It's a very good thing to be time conscious in whatsoever you are doing cause time management is one of the best ways to get things done very quickly so as to obtain good results, regrettably not everyone is discipline enough to be time conscious.
We Nigerians; although not all, are one of the poorest manager of time, we have our own time which we call African time. This is our own convenient time apart from the set time for an event, our conclusion is that the organise of the program or meeting won't start on time, so we love keeping late. We are never prompt, this poor time management has also affected us in our various religious activities in which we don't keep to stipulated time.
We've forgotten that there is time for everything, once a time is wasted it can't be brought back. That's why we must learn how to make use of our time judiciously. For those that manage their time very well, 24 hours which make a day isn't enough for them to run their things while those that are idle feels the time frame is too long, so they tends to waste it on unnecessary things.
During my childhood days, I procrastinate a lot. I'm smart in doing anything related to school work but when it comes to running errands at home, I'm always reluctant and kind of do things at my own convenience not immediately or as instructed.
On a fateful Friday, my parents travelled for a family function. Before they left, Mom instructed me to go to our foodstuffs vendor's shop by 8am the following day to get some stuffs which she had already paid for and I told her that I've heard.
She hammered on that 8am before travelling and in my mind I was like, we dey weekend nah, why won't a market woman be in her shop at anytime during the weekend. Even if the woman wasn't there I will meet her sales girl now, so why early in the morning. So I proposed in my mind to go there at anytime in the morning, Mom won't know so far I've gotten the stuffs.
On Saturday morning I woke up late, although I've already made up my mind not to go for the errand by 8am cause it's too early, so I did my normal weekend house chores, bathed and left home 2 hours after the stipulated time.
When I got to the shop I met it locked, I was surprised and as well shocked. I didn't know what to do, I can't go back home without the goods, what will I tell my Mom when she returns? She would definitely ask me the time I got to the shop and I don't have a phone to call the woman to know her whereabout.
Luckily I saw the woman beside her shop, when I asked her about her whereabout, she told me that the woman's daughter gave birth so she had travelled to her place. She said the purpose of the woman coming to the shop very early that day was because some of her customers had paid for some foodstuffs and she doesn't want to disappoint them, that's why she opened very early before travelling so that they can pick up their goods. I started crying, I narrated my story to the woman's neighbor and she blamed me for procrastinating and not following my mom's instructions.
I went back home empty handed, my weekend got spoilt, waiting for what Mom will say when she comes back, you all know African mother's now. When she arrived, I wasn't bold enough to look at her face, I later received the beating of my life, she talked and talked and talked......till I received common sense.
Mom concluded that till the woman returns, no foodstuffs will be bought. The whole family managed the little quantity of food at home for a whole week till the woman returns. Mom never accepted another money from Dad to buy foodstuffs and she never allowed him buy anything home cause she had already paid the woman. I and my siblings never complained of any portion of food given to us during that week, we dare not. I felt bad for not doing the right thing at the right time.
The experience taught me how to do things in order of priority and as instructed in stipulated time. Therefore, when you manage your time judiciously you tends to have more achievable goals and have time for other things.
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