Time management

Time management includes tools or techniques for planning and scheduling time, usually with the aim to increase the effectiveness and/or efficiency of personal and corporate time use. These are embodied in a number of books, seminars and courses, which may offer conflicting advice. The common denominators of these strategies are a to-do-list, setting priorities and goal management. Some of the best known examples of time management strategies are tied to specific lines of time management products. Time management for personal use is a type of self-management. In a corporate setting, time management software can satisfy the need to control employees, make it easier to coordinate work and increases accountability of individual employees.
Planning time and writing to-do-lists also consumes time and needs to be scheduled. This is one of the major criticisms of time management.
Overview
Time management strategies are usually associated with the recommendation to set goals. These goals are written down and broken down into a project, an action plan or a simple to-do-list. Deadlines are set and priorities are assigned to the individual items on the to-do-list. This process results in a daily plan with a to-do-list. Some authors recommend a weekly instead of a daily perspective.

Task list

A task list (also to-do list) is a list of tasks to be completed, such as chores or steps toward completing a project. It is an inventory tool that serves as an alternative to memory.
Task lists are used in self-management, grocery lists, business management, and project management. It may involve more than one list. When you accomplish one of the items on a task list, you check it off or cross it off. The traditional method is to write these on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil, usually on a note pad or clip-board. Numerous software equivalents are now available, and many popular e-mail clients include task list applications, as do most PDAs.

Task list organization

Task lists are often tiered. The simplest tiered system includes a general to-do list (or task-holding file) to record all the tasks the person needs to accomplish, and a daily to-do list which is created each day by transferring tasks from the general to-do list.
Task lists are often prioritized:
One method of organizing a general to-do list is the ABC method]. With this approach, the list is divided into three sections, labelled A, B, and C, containing tasks that need to be done within a day, a week, and a month, respectively.
To prioritize a daily task list, one either records the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assigns them a number after they are listed ("1" for highest priority, "2" for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which order to execute the tasks. The latter method is generally faster, allowing the tasks to be recorded more quickly.

Resistors

1. 
   Fear of change: Change can be daunting and one may be afraid to change what's proven to work in the past.
2. 
   Uncertainty: Even with the change being inevitable, one may be hesitant as being not sure where to start. Uncertainty about when or how to begin making a change can be significant.
3. 
   Lack of time: To save time, one has to invest time, and this time investment may be a cause of concern. Fearing that changing may involve more work at the start is a common resistor.
4. 
   Lack of will power: Why change if one really not need to? The greatest resistor to change is a lack of will.
   

Drivers

1. 
   Increased effectiveness: One may feel the need to make more time so as to be more effective in performing the job and carrying out responsibilities.
   Performance improvement: Time management is an issue that often arises during performance appraisals or review meetings.
2. 
   Personal development: One may view changing the approach to time management as a personal development issue and reap the benefit of handling time differently at work and at home.
3. Increased responsibilities: A change in time-management approach may become necessary as a result of a promotion or additional responsibilities. Since there are more work to do, and still the same amount of time to do it in, the approach must change.

Caveats

Dwelling on the lists

Task lists "aren't the key to productivity [that] they're cracked up to be".
This could be caused by procrastination: by prolonging the planning activity, the individual avoids the tasks he should be doing by creating the illusion that he's still necessarily preparing for them. This is akin to analysis paralysis. As with any activity, there's a point of diminishing returns. For a task system to be efficient and effective, the user must recognize this, conquer his or her procrastination, and focus on completing the tasks.

Rigid adherence

Rigid adherence to task lists can create a "tyranny of the to-do list" that forces one to "waste time on unimportant activities".
Again, the point of diminishing returns applies here too, but toward the size of the task. Some level of detail must be taken for granted for a task system to work. Rather than put "clean the kitchen", "clean the bedroom", and "clean the bathroom", it is more efficient to put "housekeeping" and save time spent writing and reduce the system's administrative load (each task entered into the system generates a cost in time and effort to manage it, aside from the execution of the task). The risk of consolidating tasks, however, is that "housekeeping" in this example may prove overwhelming or nebulously defined, which will either increase the risk of procrastination, or a mismanaged project.
Listing routine tasks wastes time. If you are in the habit of brushing your teeth every day, then there is no reason to put it down on the task list. The same goes for getting out of bed, fixing meals, etc. If you need to track routine tasks, then a standard list or chart may be useful, to avoid the procedure of manually listing these items over and over.
To remain flexible, a task system must allow adaptation, in the form of rescheduling in the face of unexpected problems and opportunities, to save time spent on irrelevant or less than optimal tasks.
To avoid getting stuck in a wasteful pattern, the task system should also include regular (monthly, semi-annual, and annual) planning and system-evaluation sessions, to weed out inefficiencies and ensure the user is headed in the direction he or she truly desires.
If some time is not regularly spent on achieving long-range goals, the individual may get stuck in a perpetual holding pattern on short-term plans, like staying at a particular job much longer than originally planned.

The four generations of time management

1. 
   First generation: reminders
2. Second generation: planning and preparation
   People in the second generation use calendars and appointment books. They will note where meetings are held and identify deadlines; this is sometimes even done on a computer. As opposed to the first generation, the second generation plans and prepares, schedules future appointments, and sets goals. This in turn saves their time.
3. Third generation: planning, prioritizing, controlling
   Third generation time managers prioritize their activities on a daily basis. They tend to use detailed forms of daily planning on a computer or on a paper-based organizer. This approach implies spending some time in clarifying values and priorities.
4. Fourth generation: being efficient and proactive First Things First as the 4th generation of time management and emphasize the difference between urgency and importance in planning. For example: some people may go their entire lives completely missing out on important things (like spending time with their children before they have grown up) because it was never "urgent." The point is not to ignore urgent things, but to embrace important things without waiting for them to become urgent. Urgency can be deceptive. It can make some unimportant things appear to be important. Also, making time for important things may require spending less time on unimportant things, regardless of their urgency.

Techniques for setting priorities
ABC analysis
A technique that has been used in business management for a long time is the categorization of large data into groups. These groups are often marked A, B, and C—hence the name. Activities that are perceived as having highest priority are assigned an A, those with lowest priority are labeled C. ABC analysis can incorporate more than three groups. ABC analysis is frequently combined with Pareto analysis.

Pareto analysis
This is the idea that 80% of tasks can be completed in 20% of the disposable time. The remaining 20% of tasks will take up 80% of the time. This principle is used to sort tasks into two parts. According to this form of Pareto analysis it is recommended that tasks that fall into the first category be assigned a higher priority. The 80-20-rule can also be applied to increase productivity: it is assumed that 80% of the productivity can be achieved by doing 20% of the tasks. If productivity is the aim of time management, then these tasks should be prioritized higher.

Fit
The concept of fit is simple yet profound. Essentially, fit is the congruence of the requirements of a task (location, financial investment, time, etc.) with the available resources at the time. Often people are constrained by externally controlled schedules, locations, etc., and "fit" allows us to maximize our productivity given those constraints. For example, if one encounters a gap of 15 minutes in their schedule, it is typically more efficient to complete a task that would require 15 minutes, than to complete a task that can be done in 5 minutes, or to start a task that would take 4 weeks. This concept also applies to time of the day: free time at 7am is probably less usefully applied to the goal of learning the drums, and more productively a time to read a book. Lastly, fit can be applied to location: free time at home would be used differently from free time at work, in town, etc.

POSEC METHOD

POSEC is an acronym for Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing.
The method dictates a template which emphasizes an average individual's immediate sense of emotional and monetary security. It suggests that by attending to one's personal responsibilities first, an individual is better positioned to shoulder collective responsibilities.
Inherent in the acronym is a hierarchy of self-realization which mirrors Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of needs".

PRIORITIZE-Your time and define your life goals by:

1. ORGANIZING-Things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful.(Family and Finances)
2. STREAMLINING-Things you may not like to do, but must do.(Work and Chores)
3. ECONOMIZING-Things you should do or may even like to do, but they're not pressingly urgent.(Past-times and Socializing)
4. CONTRIBUTING-By paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference.(Social obligations)
   
   
   
   Eisenhower-Method
   This method was used by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
   All tasks are evaluated using the criteria important/unimportant and urgent/not urgent and put in according quadrants. Tasks in unimportant/not urgent are dropped, tasks in important/urgent are done immediately and personally, tasks in unimportant/urgent are delegated and tasks in important/not urgent get an end date and are done personally.

Health realization

The health realization model of stress is also founded on the idea that stress does not necessarily follow the presence of a potential stressor. Instead of focusing on the individual's appraisal of so-called stressors in relation to his or her own coping skills, the health realization model focuses on the nature of thought, stating that it is ultimately a person's thought processes that determine the response to potentially stressful external circumstances. In this model, stress results from appraising oneself and one's circumstances through a mental filter of insecurity and negativity, whereas a feeling of well-being results from approaching the world with a "quiet mind," "inner wisdom," and common sense". This model helps stressed individuals understand the nature of thought--especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are in the grip of insecure thinking, disengage from it, and access natural positive feelings--will reduce their stress.

Need for stress management
It is now an accepted fact in the medical community that stress is one of the major causes of all illnesses. Stress can cause migraines, stroke, eczema, a weak immune system, and many other diseases.
Techniques of stress management
There are a variety of ways of coping with stress. Some techniques of time management may help a person to control stress. In the face of high demands, effective stress management involves learning to set limits and to say "No" to some demands that others make.

Techniques of stress management will vary according to the theoretical paradigm adhered to, but may include some of the following:

Autogenic training
Cognitive therapy
Conflict resolution
Exercise
Meditation
Progressive relaxation

Measuring stress
Levels of stress can be measured through a variety of means. One is through the use of the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale to rate stressful life events. Changes in blood pressure and galvanic skin response can also be measured to test stress levels, and changes in stress levels. A digital thermometer can be used to evaluate changes in skin temperature, which can indicate activation of the fight or flight response drawing blood away from the extremities

Unarguably among the directorial talents, Balki just sweeps that age thing under the carpet. The dialogues make pointed barbed references to what it's like for two such generation-challenged people to come together and laugh at each other's foibles. It's hard to decide in which capacity Balki scores higher marks, as director or dialogue writer. Caustic and crisp, mordant and modern, pithy and passionate, the words weave a magic across this spontaneous comedyIn this funny love story, the exchanges between a surly chef in London and the polished Indian girl from Delhi. She's in London for a holiday. He is a cantankerous sarcastic chef who can't take a snub even when it's served up on a platter. She criticizes the arrogant chef's Hyderabadi biryani, in a distinctly pungent and peppery dialogue which sets the film on the track. Paresh Rawal, as Bachchan's outraged father-in-law -to-be is surprisingly bland, but Zohra Sehgal as Bachchan's spunky mother and more specially, little Swini Khara as Mr. Bachchan's next-door neighbor who in her terminal illness provides the narrative with the gift of life….grab the lapels of your heart and sweep you into a world of love's most satirical fears to that feeling which we feel but rarely can describe. Cheeni Kum makes you forget there's a difference of 30 years between the girl and, bachan, the boy. That's the magic of pure acting. Cheeni Kum is probably the sauciest, sassiest, slickest, and smoothest romantic comedy you'll see in a long time.

Softening Hands With Vinegar

Though todays detergents seem to pay more attention to their effects on the skin, in order to be effective, they are still hard on hands. Washing dishes really takes itâs toll on hands, often leaving them rough and chaffed. Try this for relief. In a gallon container put some of your favorite herbs and or spices. I use a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. But you can mix and match these as you like. Then add one gallon of white distilled vinegar. Let this set for about a month. Strain the vinegar through a fine cloth like muslin and then pour it into a spray bottle. Spray this vinegar on your hands after washing dishes. Then rub your hands together making sure that the vinegar is well distributed over the hands and wrists. The vinegar neutralizes the alkali found in most soaps and the herbs and spices give a nice scent. This combination can also be used to spray in rooms to get rid of unwanted odors or in rooms of bed ridden people with respiratory illnesses like colds.

Sour Power Wipes Out Mosquito Itch

When summer arrives, the mosquitoes get busy making lots of mosquito babies. The female mosquito needs blood to help in this process. It is the female which sucks your blood. The male just buzzes in your ear and gets you blood pressure up so your blood vessels are easier for the female to find.
There are many sources of blood but, human blood seems especially desirable and available. And thought they take very little blood, they leave a big itch.
If you or someone you care about are itching from a mosquito bite, take a sponge, handkerchief or other absorbent material, dip it in vinegar and dab or wipe the place which itches. Wait for about one minute. You should notice that the itch is gone. This treatment , while nice for adults, is very important for kids. When they get an itch, they will often scratch it into an infection. Soothing the itch will save you and the child a lot of grief. By the way, it would really be a waste of good vinegar to use Balsamic on a mosquito bite. The good old ordinary variety will work just fine.

China begins expanding its supertanker fleet

China has begun an ambitious effort to build a fleet of more than 90 supertankers to improve its control over oil imports which are vital to sustaining a booming economy, shipping industry experts say Government strategic planners in Beijing have set a target that half of the oil imports should be carried on Chinese-owned tankers. No deadline has been set to meet this goal, but Chinese shipping companies are expected to order as many as 65 supertankers, worth an estimated $7.1 billion, by 2012, according to transport analysts.
The move by China is seen as an attempt to gain more control over its energy supply. "It is all about national energy security.These ships, in addition to the existing Chinese fleet of 25 supertankers, would have the capacity to deliver about half of projected imports by about 2015.
A tanker fleet of that size would not put China in the same league as Japan, Norway or Greece, but it would be a sharp improvement in its oil shipment capacity. Maritime security analysis indicates that one of the greatest Chinese fears is that oil deliveries could be threatened at a time of international tension or conflict. Supertanker construction is now a priority for state-owned shipyards as China becomes increasingly dependent on imported crude, mostly from the Middle East and Africa. China imports almost half its crude. About 90 percent of these imports come by sea, but Chinese-owned tankers deliver less than 20 percent of this, according to reports in the official state media. Japan, which is totally reliant on imported oil, ships up to 90 percent of its crude in Japanese-registered supertankers, which the industry calls very large crude carriers, or VLCCs. "Japan has more than 100 VLCCs in its national fleet, which means its oil is carried on its own tonnage". Chinese action reflects a desire for security. The main purpose is to ensure a stable inflow of energy,reliance on other countries' vessels, does not promote same scale of national control over the fleet." The two major state-owned shipbuilding groups, China State Shipbuilding and China Shipbuilding Industry, have invested heavily in technology and massive new dry docks to build supertankers. Work started on the first supertankers in the late 1990s, and there are now six yards building these ships for local and foreign owners. Major Chinese shipping companies, including China Merchants Group, China Ocean Shipping, CSC Nanjing and China Shipping Group, have all placed multiple orders for supertankers, with more in the pipeline. However, energy security and the Beijing plan to expand the supertanker fleet remain sensitive subjects for Chinese shipbuilders. Some maritime analysts say that the desire by China to control its own supertanker fleet is understandable but that its sense of vulnerability may be exaggerated. "There is a whole school of thought these days that flags and ownership of ships are almost irrelevant" "The argument is if you can pay the price, you will get the ship and the oil." Chinese energy planners appear to share a lack of faith in the free market and have decided to build a national fleet. "That's a worthy objective and quite understandable." China is already the world's third biggest oil importer, behind the United States and Japan, and its demand for oil is soaring as an energy-hungry economy continues its headlong expansion. The economy grew 11.1 percent in the first quarter according to government statistics, exceeding the average 9.9 percent growth in the past four years. The thirst for oil is increasing almost as fast. In its April 12 forecast, the International Energy Agency, a United Nations body, said that Chinese oil demand this year would increase to 7.6 million barrels a day, a rise of 6.8 percent. Seen in the context of Asia this ambition may have to be viewed differrently. We have the china initiative and thrust for a Pan asian highway through Mynamar thailand bangladesh india and Pakistan it may ahve a very deblitaing effect on the fragile security balances in the region.

The japanese revival

Japan took the first major step last Monday toward rewriting its post-World War II pacifist constitution, a top priority for the conservative premier as the country seeks to carve out a larger global role. Parliament approved a bill outlining procedures for a referendum on the first revision of the US-imposed 1947 text, which says Japan forever renounces the right to wage war. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an outspoken conservative and the first Japanese leader born after World War II, has made rewriting the constitution one of his top policy goals. He pledged to campaign on constitutional reform in nationwide elections in July for the upper house of parliament. “In the next upper house election, we want to tell the voters that the LDP has been working on a draft outline of a new constitution,” Abe said, referring to his Liberal Democratic Party. He thanked members of parliament, saying they had “proved to be responsible by approving the legislation.” Japan already has one of the world’s best-funded armed forces but calls them the “Self-Defense Forces.” Abe says Japan should have full-fledged forces to allow it to assume a greater global role, including participating in peacekeeping operations abroad. The bill, which says a new constitution needs to be approved by a majority of voters, passed the upper house on last Monday.

Japan took the first major step Monday toward rewriting its post-World War II paci- fist constitution, a top pri- ority for the conservative premier as the country seeks to carve out a larger global role. Parliament approved a bill outlining procedures for a referen- dum on the first revision of the US-imposed 1947 text, which says Japan forever renounces the right to wage war. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an outspoken conser- vative and the first Japan- ese leader born after World War II, has made rewriting the constitution one of his top policy goals. He pledged to campaign on constitutional reform in nationwide elections in July for the upper house of parliament. “In the next upper house election, we want to tell the voters that the LDP has been working on a draft outline of a new constitu- tion,” Abe said, referring to his Liberal Democratic Party. He thanked mem- bers of parliament, saying they had “proved to be responsible by approving the legislation.” Japan already has one of the world’s best-funded armed forces but calls them the “Self-Defence Forces.” Abe says Japan should have a full-fledged military to allow it to assume a greater global role, includ- ing participating in peace- keeping operations abroad and cooperation with the United States. The bill, which says a new constitu- tion needs to be approved by a majority of voters, passed the upper house on Monday.
The larger issues which are not really apparent in this innocuous move are the current status of civil control of the military which was lost, during the Meiji era, and permitted a personality domination of strategy as against an institutional direction. There are schools of thought which differ on institutional direction citing corruption and lack of operational knowledge as serious pitfalls, but as history will bear testimony every dictator military or civilian from Caesar to Stalin eventually produced nothing but mirages and untold brutality & human suffering. I therefore say and suggest that the conservative party [LDP] be put through the paces and made to reveal the complete intent and not piece meal popular measures which appeal to whipped up national ferver.