterns and how we behave in certain situations and focus on getting better in our everyday tasks.
There are hundreds of forms of meditation that you can practice. But Focused and Mindfulness are good to get started with. If you would like to learn more about different kinds of meditation, we recommend you to read this article.
Skill sharing
Finally, sharing your skill with others is a great use of your time. The best part of sharing your knowledge is it can only Multiply. If you think you have a skill or knowledge on a certain topic you can choose to share it with other by creating a blog Or make a detailed YouTube video about it. In my opinion this is nothing short of social service. You can help someone improve their skills. There are people out there who are willing to put in the work but don’t know where to start. You could be the beacon of light for them. In fact, this can also be a great way to make some Passive income. You can now do all this from the comfort of your home. There is very popular platform called Fiverr that helps people use their skills to make money. We recently made a detailed video on how you can use Fiverr to make some extra money in your free time. You should definitely check it out.
Conclusion
You already know what you are passionate about. But now the question is, what are you going to do about it? I would encourage you to take a moment and think about it. Set a goal and start working towards it. To achieve that goal you need to simply make better use of your time. There is nothing you cannot achieve as long as you are ready to put in the effort. We often wish to make our passion our profession but fail to invest our time in making it a reality. I would like to leave you with this quote by Henry ford, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re Right.”
Author
Godwin Ronnie
