A QUESTION OF TIME
By Jayjay Viray

“Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.”
-Sophia, “Vanilla Sky”

Time is a very difficult four-letter word to define or describe.  It means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  To some it is a measurement of experiences, a collection of songs, or the simple minutes that had transpired between sunrise and sunset. To others, time is something that cannot be repeated, is something we cannot go back to. Some tribes believe time is just a cyclical movement of the world and the experience of your life, that there is no concept of being late, or being early---because time just is. 

And that does not even cover the philosophical discussions of Kant, for example, and scientific discourses of Hawking and Einstein. 

In any case, several things are for certain: that time is intangible, that there is movement involved in its nature and that it is precious.  For most part, time is conceived to be a priceless gem in our lives; some of us having more of it than others, and some having too little for what they need to get done. 

Nonetheless, it is precious because once it has been played out, lived out, it can never be played back. 

This is the concept that is part of everybody’s professional life. If you are working, you will find that more often than not, there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things that are ‘needed’ to be done; and you sit there wishing for a 38-hour day, like that alien race in “Men In Black”. 

There are many things to do in a span of time and some people are better at juggling things than others.  Some people can have four or five projects going on at once, and others cannot have more than one.  Increasingly though, the preference for the former is an added advantage to anybody, because this means you will get more things done in a shorter span of time, and then efficiency is borne.  As in math, the rule of the shortest distance between two points really is a straight line; with tasks, the shortest time to get something done is by just getting on with it and doing it well and the best you can in the process. 

This concept sometimes is thrown out of the window because of  people who are complacent in their jobs, and who think that there is no need for improvement.  Unfortunately, there is an opinion in some circles that Filipinos are lazy with our “bahala na” attitude; and that we apparently tend to ‘cut corners’, without getting reprimanded for them.  We get away with something as small as a white lie and then  all the way to titanic proportions of mistakes.  Then people have to backtrack and redo things that could have just been taken care of had there been efficiency practiced the first time around. 

Otherwise, you end up with a product, project or service that is not the best that it could be. However great that idea was at the beginning, it will not mean anything if not executed right and will turn out ‘half baked’ and mot polished.  Bottomline, it leads to unprofessionalism.

It is important that time is not wasted on things that do not really need to be wasted on.  It is important for those who believe that they can do a job with their eyes closed, as it is also understandably expected of them to be much more professional and a step ahead than say, someone who has just come into the business not knowing what they are doing. 

It shows more professionalism that you respect someone’s time by processing expeditiously whatever it is that they need done from you.  Please read: IT IS PART OF YOUR JOB TO ENSURE THIS, and to do so will be a failure on your part to be the best that you can be.  In a workplace, those who cannot do this are not useful to the company.  They waste everybody’s time and prevent everyone else from doing the job that they are supposed to be doing.  It is important to remember – and respect the fact – that other people have other commitments aside from yours. 

And when people do not repeatedly deliver, disgruntled colleagues, bosses, or customers may just find someone who’s faster, more efficient and can deliver, rather than deal with someone who may not get the job done the way they want it, when they want it.  

On the flipside of this, you cannot demand something of somebody every day, all day and all night.  You must be respectful in turn, of their schedules.  If this is the case, you have to understand that it is you who needs something from them, and they are accommodating you, even if it is their job to do so.  This makes for a peaceful and well-oiled working atmosphere, wherein the output of work will undoubtedly be on the rise. 

Respect for time is the best thing to create a productive and creative working environment.  After all, this is the one thing that you cannot get back.  That one moment two seconds ago when I was writing that one line is now gone and can never be lived over again, so make this count. 

[Jayjay Viray is the Country Manager of JobsDB Phils, Inc. For more job opportunities, log on to www.jobsdb.com.ph.  For comments, email feedback@jobsdb.com.ph.]