Benjamin Teixeira de Aguiar by the Spirit Eugênia
Be a good caretaker of your time. Manage it sensibly, keeping in mind that, fundamentally, time and life are basically synonyms.
There are some basic elements for good time management:
1. Prioritize the essential. Set goals, habits and activities that you deem essential, such as your vocation field, meditation and prayer (daily), the realization pre-established commitments.
2. Start with the most important. Many times, in the unconscious fear of facing the capital, we delay the axial, developing the vice of procrastination. Be careful not to overload yourself with small and numerous activities, forgetting the best interests of your peace and happiness.
3. Invest first in what’s harder. After prioritizing the most important, it is time to choose to do precisely what demands greater will and effort. Reserve the early hours of your day for the tasks you dread more. Later, it will be more difficult to do them.
4. Do what you can. Aiming to do everything or to do a lot, people usually end up doing nothing and give up doing what is possible. Do little of what you consider necessary, but do it every day. You will realize that expecting to do much, at once, is neither feasible nor productive. It is easier to do much by always doing little than do much at special moments of free time – which are rare.
Follow these simple little rules everyday, and you will succeed in achieving your goal of excellence in time management, which will help you to accomplish your most daring existential purposes.
(Message received on May 29, 2001)
(Translated by Iris Souza – Revised by Marcone Vieira)