Time Management for Right-Brained
MANAGING TIME USING THE RIGHT BRAIN As we prepare ourselves to meet the challenges of the new century, we need to be concerned about the most critical of all resources, Time. As the pressure to become more competitive builds up, this resource is becoming more and more scarce. One can create and destroy any resource, but not time. However, the way time is managed differs from person to person. It is not how much time one has that is important. It is what do one does with one’s time. Most people have ambitions and aspirations in life. Every one wishes that he or she manages the goals in life successfully.
But the critical issue is only a few succeed in reaching them in full. Why is that? There are different words to describe an outcome or an end result : ‘wish’, ‘desire’, ‘need’, ‘wants’, ‘goals’, are some of them. Of these, the word ‘goal’ presupposes a time frame and quantification and some efforts. But there is one more dimension to a goal in terms of its strength and intensity as understood by the mine. It is called ‘empowerment’. Empowerment is the process of giving an inner strength and wherewithal to reach the goal in spite of obstacles. It results in a mindset of restlessness and urge to reach the set goal.
We need to look at the concept of time management from a different perspective. The process of what goes on in the mind is more important than what is exbibited outside a person in terms of setting priorities and pursuing various activities. To make a success of time management, it should be first be understood that it is a mind driven concept and not a system driven practice. To understand why some people manage time well, we should locate the seat of all our goals and aspiration in life. For this we should understand the working of the human brain.
The human brain has two halves : the left and the right. The left brain is involved in language skills, it is analytical and it processes information in a linear fashion one after the other. It is logical and verbal. The right brain is the intuitive part of the brain, which is holistic and non-linear. This imaginative and creative part is responsible for the dreaming function. One this aspect of the brain is understood, it is easy to interpret what goes on in the mind of a successful person who manages his time effectively. In fact, there is no such thing as time management.
The issue is self-management through pursuing an empowerment through emotional commitment. Any one who attaches a deep sense of emotion to the goal finds out a way of setting priorities to realise the same. He is able to withstand all the pains of initiating the controlling the various actions towards reaching his goal. For transferring the goal to the right brain, the visualisation skill of the right brain should be used. Before trying to manage one’s time, one should start with a powerful picture of the goal in his mind. One should visualise the goal with emotional attachment.
It could all start with what others may dub it as a fantasy. After all, when you think about it, all inventions are a result of some one’s fantasies! 1 When the goal is powerfully represented in the mind through a bright picture of the future, the effect of the same involves the person so emotionally that it gets into his subconscious mind. The right brain alone can understand a person’s emotional attachment to his goal. When confronted with problems while reaching one’s goals, the left brain is logical and analytical and reasons out how it is impossible to reach the goal given the difficult circumstances.
It reasons out how intense will be the problems to be surmounted, and, if allowed to prevail on the mine, will make the person to give up his goal. The way the right brain interprets the goal is different. It is not logical but intuitive. It is emotionally involved in the process of goal setting and will not give up. The right brain is not logical but creative and thinks about innovative ways of reaching the goal. It has already visualised the final scene of the goal achievement and hence ‘knows’ how nice it is to be in that situation of achievement and will not rest until newer and alternative methods of reaching the goal are found.
A limiting belief makes you feel you are not capable of performing, as you want to due to some things present in the external system. Actually, limitation is not outside the person. It is within the mind. This is mainly due to the interpretation of the situation by the left brain, as it understands the situation. In such a situation, the right brain has to be used to get emotionally connected with the goal. This process will make the person believe in himself and his abilities to reach the goal. (Source : N. C. Sridharan’s article in The Hindu) 2
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