According to a well-known tale, if you put a frog in boiling water, it will quickly hop out. And if you put a frog in regular water and gently heat it up to boiling temperature, the frog will gradually adjust to the heat until it dies.
Biologists who study wildlife cannot corroborate this conclusion. They think that the frog seizes the opportunity to leap when the rising temperature causes its legs to become immobile. The frog perishes because it delayed its decision to leap despite the rising temperature. As a result, its lapse of judgment is to blame for his death. In other words, procrastination has killed the frog. And it is true, procrastination kills. Procrastination in restoring relationships, quitting smoking, and putting plans into action wipe out them. Most individuals are only aware of the expense of missing a flight or train. In fact, time and tides, as the proverb goes, do not wait for anybody.
Time is an important factor that most individuals overlook. The units of time are seconds, minutes, and hours. After then, it moves on to the day, week, month, year, decade, and millennium. To put it another way, seconds, minutes, and hours are seeds. No matter who you are today, you are the sum amount of the time you have sowed and invested in the past.
Nature has bestowed the most spectacular beauty of time on everyone equally. Everyone has access to the same amount of time. Nonetheless, we add value to our time by taking advantage of the possibilities that exist in our social, geographical, and political settings. One hour, for example, comprises sixty minutes for each individual. It makes no difference what your social status, educational level, or income is. Your one-hour time limit is sixty minutes. However, its worth is not the same.
A labourer can earn 10 euros per hour, whereas a professional can earn 100 euros at the same time. In one hour, an expert may make a million euros. A laborer sells his energy by the hour, which is reducing with time. A professional, on the other hand, sells his abilities, which are expected to rise more. The worth of your time today reflects how you used and invested it in the past. Suppose you have migrated from your native country and settled in another country. You call it the beginning of a new life. Only the proper use of time can put this “new life” or “new beginning” in the right direction. A few lines ago, you read that although the hour’s length is equal, its value depends on your ability. But here, I would add that if you are a migrant who is about to start a new life, technically you are behind of time, you should redeem your time by making timely decisions.
Mark Twain instructs us on dealing with challenging tasks of time management as follows: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” It is impossible to say for certain if Mark Twain was influenced by the story of the boiling frog. However, Brian Tracy confesses that his book “Eat That Frog” was inspired by Mark Twain’s statement. He interprets this phrase thus: “In reality, your “frog” is your biggest, most important task. It is the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it. So, “eat that frog,” is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.”
Brian says to choose your frog, i.e the hardest task, and get it done first. Proper use and prioritization of time are challenging tasks. Managing your daily priorities and ranking them according to their importance is a wise use of time. To do so, you have to measure your productivity before setting new priorities and write down how you used your time in the past. For example, based on how you used your time last month, look at the output of that use—starting in the morning, studying or working, using social media, meeting friends, spending time with family and children, etc. See the volume of your time spent in these areas.
When it was time to study – were you playing? Were you on social media when you should spend time with the kids or your family? These questions don’t indicate that I’m against playing games or utilizing social media. The true objective is to focus your attention on setting priorities and making the most use of your time.
Dwight David Eisenhower, a former President of the United States, quoted Northwestern University President Dr J. Roscoe Miller as saying: “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” The time management matrix is most likely based on this remark. In light of this webpage’s primary purpose of serving as a forum for immigrants, I will explain the time management matrix from that standpoint:
| Important and Urgent | 1.Developing your language skills. 2. Choosing a carrier path |
| Important but not urgent | 1.Helping others financially or sending money to native country |
| Not important but urgent | Attending unscheduled meetings/phone calls/visitors |
| Nor important and not urgent | Unnecessary use of social media/ TV/ online games |
If you want to succeed in life, you should learn to distinguish urgent from unimportant tasks. First, prioritize, avoid procrastination, and overcome difficulties. Until you make productive use of your time, you won’t be able to benefit either yourself or the people around you.
After boarding an airline, passengers are always instructed to place the oxygen mask on their face first in case of an emergency. Then you will be in a position to assist people who rely on you. This piece of advice is applicable to other aspects of our lives as well. As an immigrant, if you wish to aid your children, family, or friends, you must first invest in yourself. Don’t be a slacker. Laziness always leads to calamity.
King Solomon advises against procrastination in one of his lyrical proverbs:
A little slumber, a little sleep,
a little fold of the hands to rest
Poverty will follow you like a robber.
and shortage like a well-armed guy.
Procrastination, in other words, destroys both the procrastinator and his plans. How many times have we heard these words: “The time is now and here.”; “Don’t put off today’s task till tomorrow.” ; “There is no tomorrow.” These sayings are intended to stress the “now” moment. You own the “now” and the present moment. It is entirely within your power. You, on the other hand, do not own or control the next instant. A call from a school takes away your next moment as a parent. A friend’s presence might alter your future plans. The next moment may be occupied by an accident or incident. So, whatever you need to do, get started right now. Otherwise, you will be boiled in the pot the same way as the frog from the beginning of this blog post.
