The Benefits Of Unconventional Thinking

The Benefits Of Unconventional Thinking

As I glance at my “To Do” List, I can’t help but wish that I have more time! This remains to be a wish as we are given only 24 hours daily. To get the most out of the allocated time, we have to be creative and do things “out of the box.”

As we add years to our life, the population of the world increases. Proof of this is that traffic gets heavier. More people are traveling, shopping, going on vacations, getting online, and doing all sorts of activities because of one thing: a steady increase in population.

This increase in world population (currently more than seven billion!) can lead to one thing. It is going to eat more of our time. This means we will spend more time stuck in traffic with the increasing number of cars, more time in queuing, and other situations leading to delays. All these can only mean two things for us: less time and a challenge in our patience.

So, how can we be more efficient in managing our time? What are some of the creative ways to stretch our time?

1. On our way to work, it is better to commute than drive. Commuting frees us from the task of driving a car and enables us to do some office work while in transit. Since working while traveling is not as convenient as being in the office, we can take advantage of technological tools that are designed for travelers in mind. We may have to select specific types of work due to limits in space, facilities, and privacy. Nonetheless, we still get some work done.

For example, we can devote our attention to other things such as planning the day ahead, making a list of things to do, making appointments for meetings, etc.

Some of these things can be done right there on the bus, subway, train, or on the air. Others take their laptops with them and start tapping keys as soon as they are airborne. Others efficiently make use of commuting time by reading reports or editing works.

2. When doing our shopping, we can try the Internet, home TV shopping, direct sales, or mail order catalogues. Shopping is made easier by allowing us to do it right in our homes. We can invite a sales representative to show us the products we are interested in. We can just tune in to TV channels offering unique products and just lift up the phone and dial for our orders. Better yet, we just flip through the mail-order catalogues sent by companies.

All these can save us precious time. However, if going to the mall or supermarket cannot be avoided, it is best to do it during off-peak hours, preferably mornings. Avoid noontime and after-office hours since these are the busiest times.

3. Going on vacation can also be strenuous due to swarms of vacationers during peak season. The best thing to do is not to join the crowd. You can adjust your calendar and do your vacation on other dates or find sites that are less popular and hardly heard of. However, take the caution to find out more about these unique places before venturing into the unknown.

Additional benefits can be gained from this practice. Off-season rates in resorts and airfares are relatively cheaper. In addition, you get to enjoy the place without vacationers crowding your space, hence, less stress. Bottom line is you get to enjoy the real meaning of vacation.

4. When you are seeing a service professional, you are extremely lucky if you do not have to line up and get to wait for your turn. Instead of wasting time while waiting, you can bring books to read. You may also do your grocery list while waiting. Others bring motivational tapes to while time. So by all means, bring something to make your time more useful.

These are just some of the practical strategies you might want to explore in order to maximize your time in a largely populated world. As you probably noted, this does not require special skills; you only need a little creativity and innovative thinking in order to make the most of your precious time.