One of the most commonly heard expressions used in the discussion of time management is "beating the clock." People want to find a way to avoid time's limitations and to function freely without feeling pressured by the tick-tock that marks every second. It seems as if everyone wants to find a way out from under the tyranny of time. They seek out time management strategies as a way to do this.

They are always disappointed with the results. They may increase their efficiency. They may be slightly less busy. However, the clock continues to tick and time remains short. Some surrender. Others redouble their efforts to beat the clock.

Unfortunately, those who try to beat the clock are fighting an unbeatable foe. The clock keeps on ticking no matter what one does. Time marches on, as they say, and no one can stop it.

The key to successful time management is to recast time as an ally, instead of as an enemy. When one makes that fundamental shift in perspective, maximizing efficiency becomes far easier. By learning to work within time frames instead of vainly trying to stretch, bend or crush time, one can have a far more successful time management experience.

The key to making that shift in perspective is to recognize that time truly is inevitable and unyielding. A force that can turn coal to diamonds and boulders to sand is not the kind of force with which a time manager needs to be wrestling! Time passes. That is an unchanging fact.

Time is not malleable. One cannot bend it to their hearts content. Regardless of the force applied, there will still be twenty-four hours in a day and seven days in a week. One cannot change the core essence of time.

What one can do is work within time. They can learn to recognize that its constraints are real and permanent. Instead of fighting with it, they can simply accept it and look for ways to work within it. That may sound like an impossibly abstract concept, but it is not. It merely means that one stops trying to do battle with this giant force called time and instead looks to its structure and rhythms for clues about how to best occupy its space.

If you are still trying to beat the clock, you should know that you will lose. Eventually, if you let it, the clock will beat you. Optimally, however, you can avoid that fate by finding away to shift your attitude and to look for ways to work with time instead of against it.

Those who experience the most success with time management are those who understand the limitations of time. They have abandoned the long standing feud with this great force and instead have opted to co-exist peacefully with it. They choose their battles more carefully and are happy to focus their energies on things over which they may actually be able to exert a degree of control