DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

TIME BUDGET
By Nhat Quan

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First of all, is the concept of time. Time is something we can't define specifically, can only be understood to be invisible or unintentional, slowly drifting by day by cycle through the sky of the rising and setting sun every day. Because it is invisible or unknowingly, it goes on and on, so people often call it the timeline to have a concept. Although it is invisible or unintentional, it has the ability to change everything we cannot control. Its characteristic is that it has gone through, and never comes back, and that is also the uniqueness of creation, it is impossible to see that it has duplication, the return of the old-time, no stored as your own, it can't be saved ... With each person perceiving time in different ways, then making practicality, and its importance getting richer.
Earth, nature still operates over time, every second, every minute, every hour, day and year and so on like endless time ..., while human life, or the time budget of each person this world is limited to the average age of a person from 60, 70 or 100 years of age, however, it is still far less than the time of the universe and nature.
Time is even more precious than gold because this is one of the values that money never buys, money can be lost but can be acquired by human power, but time then no matter how you use it, it cannot be taken back. So the old people often advised us:
- Live every moment in the present so you don't have to regret it later.
Time is also a medicine to treat the spirit, gradually eradicating pain, and discord in the relationships between people and people. It is a representation of the miraculous change, changing the human character, including love, it erases everything, makes it all fall into oblivion. Big and clear changes on people's faces, make us more mature in every way.
Time is really important, a property, a treasure of man, and is always called a miraculous gift of life. Time helps us grow and grow to do all the necessary and important things in life. But the special thing that makes up the position, the role of time is to work forever and not to return, like an arrow that has been shot out. Every second, a minute, an hour has many changes, drifting away to make the past never recover. Therefore, if we are aware of the role of managing our own time budget as soon as possible, then we will be aware of many things to do, to keep, to embrace it with all our hearts.
Besides those who keep their time budgets, we see there are many people who don't know how to keep them, so they just let time pass day after day, month after month, destroying age young, healthy, and corrupting their qualities. Many of them are lazy, addicted to the internet, addicted to drugs, eat and play, lost, so they have taken away too much of their time. Therefore, the result is no work capacity, sometimes costly health, money, family atmosphere becomes stressful. Once they have wasted their time, they will gradually fall into disconnection and boredom, becoming a useless person in society. And there is no exception for those who only know how to bury their head in learning or working, ignorant of everything around them, not knowing their time balance with society and themselves. Those people are respectable but also pitiful.
Today, in a civilized and developed society, the establishment of a regular timetable is mentioned by many people, as it will be able to help people balance in life. It is possible to eliminate the overload between learning, playing, chatting, sleeping, following passionate things to do good things for the society ... Understand that what to do first is done first, which one needs to do later then do later.
We are born, grow up, grow old and die if we don't contemplate our actions soon, don't know how to get along with people and behave well in society, just wait for something like an opportunity but never act, it will slowly progress, lose faith, lose energy before the power of time. So now show your appreciation for our time, cherish the gift of creating nature for us to do meaningful things, even though we know it can't be changed in a short time, but try Power, persistence, know how to master your own time, sooner or later you will be better than what is present.
Especially a person with a mind of progress and a heart to do good, should soon be aware of the use of his own time budget, so as not to become indifferent, wasting time in vain, to know how to do what is right and useful for everyone and society with the time we have. Let's take every moment to never regret having wasted our time. So what will we do to master our time budget, no matter who is in any position, it will be the same 24 hours a day and everyone will have only 168 hours a week and 8,736 hours a year are not surplus and not missing.
While it is not possible to have 25 hours a day, there are many ways to make 24 hours more effective and useful. Most people know how to cherish time, so they use the time budget to do meaningful things such as practicing according to the Buddha's teachings, studying and working to create material values and spiritual values to help yourself and society. Those who can preserve, receive and respect the time fund, they do many meaningful things in life like that. The expression of a successful person is that they know how to master the time, they always tell themselves to make use of every moment to study and study to make an honest person and create many good results and enjoy the feeling pleased, happy to race over time. So plan your work or practice today for tomorrow right now. If you wait until one day, or once your old age is weak, plan to work, then it's too late.
Make a list for what to do today from the previous night. The most important thing should be prioritized at the top of the list, and then the second least important thing and so on to the least important things ... Arrange your work by importance level descending down to less important. With this arrangement, you will easily complete the job. Because of the way it is so simple, there are very few people who do it, so many people often start on jobs that are easy but not necessarily the most important, so the success is often not as expected.
The time of a day, though small in the time budget of a human life, but contributes little to many. Also, a short time of one or two hours will become long after several months, several years. That is why in the Amitabha Sutra, the Buddha only recommended disciples if there was a busy business, no time to practice, then just reciting the name Amitabha Buddha from one time to ten thoughts per day, due to many days of reciting Buddha's accumulated many ... This is to say that if we do not cherish the moments in a day, let a day go by without helping for yourself, it doesn't help anything for society. Once we do not create value for ourselves, then we will permanently lose the sense of the miracle of the change by each person's time budget, So:
a- If we are students, we must know how to take advantage of the time to improve our knowledge. Compared to training the mind, time management is also described as a skill or ability to plan and control the amount of time you spend to complete the curriculum.
b- If you are a worker, you also use your time budget to try to create a lot of wealth for yourself, and make important things for society.
c- If you are a trader, the time management is mentioned, it is the arrangement and distribution of time between the activities required by it, depending on a specific priority. In this sense, time management can also be referred to as market development planning. This means that the right amount of time is right for the products that the company needs to market. It should be noted that time itself will be unmanageable, but what you manage is how you use the time you have with your knowledge to succeed.
d- If Buddhists are similar to business people, you need to know how to use your time budget to do the right thing ... Everyone has the same amount of time during the day. Many Buddhists because they do not know how to manage their time budget, most people feel that there is too much work to do for relatives and family members, so there is not enough time to cultivate yourself. So even though I want to study, because I don't have time, I can't go to the temple often, many people say so.
As I once said, everyone's budget is the same, but if you know how to spend your time wisely, you can do what you want and do what you need to do. But if you wait for a convenient time or have more time, it never happens, and so you will lose when you are in this world. As a reminder, if you schedule the right time, you can create a budget of the time you need. Instead of waiting for time, you now plan to use your time wisely, so you will have plenty of time to serve your family that you just have to cultivate yourself.
Understanding the importance of time budgets will help you make conscious choices, so you can spend a lot of time doing important and valuable things. So if you don't know yet, learn how to take the time to do important things in life. Even just spending a little time during the day, or just spend time or twice a week, such as every Saturday on Duoc Su Temple listening to the dharma, chanting. Listening to dharma and chanting is good, but if you create more time funds after having lunch, then stay in Duoc Su Temple to meditate and recite Buddha's name twice a month, the second and fourth weeks of each month. The better. Two times a month, but a little practice but will accumulate for a long time will bring you closer to your goals. And you will be surprised by the progress you yourself have made.
By using your skills and how to manage the time budget you will work more effectively, and you can accomplish more work while you only need to spend less time and moderate effort. Managing your time budget can help you be more creative and efficient, allowing you to do the right things at the right time. This, of course, will help you satisfy and balance your life.
As a reminder, time is irreplaceable and does not wait for anyone, time is something that cannot be held, but if you can manage time effectively we can accomplish tasks service, and achieving goals that are deemed important in our work and in our lives. So you need a serious and positive attitude. Must change now, changing from the smallest things. But most importantly, you must determine what is the most important goal for your life. And need an overview to be able to offer a direction of action, to be able to handle things harmoniously. So you need to plan, target or orient for good work. To be able to do it does not lack what we want to do with the time budget we have, by the way, we list what we need to do, you can easily classify what needs to be done emergency management, and what can be postponed later processing. This way of listing helps you clearly identify tasks so that we can run our jobs more efficiently for high priority tasks. For that, you can apply only five steps:
- Write down all the things to do
- Identify your goals
- Determine the priority of each job
- Calculate the time required
- Setting up a work schedule.
Remember that time is our most scarce resource. So, we have to control and use it with care. We all have the same amount of time. But you will see many people saying they don't have enough time, or they need more time. So why do some people in the same period do not have any problems to complete the job, while others find it difficult. So arranging time helps you avoid clutter, and things are more organized. And so every job in life will definitely become more convenient because there is less confusion to solve, then you can focus on the important things, and let the unimportant part resolve later... If you have a tight organization of your time and know-how you use it, you will be able to do more or get better results.
Looking at any organization, planning and arranging a certain amount of time for each activity with the goal of increasing efficiency and productivity. Because of the fact, it is also shown that not everyone can recognize the values of the time. As we can see, only when people live in happiness, reach the peak of the glory of victory, or when we have lost a rare opportunity is time really important, and makes sense.
Time will bring joy and happiness to everyone if everyone knows the value of time. Know to use the right time in all human actions and know-how to arrange your own time.
Every time a new day starts, each person gets the same time in a day. If we can enjoy the time we have to be able to complete our work completely, then we have used the time that the Creator gave us. On the contrary for those who do not know how to use their time means not mastering the time we have, then these people seem to be busy forever and not solve any problem. Even, there are those who spend their time in games that are so useless, do not cultivate their knowledge nor help people around, do not work, ... they take the time to sleep or playing around in a pub or casino. There are people who think they are thinking and planning for the future, but these thoughts are forever in thoughts, and in dreams, it does not have a specific date for the execution. So take advantage of that time to be able to act and fulfill your own desires and aspirations, not to sit there and think over the years.
For Buddhists, we must cherish every second, every minute of the time of our practice, and encourage our friends and relatives to actively practice to accumulate wealth, merit to make our lives more meaningful. So you need to know the purpose of the job you are doing. Without a goal, you just aimlessly work, no direction at all. So setting a short-term and long-term goal to work is a good idea. Write everything we need to do so you can remember and accomplish your goals. After that, you can mark the completion of short-term goals once achieved.
In addition to listing a number of jobs to perform in the time budget we have, here are tips that can help you develop and improve your time management skills, even at work, or in your personal life.
1- Arrange Neatly.
This includes neatness and orderly at your workplace, as well as in your homeroom. Usually, messing up the stack of documents, letters or things that are sprawling on the desk, or on the floor will make your search take longer. If in the office, label the documents and place them in an area where you can easily take them out and return them after use. The same things in the house, too, must be arranged neatly. Get rid of things you no longer need. The clutter not only takes up space unnecessarily, but it also takes a lot of our time to dig in that mess to find what you need.
2- Know To Use Time
You should know, just a little more time to complete a job, but you still stand up and wander in the absurdity, even chat as if you are idle and chatting with everybody. That is the wrong time you get. You will then return to your work and end by doing it sketchily because you have spent a lot of time doing something different from what you are doing. And the results of that job can become really messy.
3- High-Tech Use
In civilized times, there are a number of tools that can be used to manage time, from communication tools to high-tech tools and equipment, including mobile applications and software. Stimulants or energy supplements can also help you, such as energy drinks or coffee to help you stay awake while working, but be sure to drink and use them moderately.
4- Rest and Relax
Managing your own time doesn't mean cramming all the work into your working day. Rest and relaxation are also a part of good time management because you take the time to breathe, exercise and recharge your energy, then you can perform the next task in the plan effectively and highly productive. So the way Americans work, every two or four hours depending on the workplace, is a time called break times. Because they are aware of the fatigue or exhaustion of energy will lead to mistakes, so your work will be ineffective, and it fails the purpose of time management. Keeping your health and balance in your body is also a necessity if you want to work harder. If you are sick or have a weak body, you will end up lying on the bed and not completing any work.
So, talking about using time funds is what we know about using our own energy. The value and meaning of the time budget is so great, but the perception of each person on this issue is very different. There are people who always tell themselves to take advantage of every minute of learning, labor, dedication and then create many good and important achievements with a feeling of satisfaction and joy while running with time. But besides that person who doesn't know how to respect, waste time still has a lot and tends to increase more, and become a concern for society, especially young people who do not work, do not cultivate the future for themself, fall into the vices of society. These are typical signs of people who don't know how to appreciate themselves, live without responsibility, and just sit and enjoy.
The gift of life is the time budget, perhaps given generously because there are people who almost never know the one words of appreciation. So they waste their time, not knowing how to preserve this precious gift, then the passage of time looks like nothing worth noting, but it is actually a worm gnawing the soul once you know it, regret. Therefore, when looking back on the past we often regret the long series of wasted days and discover that the simplest things bring the greatest happiness. All the feelings when recognizing the role, the meaning of time is the biggest punishment for those who lose, do not appreciate this gift. So stop for a moment, or stop in your fateful joke, stop and reflect on what you did before it's too late to turn your head back to real life. Ask yourself if you have really lived a moment when faced with life's shining examples, and wonder if you deserve to be born and receive a gift of time funds.
Time is really a miraculous gift of life! Time makes changes and watches us overcome those changes. Time is also a proof for the deepest true feelings and at the same time a measure of human personality and character. Time does not come back, remember and open your arms to receive, trying to preserve this wonderful gift before it's too late. Look around to see how much time you need, to live meaningfully in life and always remember:
- Don't regret yesterday, don't expect tomorrow and don't avoid it today.
Live positively to deserve this meaningful gift. Living meaning every minute, every second is precious. Let yesterday be a precious asset, tomorrow is the mystery that awaits and today is a gift in its own right.
In short, in this life, we all have the same amount of time. So, you have to manage it so that you can accomplish a lot of work within the given time range. First of all, there must be awareness, time to create life, create countless changes and time is always called the miraculous gift of life. This is a great gift, everyone is awarded but not everyone can keep it, spread the hands to receive it. Time does not wait for anyone, we should also enjoy every second, every minute you have. So, if you know this, you should also share the experience of using your time budget with everyone, letting everyone know how to turn each person's available time into happy moments. Best!
If it is said, in nature there is something important, it must be said that time is really important, time is also the property, the treasure of a man. Time is also the most frightening thing because as we see every second, a minute, an hour of time, there are many changes, going away to make the past never recover, it can turn a little girl, a boy becomes an old woman, an old man, and can also turn young sprouts into dry piles of wood. At the same time, it helps us to grow up and to do all the necessary and important things in life.
Time is silver, gold if we cherish and implement divisions and science. In this way, there are people who become famous, but there are also people who are poor, it is up to each person to have the will and determination to master the time to realize their dreams and ambitions. A human being who appreciates time is the value of life. Let's live beautiful every day so we can have a bright future. The fact that people know how to treasure the time, does not mean to live urgently, to live and enjoy but to live up to their life and to contribute to society more beautiful and meaningful.
In other words, we must use our finite time budget in accordance with each stage of human life:
- Not slow to regret what we missed yesterday and not rush to be called to be enjoyed tomorrow.
Everyone's time budget has a certain limit, but no one really knows how much of their own time budget is in this life. Therefore, use your time wisely and logically to show a healthy lifestyle and a leader of a self-mastering person. Human life only lives in a certain period of time, so it must live so as not to regret because the years passed in waste ...
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