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How many times have you heard someone say that?

Time. Either we manage it or it manages us. When the latter is the case, there never is enough. Or so it seems. The fact is, we have all the time we need, all we are going to get. The real challenge is how well we use it. The sooner we learn to use time well, the better life we are going to have.

We cannot change the past, only learn from it. The future has not yet come . . . we are creating it with decisions we make in the present. Live in the "here and now". That's all the time we have to work with. Time is a gift and maybe that's why we call the here and now "the present".

One tip is to get rid of "time wasters". These are people who keep us from getting things done. This is the person who talks for an hour when all you asked was, "How are you doing?" Keep such conversations to a minimum (politely, of course). Another time waster is the phone call. Tell them you will call them back.

Learn to say no. Too often we take on more than we can handle because we don't want to offend anyone and want to please everyone. A polite "no" is not a dirty word. Better to politely decline than to take it on and not do a great job.

Do all the things you don't like doing first. Get them out of the way, then reward yourself by doing the things you enjoy doing. In school, I hated mathematics but love history. I always did my mathematics homework first. Then I could relax and enjoy doing my history homework.

By Dr. Bill Gould

Human resources director

Wall Street Institute, Thailand

www.wallstreet.in.th