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One of my prospects turned down an offer to participate in a time management course by explaining that he does not want to be turned into a robot. It is a common belief that time management is about doing things very fast and keeping yourself busy all the time. So it may really seem at first sight that good time managers act like robots.

The aim of time management is achieving your goals in your life and being satisfied with your life. Time management does not mean that you have to live a fast life. Many people who have completed time management courses keep themselves busy because they choose to do so. For example, if you want to earn high income or climb up the career ladder then time management will give you tools for it. Fast life is just the matter of preference.

Still, automatic approach to some actions will help you to save time. There are always some routine tasks for you to do, whatever profession you will choose. It can be some paper work, checking your e-mail, making bank transfers etc. Many of us do not like doing them, but we still have to do it. If we can minimize time spent on these tasks then we will have more time available for tasks we like more and tasks, which are vital for our success. It may seem that a person, who handles e-mail fast, acts like a robot, but think that he will have more time to spend together with his children or friends.

But what about people, who do not make conscious decisions about their time use. Many people are regular 9 to 5 employees, who reluctantly obey the orders from their boss. Even their leisure time goes according to a typical pattern. When they arrive home from job, then they will watch TV and eat junk food. On Friday night there will be party and on Sunday morning they will wake up with a hangover. Does not it seem as living a life of a robot?

Many people dream of breaking out of that circle, earning more money, having more free time and getting a meaning to their lives. But without learning how to take control over their time they will not succeed in it.

Time management will give you the possibility to reconsider the values and habits in your life. You will take control over you time. You will be responsible for your life and you are the one who chooses what you are going to do with it. What do you want to achieve in you life?

There are very many options for using those time gaps and here I list a number of them, which are suitable for most of us:

• Read and process your e-mail. Although you should have certain times during your day when do you read e-mail, you could still benefit using extra time to read and process your mails. It is important that you just don’t read your mail, but also processes it, i.e. reply it or schedule following actions depending on the message. So you can follow the rule, that you deal only once with one message.
• Check your schedule. It is always good to constantly check if you are following your schedule. Have you missed something? Have there been changes to your plans? Those moments give you a brake to monitor your progress.
• Social conversation. If someone is nearby you, then it could be a good idea to chat with him/her for a minute or two. Maybe a person next to you is potentially a good customer or business partner for you. A couple of minutes of conversation may lead to long-lasting relationship.
• Make a phone call. Those kinds of moments are suitable for making quick phone calls, especially for social purpose. Just call a friend or relative you have not met for a while.
• Read a book or journal. It is a great idea to read books or journals, which you could benefit from your job. You could read one book every week on those 5 to 10 minute gaps in your schedule, which means 52 books a year. If you read so many professional books in a year, it gives you a huge advantage over your colleagues.
• Do physical exercises. You can just stand up from your desk and stretch yourself, but you can also do some breathing exercises or even push-ups or sit-ups if possible.
• Arrange your desk. Look at your desk, are all things in their correct places. Do some papers need to put into their folders or are some papers unnecessary and can bee thrown away. Arranging your desk can make a work much easier and it give avoids the negative emotions from the mess around you.

In fact, there exist many more things you can do in such short period of time. Which ones these are depends also on your profession and activities you do. Think creatively about it. I am sure you will find many new ways of using your time more efficiently.