Self Growth has been a very interesting topic on Pep Talk, albeit a long one. I really hope I've been able to explain what Self Growth is and I will round up with today's post, Time Management. How you manage your time is essential to your growth. You can know how to do every other thing on the Self Growth list, manage your time badly and in the end, no growth is evident. I will outline a few points I practice everyday and I'm not a perfect time manager because procrastination still rears it's head once in a while. That's forgivable and in as much as it pays to be strict with your time, don't knock yourself out.

• Have a daily planner: If you are an ardent reader of the blog, you'd know I preach this a lot. I believe if you can have a daily plan, you'd spend your time wisely in a day. If you just wake up with the mindset of moving along with time, you'd end up with a basic day and less productivity. (ps- I have something in the works for you guys regarding this and I can't wait to let you in the know)

• Categorize the plan in a descending manner of importance: Start with the most important task to the least. It makes it easier to mark the ones you've done and to be aware of the important ones you've yet to do. 

• Be specific: I've been guilty of not writing in details what I need to do and it only gets me confused at the end. Be as specific as you can be with the time. (eg. Get my hair done at 3pm; Go to Mum's office at 5pm etc)

• Don't overwork the plan: If peradventure the time you allocated is not enough, you can stylishly steal a few minutes from the next task and complete it but make sure you don't ignore one for the other. Trust me it might seem unreasonable to leave an uncompleted task for a new one. There have been times I had no choice but to abandon the blog because I was extremely busy in the background and to be honest, this was my fault as I didn't manage my time properly. It's understandable really and that's why I said you should have a list from the most important to the least one.

• Don't procrastinate: When I graduated, I needed to file some paper works and do a couple of registration. I decided to rest instead thinking I had enough time to do it. I didn't have Nigeria in my plans and suddenly I had to come to Nigeria and I ended up rushing the paper work. It's quite easy to think we have time until suddenly, you have no account as to how you've spent the time. Whatever you have to do now, do it immediately. Procrastination only wastes one's time and when it's time to do everything, no time left. 

• Focus on the time you have left and not on those wasted: Sometimes we focus on how much time has gone by and not on how we can maximize the remaining time. You hear people say "I don't have time for this and that, I'm not doing it because time has passed" Instead we should say "I will find time for it and I will do it when the time I've allocated to it comes" Attend to the present task and don't be distracted by the next.

• Don't be easily distracted by social media: I previously wrote about Social Media and I mentioned the advantages of it. If you are always distracted by social media when you should be working on your tasks, you will need to look for a strict way to avoid it so it doesn't steal out of your time. You can deactivate/delete the apps while you work or switch off your phone if you don't need it etc. Social Media is the number one thief of time. It's so easy to get sucked in and ignore the task at hand. The most common task that is easily disrupted by social media is study time. Instead of studying diligently, one picks up the phone to quickly check instagram for five minutes, that eventually elongates to thirty minutes and before you know it, allocated study time is over and you end up with a non-productive study day. It goes on and on like that and it will reflect in your exam results. It's a long cycle and that cycle is controlled by time. 

• Evaluate how you spend your time: You won't really know you how your time is spent if you don't evaluate it. Write down the main things you spend your time on and how they've affected your growth. If you notice you spent more time watching movies, cut that time. If you notice you spend more time being productive, keep at it. 

• Allocate time to rest: You already know I hold my sleep/rest days dear. On average, I get seven hours of sleep. It's very important to rest because you cannot come and go and kill yourself. If you are always working and resting less, your body will tell on you. You will eventually end up sick and sick period will steal your time. As much as you cherish the work period when money is coming in, you have to dedicate major time to rest. 

• Don't let people waste your time: You have to value your time. When you know how much your time is worth, you won't give it out to just anyone. You shouldn't always be available when your friend calls you to hang out. Your daily time plan should be filled to the point that you are not at everyone's beck and call.

• Stick to your plan: At the end of it all, you can do all these and after a short while, you give up on it and go about your former random day. When you stick to these points for a long while, maybe six months, look back and compare to the days you didn't have a daily plan. If you think you were more productive without a plan, feel free to go back to that life but I can assure you that you'd be more productive when you manage your time appropriately.