Vivekananda Study Circle, IIT Madras

Abstract of Sunday Class

Lecture by: Swami Atmashraddhanandaji,
Editor, The Vedanta Kesari

Topic: Time management Date: 18th September, 2011 Time: 9:30 AM Place: MSB 242

Reading from Letters of Swami Vivekananda: The letter commenced last class was continued. The letter was written to Raja of Mysore. The letter clearly showed Swamijis intense love for the masses. He said, Nobody cares for the masses; poor in India are very neglected. He emphasised that it is much easier to work for Indias poor. Poor in the west lack any religious fervour; Indias poor are angels compared to them. Poor in India have forgotten their dignity. Swamiji said that if we can put ideas into their heads then rest of the work they can do on their own. Problem of earning a livelihood is the foremost for the children of the Poor. Only opening schools will not do. Children will prefer working in the fields than to come to schools. If children cannot come to school then school must go to them. Swamiji proposed that, Sanyasins who go from village to village preaching religion should take up the job of imparting secular education along with religious education. They can carry a camera, a globe and other paraphernalia along with them and make the village folks aware about happenings in the world in an interesting way. In this letter Swamiji gave his famous statement which has inspired generations of freedom fighters and social workers Life is short, vanities of world are transient, they alone live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive.

Time Management One wealth which everyone has in equal quantity is, time. Time cannot be controlled by anyone, it keeps flowing and can never be stopped. Time management actually means self-management so as to get synchronised with the flowing time. A person generally spends time in four different ways: 1. Something very urgent requiring immediate action, but these are generally very few. Example: Accident 2. Something which are very important but not urgent. Example: Health, Food, studies 3. Not Important but urgent. Example: Meetings, Phone-call 4. Neither important nor urgent Example: Internet browsing, gossiping Trying to spend more time in 2nd and 3rd ways and trying to reduce 4th one leads to automatic management of time. Time becomes the enemy of one who wastes it. Spending some time in sharpening a sickle can save a lot of time when cutting the harvest. Similarly, spending time in self-analysis renders the mind sharper, which leads to increase in overall speed and efficiency of a person. As digging at different places cannot give us water similarly continuously changing ones decisions cannot give successful results. Indecision is a sign of weakness and must be avoided at all costs. Take a firm decision after through contemplation and then stick to it. Fickle mind is very harmful to time management. Some practical tips: 1. Pay as much attention to the means as to the ends. If you pay more attention to the means end will take care of itself. 2. Punctuality saves a lot of time. 3. If we are punctual but others are not, then we should make best use of the waiting periods. We can keep small inspiring books with us and use them whenever we have to wait at some place like at a clinic, post-office etc. 4. 90% of thought force is wasted in an average human being in random thinking. Mind is like a grinding machine, it keeps grinding whatever it is fed with. Give good food of positive and inspiring ideas to the mind. 5. Have a goal in life. Be aware about the immediate and ultimate goal of life. 6. We must try to find quality use of time. 7. Have a check on moods and impulses. It is easy to analyse others but not ourselves. We know very little about ourselves because of lack of self-enquiry. One has to face oneself and recognize ones own faults which requires courage. Plato said, We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. We have to manage our time in such a way that we are able to work without pressure. Do not stretch a work till the last moment. Time management is taking our abilities to the optimum and not to the maximum.

Inner integration is necessary. Only making plans without wielding enough will power will lead to failures after an enthusiastic start. Situations are not going to change according to our wishes automatically. One has to face the situations and work towards the desired change. Set some goals for each day before beginning the days work and review your achievements at the end of the day. Some important points from Q/A session: 1. Make a routine and follow religiously. Mind will protest dont listen to its futile nagging. With practice mind will yield to the will. 2. Take up some things that you want to change in your life. Keep working continuously towards it without accepting defeat. Repeated practice will strengthen the will power. 3. To remove anxiety we should pray to God. 4. If one only works well at high pressure situation that means one is not self-sufficient. 5. To discover the purpose in life try to see the sufferings of the world. Realize how precious this human life is. 6. Being emotional is not synonymous to being weak. One should be emotional. Emotions come from the heart. Head is powerless without heart. Crying is not always a sign of weakness. Swami Vivekananda used to shed a lot of tears for the sufferings of poor of India. Crying shouldn't be out of self-pity. Weakness is not our real nature. We must be child-like and not childish. 7. We must try to become more and more unselfish. That is the only way to get lasting happiness. 8. One shouldn't try to force ones goodness on others. 9. If you love a subject you will always time for it. 10. Pleasant and beneficial are not always the same. 11. Little improvements every day can lead to a large change over time.