masai-sai epfungwa |

For an ordinary mortal [0] like me, managing time, especially in the face of information overload [1], is a skill that is almost impossible to survive whithout and yet it is also one area that I am least equiped to handle, having received no direct formal training nor devoted sufficient time to acquire appropriate skills. The key question is how have I been able to survive so far? On reflection, it would seem that, as a young mortal growing up, I survived mainly due to a combination of highly focused and diligent mind and being part of formal and informal human organisational units (family, school, research unit, workplace, etc.) that did the bulk of time management for me. As I grew older, life and circumstances demand that I do the managing of time that also impact on other young and growing mortals. Its quite refreshing that there is already a body of knowledge and literature devoted to this topic. One popular approach, which is not without its critiques [2], is that by David Allen [3], which focuses on “getting things done” [4] in a timely manner and is supported by some researchers [5] and a number of software tools [6]. It has also become a standard practice for organisations and higher education institutions to run time management seminars and workshops for their staff. However, all this usually comes quite late in a mortal’s life and its a real challenge for the skills to stick. The other day, on a visit to a local primary school [7, 8], a teacher told me that students are taught to set their own goals and then self-manage themselves towards the achievement of these goals. Introducing goal-setting and time management training early in life and in the modern school curriculum is a welcome move by educationists.