Time management

By Abubakar Aminu Ibrahim

Deedee rushed around her room, gathering the necessary materials for her PhD proposal defense, her heart racing as she tried to remember everything. The session was officially set to begin at ten in the morning, as specified by the postgraduate college, but by seven, she was already anxious, determined not to be late for such an important academic event.

Thanks to the relentless morning traffic, Deedee barely arrived at her destination by eight. Clutching her papers tightly and breathing heavily, she sighed in relief—at least she was the first to arrive. Finally, she could set aside the worry of being late. She settled into her seat, absorbing the tranquillity in the environment and the nervous anticipation of her imminent defense.

The clock ticked on. By ten o’clock—the designated time—only a few familiar faces were moving about. It was evident that the college had only just started making arrangements for the venue and other necessary protocols. Deedee stayed patient. Maybe the session would begin by eleven, she thought, but I need to pick up Mukhtar from school by two.

Yet, the college workers—both academic and non-academic—moved about leisurely, their faces showing no awareness of time slipping away. As the hours passed, other students began to trickle in. No one noticed who had arrived first; there was no system in place to ensure that Deedee or any early arrivals would be attended to first. It seemed that the very concept of punctuality was foreign here.

Frustrated, Deedee later lamented, “Can you believe the session didn’t start until two o’clock in the afternoon? That was exactly when I was supposed to pick up Mukhtar from school?”

“I’m really sorry,” I said earnestly. “But this is what we refer to as ‘African time.’ People here often don’t prioritize valuing time.”

“But do you realize what that means!?” Deedee interjected. “It means our defense times were shortened, leaving us little opportunity to express the very ideas we spent sleepless nights preparing. I was caught between trying to present my work convincingly and worrying about my poor son. What could I say to impress the professors? What was Mukhtar doing at that moment? Was he thinking I had forgotten him? These thoughts, combined with exhaustion, drained all the energy I’d built up for the session.”

Sadly, lack of respect for time has become our trademark in Africa—or, let me be specific, in Nigeria, which I know too well. It is bad enough that the general populace disregards time, but it is even more disheartening that this culture thrives in academic environments. 

Ironically, some people deliberately arrive late to events, using it as a display of status. They ensure the crowd has gathered before they waltz in, basking in the admiration of those who foolishly equate tardiness with importance. Even more baffling is that these individuals always have some fools cheer and applaud their ignorance or arrogance.

We must recognize that our choices do not impact us alone. More often than not, they have far-reaching consequences for others. Consider how a single instance of lateness can disrupt the timing of subsequent activities. Life functions like a chain—delaying one link interrupts the entire sequence. If action A is postponed, it affects action Y, and ultimately, there may be no time left for action Z, which could be critical to someone else’s plans.

It is time we erased the shameful phrase “African time” from our vocabulary and our reality. We must recognize that adhering to schedules is an act of responsibility, a way of being our brother’s keeper. Whether as teachers, students, participants, or public speakers, we need to respect the time allocated to us, neither taking more than our share nor wasting what we have.

Yesterday is history, which is why it’s referred to as the past. Tomorrow is a mystery, unknown and unpredictable. But today—this moment—is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. Use it wisely.

Abubakar Aminu Ibrahim wrote via abubakarmuhammadaminu21@gmail.com.

By Mai-Nasara Muawiya Uzairu

An unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying, or postponing of action despite knowing there might be an avalanche of negative consequences at the end of the tunnel, is referred to as procrastination. It has been a stumbling block for us all; it’s unto us. We live in it. It can only be reduced, not discarded in toto.

From cultural and social perspectives, people of both western and non-western extractions exhibit procrastination. Still, for different reasons, Westerners procrastinate mostly to avoid repeating the mundane activities they already performed and to avoid falling prey for the second time. And, the non-Westerners often procrastinate for fear of scarifying us with incompetency and demonstrating an inability to our peers.

It’s found everywhere, in all facets of life, not only in the academic milieu. Sex, age and background usually don’t matter—we all procrastinate; it only depends on what one does. However, the emergence of social media platforms contributes a lot to multiplying the problem.

Often, people say, ‘I want to do this and that, but seriously, there is no time’. ‘Or things like ‘I have an idea about this and that stuff, but I still don’t have time to own it up’. Well, part of this is called procrastination, while the huge part is called lack of time management. However, one cannot have good time management without having Self Discipline, which means the ability to do what is right at the right time without allowing anything to take away your mind from it.

The absence of self-disciple leads to nothing. Provided it’s null and void to be found, there will be no means to manage time. Naturally, some people force themselves to engage in trivialities, but they can’t force themselves to do the work that will benefit them now or in future. This is repulsively sickening and killing oneself against building a better tomorrow.

We are humans, and our body system is designed in a way that it always wants pleasure. It never wants to stand up and work. We all want to relax and enjoy, right? It’s not bad, but you that want to do something for yourself must be pretty different. Lack of self-discipline is not just dangerous but also a threat to attaining one’s goals. It makes us hold our phones and chat for 4 hours when we need just 10 minutes to work on fruitful ventures.

The reason behind the invention of smartphones is to get smarter—look at your circle. Do you get smartness in your smartphone? If yes, be consistent; otherwise, I challenge you to make adjustments. It makes one draw a blanket and sleep when one should give 10 minutes to something meaningful. Basically, it is the enemy of progress which makes it an enemy to time management.

Guess what? Let’s stop deceiving ourselves. There will never be free time for one to do what s/he wants to do. There will never be free time for us to read, work and think. All these are life aspirations that we must do while doing other things and continue running; otherwise, one will continue to live stagnantly and end desperately. A million people out there do what you are doing every day, or even better than you do; thus, one doesn’t have the luxury to wait for something called ‘TIME.’

Create Time

That is the shortest definition of time management. But if you don’t create time, nobody will be irked with you, and nobody will mock nor allege you but be rest assured, you are just likely to see some certain amazing things like:

1. Watching your mates achieve what they want to achieve alternately in a very short period. Hence, you will learn that the miniature period you didn’t do anything to show has been spoilt. That is when you hear people saying, ‘So you are done! So soon? And they start to wow you.

2. The regret comes when the little thing(s) taking your attention disappears.

3. It’s an injury that no one will heal for you. So you waste your time; it concerns no one.

4. You delay your journey. There is no shortcut in life; you either do it or stay in the queue.

By creating time for everything you want, preferably on a scale of preference, one gets rid of procrastination and poor time management.

Mai-Nasara Muawiya Uzairu can be reached via newmainasara016@gmail.com.