“Being the master of your time means getting more done, staying energized, and doing more things you enjoy. The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey
An informed, nuanced analysis of the material world indicates the concept of linear time presents a true, constant, and priceless resource at the disposal of humankind. Thinkers have sought to define time in multiple contexts such as metaphysical time, historical time, geological time, the diurnal cycle, 12-month cycles, calendar quarters, etc. That said; ideas that seek to explore the true value of time must remain receptive to different lines of perception and interpretation.
The operators of a business, for instance, can measure commercial performance in terms of three-month cycles, also known as calendar quarters. Policy makers, on the other hand, can survey large segments of time (spanning decades) in order to assess the efficacy of certain policy postures. Some of these initiatives, when couched in analytical frameworks such as flowcharts, empower analysts to deconstruct the performance of a business strategy (for instance) and derive the true value of time as measured in the domain of contemporary enterprise. The inter-linked diagrams also enable analysts and strategists to plan inputs that can promote better practices at managing the aforesaid precious resource.
The four quadrants inherent in the Eisenhower Matrix represent gradations of importance/urgency in terms of completing tasks and attaining wider objectives. This tool remains an important analytical device that seeks to affix meaning to the true value of time. When implemented inside a flowchart, this device illuminates a roadmap that spells categories depending on the urgency and importance of certain tasks. Users can populate each quadrant with the appropriate contents of to-do lists; the outcome includes a portrayal of a range of tasks that must be undertaken immediately, planned, delegated, and eliminated from activity cycles. Hence, business leaders can use such a paradigm to set priorities at the workplace and spur productive activity across multiple levels of the organization. We note the Eisenhower Matrix can be viewed as a concerted attempt to organize corporate activity and impart direction to the energies of a modern workforce.
Designing and implementing a daily work plan can help register progress towards realizing the true value of time in the long term. An entrepreneur, for instance, can allocate various timelines to marketing activity, new business development, customer service practices, scouring for market intelligence, attending meetings and conferences, negotiating disruptive trends, etc. Flowcharts, when appropriately designed, enable said individual to position these actions inside an illustration and attain high utilization levels of available time. Essentially, the illustration empowers the entrepreneur to exert a systematic and stable presence in the many aspects of modern business, thereby raising the chances of success in enterprise. The diagram also serves as a platform that promotes individual discipline in the fluid time-scape typical of modern entrepreneurship.
Deadlines, a much-derided term in modern lives, retain singular value when citizens seek to manage multiple lines of activity and in doing so, discover the true value of time. For instance, a fitness enthusiast can populate a flowchart with deadlines as part of efforts to delineate time spent at the gymnasium and pursuing professional obligations. Such a flowchart can take shape through multiple panels, each of which displays lines that mark time-defined extremities of different groups of activity. When digitally enabled, the flowchart and its contents can trigger audio alarms in wearable devices positioned on the wrist of said enthusiast. Over time, a constant adherence to these timelines can drive a fine appreciation of the true value of time in the minds of such individuals. In addition, the contents and timelines that feature on the flowchart can be amended or refined/augmented in tune with emerging priorities.
Activities that contribute to the sub-optimal use of time must be located and deferred/discontinued when a retail industry operator seeks to realize the true value of time. This stance implies said operator must drive a clear focus on core business activities on a sustained basis, while actively intervening to discourage the waste of time on the peripheral. In a similar vein, an operator of commercial logistics services may earmark certain times of day for staff members engaged in surveying the pile-up of inventory in the company warehouse. Such a stance allows said operator to harness the best efforts from energized staff members at the start of a business day, thus registering high levels of consistent productivity. The co-relations between these stances and the implied actions, when charted inside a multi-stage linked illustration, allow business operators to realize the true value of time in different contexts. In addition, the long-term outcomes of enforcing discipline could add heft to the bottom lines of a business enterprise.
Faster and more effective collaboration can underpin individual effort to arrive at best practices that spotlight the true value of time. In line with this, business associates employed at a trans-national organization could be encouraged to seek fresh avenues of collaboration that drive desirable business outcomes. For instance, groups of product developers could sketch flowcharts to aid and guide the journey of collective participation towards the objective of new product development. Such illustrations could outline the calibrated allocation of corporate resources, timelines that drive the attainment of micro-objectives, scope for devising and revising the components of discovery processes, the enlightened use of human skills and resources, scope of ongoing assessments from external consultants, delivery deadlines, etc. In effect, the flowchart allows multiple teams to collaborate efficiently and discover new meaning in pursuits designed to uncover the true value of time.
Automation premised on digital technologies can significantly impact utilization of human capital available to the modern organization. For instance, high levels of automation – when ingrained in manufacturing-based enterprises – can drive productivity on a sustained basis, thereby enabling the parent organization to compete effectively in global markets. Similarly, integrating the core tenets of automation in knowledge-based industries can significantly reduce time-to-market for a new product, thus sharpening the competitive edge enjoyed by enlightened players in these industries. Therefore, expansive blueprints that detail the application of automation in different industries allow business operators to uncover new dimensions in unearthing the true value of time. However, the constant evolution typical of digital technologies must inform and underlie such initiatives; such a stance assists the modern enterprise to defeat the risks associated with creeping obsolescence that threaten technology-enabled platforms.
In light of these suggestions, we could state the modern flowchart retains a central role in strategy formation when business leaders work to extract the best mileage from available time. The stewards of enterprise and captains of industry could work with analysts and strategists to frame novel techniques that extract incremental value from this priceless resource. However, certain observers note that a tightly-regimented schedule may prove counter-productive in certain scenarios. Such thinkers advocate the use of unstructured time as an input that bears potential to spur human thought processes to arrive at out-of-the-box solutions. These outcomes validate the idea that unorthodox mechanisms can originate in unexpected quarters and, when deployed appropriately, can address modern imperatives such as attaining high levels of productivity (or creative output). Therefore, business strategists must consider the idea of including unstructured time in variable contexts. That said, such a stance assumes certain departures from traditional lines of thought; these must be explored with a view to yield the best solutions that apply to different scenarios.
