In today’s world, our society encourages busy-ness 😰. Becoming ‘busy’ seems to be a must for every one of us so that we are deemed to be ‘hardworking’. But is this true?
“Why you lie down there doing nothing?”
“Don’t you have better things to do?”
Do you find all these questions annoying? Fret no, we have a solution for you!
During this month of #monstatreehouse session, the founder of Monsta Asia, Zhi Ee, is honoured to invite 3 special and talented guests to chat about:
WHEN EVERYONE IS BUSY, SHOULD YOU BE ‘LAZY’?
Nicklaus Gan (NG), Ruey Chee (RC) and Emily Ng (EN) share their top secrets of time management to juggle their works and personal lives. All 3 of them are life-achievers and hustlers. They even get awarded multiple awards under Monsta’s events.
Here are some snippets of what they share during the session:
Q: What is TIME for you? ⏰
RC: Time is Us. Before the Big Bang, space and time did not exist, after the Big Bang and the existence of the first consciousness, time appeared. Thus, I believe we are “ time “, time is us.
NG: Time is an asset. By investing your time, you are investing your asset. For example, when you invest money, it takes time to make the profitable returns. Invest your time in the right places and you will get the best returns for yourself!
EN: In my opinion, time is opportunity. We shouldn’t take the opportunity for granted, same for time. Once you miss it, you miss it. So, act now!
Q: Since time is so limited, how do you get things done?
NG: Have a schedule. Set what your intention is for the day – 1 main goal (if you did this it would feel like it would all be worth it), 2 sub-goals (keep the momentum going!), 1 little goal (this could be anything, like listing 1 thing to be grateful for) 📅
EN: Stay focused. Reduce the stimulation of the brain by staying away from your type of distraction – social media, messaging apps etc. By reducing stimulation, you would have more time to think and be creative!
RC: Understand your “body clock”. Know when it’s the best time to do what. For example, you find out that you are most focused and productive in the morning, then do the most difficult task or assignment at that time. Remember to know when to spend your energy in the right time! 🔍
Q: How do you balance between studies/work with personal life?
EN: Planning your time is important but staying consistent is the key! Let’s say if you fail to achieve that particular task today, it’s okay and don’t beat yourself up. Identify where things can be improved and work on it again tomorrow.
RC: As a young adult juggling between my job and studies, I do not squeeze everything in one day. Try to understand your own limit. I have a nice planner to plan for my day, week or even month. Remember: Planning is an abstraction, not an addition. Don’t add on more work and just do it!
NG: My personal tip is using Eisenhower Matrix to categorise your tasks! Pomodoro method is a great way to start your day too. Every 25 minutes of work comes 5 minutes of rest. Don’t multitask. One task at one time. As I always say, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, same as doing tasks.
Q: That’s very nice information! Since our main topic is about whether we should get lazy when everyone is busy, what is your take about being ‘lazy’ to boost productivity and creativity? What is your thought about it? 🧐
RC: Schedule your rest time. Even though there are many works to do, do keep in mind that optimum free time is necessary to improve your productivity. Choose an endpoint of the day and decide when you are going to relax throughout the day. It may sound scary at first, but you shouldn’t be fearful of that since, after a good rest, you will feel more energised!
NG: There’s a saying: You can’t save everyone. The truth is you can, but the cost is you can’t save yourself by then. My lazy time would be using the “5 Finger Rule” to balance out my responsibilities, be it events, academics, clubs etc. Count them on your fingers and if it exceeds 5 fingers, you might be doing too much. Then you know you need a rest. Always remember we are all just human being; we will get tired and need recharging time too.
EN: People tend to procrastinate easily but let me tell you another beneficial side of procrastination: it gives you time to develop ideas. There is a sweet spot for procrastinators to be creative and generate new ideas. Don’t over procrastinate it.
There you have it! All the secrets of managing your time wisely!
The listeners have amazing inputs too: think less, do way more; Pareto’s principle; don’t talk about priorities if you can’t sacrifice.
Check out the full podcast here and let’s have fun and get ‘lazy’ together!
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