Time is money and money is limited. However, money can be earned again, but time tickles away, second by second, and can’t be regained.

So if things are limited, they should be utilised wisely and effectively. In this era, when there are myriad distractions, it’s almost inevitable to find addictive social media apps irresistible. These apps and their features trick our minds into thinking it’s just a 30-second reel, let’s watch one more. This becomes a vicious cycle and kills our precious time.

To make the most of our time, having a goal is important. But how do we get ourselves to really want to achieve the goal and work towards it? This effort will come from numerous aspects of our life. One of the first influencers in our life are our loved ones, especially our parents. They always desire that their children don’t suffer and live a better life than the one they had lived. They want to see their children prosperous in their careers.

So they influence us in choosing goals and working towards achieving them. Since a goal is achieved with constant hard work and persistence, parents watch over us and make sure that we put in the right efforts needed to reach our goals. So the next time you are scolded for not studying, or wasting time by staying up late in the night watching a show, know that it is just their effort to make sure we don’t waste our precious time on things that will not help us reach our goals. Without a clear goal, you might spend hours being busy in fruitless things, but you will not get closer to what you truly want.

Another problem arises when we have a weak objective, thus we end up killing our time, despite having the will to do something productive. So we must constantly remind ourselves about our objectives or goals. A tip to strengthen our resolve to achieve a goal is to work on it undistracted. Start with writing on a paper the important things you need to do that day, when you wake up. You will soon notice that the tasks will keep coming in your mind and you will feel the urge to finish your tasks in time.

To achieve anything, we need to perform our best, and this can be done only if we are at our best, mentally and physically. For this, we need to exercise, refresh and relax ourselves regularly. But relaxing does not mean using social media to do so. We can relax by talking to our friends and family, or going out for a walk.

Another way to stay focused on one’s work is by seeking motivation via reading the right books. Additionally, we should periodically converse with ourselves about what we are doing, and if that is interconnected with our target, and if not, what can we do to align more with our goals.

Finally, let’s promise ourselves to stay focused and hold ourselves accountable for slip-ups. This could mean setting penalties, like going phone-free for four hours or skipping TV for a whole day. These consequences will help us remember our goals and make a stronger effort to stick with them.

In a nutshell, time is like an opportunity, once it goes away, it never comes back. It’s important to utilise time productively to become a talented person and ensure a promising professional life.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 13th, 2024