Let’s not beat around the bush here. Is training really needed in order for us to better manage our time? The answer is ‘no’. We don’t have to enroll ourselves in training programs just so we can be taught how to handle time and make the best use of it.
In fact, if we, in our hearts and minds, truly want to extract the greatest value possible from the limited time we have in this world, then we will do something about, whether or not a class or a certain time management seminar is available or not. If we want it to happen bad enough, we will do it ourselves using tools that are comfortable for us.
Indeed, we don’t need other people to tell us how to manage our time. Sure, we can read articles and books about time management and see how other people train for it, but, in the end it’s a waste of time and money if we don’t put what we learn to good use.
Now, this is not to discredit the effectiveness and credibility of people whose goal is to help us manage our time better. However, getting to one seminar after another expends our time – time we may need for other things, like spending time with our family and friends or doing finishing touches on that presentation we have been working on for the past days.
Time management training helps, but it will be a waste of time if all we do is attend training that we never put to good use. Ask yourself this, would you spend time and pay for something that you will never use? Some fans of time management training says these programs act as reinforcements or as reminders about how to manage our time, because most of us have forgotten, or have refused to listen to our own voice.
If you are someone who has never attended time management training, then, by all means get one or at the most two training programs. Yes, if you feel you need that extra push, then go for it. But once you have attended, make sure you use what you learn by developing your own system of time management.
Otherwise, it will be just a waste of time if all you do is put your book on a shelf and go back to your old way of doing things. Attend one or possibly two and then put the tools you learn into action. Make attending a good solid time management training really worthwhile or you will just continue your old habit of wasting precious time.
There are a number of schools of thought to time management training, as you can see, and this article is part of the ones that are against people attending one training program after another. It would be better if you take what you have learned already and craft your own time management plan yourself out of the ideas you have received from past trainings. Because, when you attend these training programs, you will realize that though they do give you a variety of tips and shown how these have worked with others, you will still hold the responsibility of crafting a program for yourself in the end.
On the other hand, if you’re planning to be at the giving end of the advice, that is, become a time management consultant, then you will need training, because time management consultation doesn’t simply mean listening to other people’s problems with time, it also entails having the proper skills to help another person manage his. And when you have this kind of responsibility, simply reading books on the subject would be a great disservice to him and to you. (But that’s another article, altogether.)
Whether or not you need to enroll in time management training really depends on where you’re coming from and on the confidence you have in your own ability to manage your life. All this article is saying that in order for you to gain something, you don’t really need to spend so much of your time, energies and money. Again, if you will it and work hard at it, it will happen. No amount of ‘training’ can do this for you.