I shared my very first personal statement with you at the beginning of this year. It is a nine-item statement that I strive to fulfill not only this year but for as long as I live. For now, this is what I intend to do, not only to be more effective but also to be a better person in general.
Three of those nine items focus on one principle that I want to emphasize: Efficiency. As mentioned in the title of this blog, I am applying this principle to various aspects of my life. It is all about managing the precious resources we all have—money, possessions, energy, and most importantly, time.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines efficiency or being efficient as being capable of producing desired results with little or no waste. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as the quality of working well in an organized way, without wasting time or energy. Simply put, it means doing more with less—as one of the core values of the company where I work.
But how will I become more efficient? Was I not efficient before? I would say I was, but I can always be better.
DOWNSIZE AND UPGRADE
As I crafted my personal statement late last year, this was the very first thing that came to mind. What I realized is that I have too much stuff. Too many clothes. Too many pens. Too many things that I later realized are unimportant.
Another issue I have is difficulty packing stuff. With the future that I am planning for myself, I need to learn how to streamline and manage my possessions. I am amazed by people whose life is just one huge suitcase. They travel with only one small or big bag, and that's it. They can live wherever.
I have started selling some clothes that no longer resonate with this new version of myself. A part of me still sees myself with those clothes, but I am letting go of them. I am letting go of that part of me that's grand, that wants to impress others, that wants to possess more and shiny stuff.
But downsizing is just the first half of this item. The second half is all about upgrading. Yes, I am letting go of things, but I am retaining stuff of good quality. And I will continue to buy or invest in things that are of good value, those that I can use for a longer period. This means turning my back on fast fashion, investing in pieces that I can still wear five to ten years from now. These things are more expensive, and that is fine. The return on investment is way better than buying items that would be out of fashion in months.
REWARD MY PRESENT SELF AS MUCH AS I REWARD MY FUTURE SELF
I have started doing this, and I have seen great results. We cannot just focus on saving for the future; we should also invest in ourselves now. We reach our goals because we use our bodies, our brains, and our energies. If we do not nurture these now, how else will we achieve the future that we want? So I say, strive to achieve a comfortable life for your future without letting go of comfort now.
The way I have rewarded my present self is through discipline and indulgence. For me to eat good food, I need to exercise. For me to wear the dress that I want, I need to exercise. For me to have a comfortable home, I need to clean. I need to exercise to have a longer, healthier, and better quality of life now and when I get older.
I got the reward of the future when Mom got sick. It was a million-peso medical expense, but I managed to fight. I am thankful for the help of relatives, friends, and workmates for chipping in, but a good 80% of how I managed is because I was ready for it.
So, in every struggle, there should always be a reward. And then struggle again, to achieve the next reward.
MANAGE MY TIME WELL
And here is the most important resource of all: Time. A loved one once told me, the other resources you can earn back—food, money, things, even energy. But time, once it's gone, you can never take it back. This is the item that I have failed to manage in my life. I have lived as if I had all the time in the world. But whenever I look at Mom, Ate Mal, and other aging loved ones, I realize that I am running out of time.
I admit that I am poor at time management. I cram for the most part. And I tend to stay in situations and linger on activities that I soon realize are not worthwhile. It is time to change all that. I am 36 years old—not too old, but also not too young.
I am keeping a journal where I could track all of my daily activities and reflections. The goal is not to be busy but to devote amounts of time doing chores with long-term good effects. Dr. Stephen Covey calls it the Quadrant II activities—chores that are important but not urgent. Honestly, these are the tasks I always fail to do because they are not urgent.
Many of us focus on what is urgent, and there are many of them. My theory is that those piled-up urgent tasks are caused by not planning early on.
EFFICIENCY IS FOR THINGS, NOT PEOPLE
This is where many of us get it wrong. Efficiency is for resources; many of us have applied it to people. I am guilty of this. I have counted the hours and minutes to bond with a loved one. I downsized a number of friends because of disagreements. I treated people as rewards. These all sound ugly but true. And many people were like this too.
The best way to deal with people is through effectiveness, but that is for our next blog.
Let me know what you think about efficiency.
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