Ever Have A Quality Time

 

How does a person make use of quality time? Every day as I travel, I see people in the jeepneys, busses, or those waiting in line on the streets to get into an MRT appearing to be busy. This is only to discover they are “busy” playing the latest game on their phone, updating their Facebook, or simply  “killing ” time. There are only 24 hours in a day. The waking hours may be between 12 to 16 hours. The remaining time is left for sleeping. If we account for the hours we spend and check on quality time, we may be surprised by how little it may be.

So what is quality time?

To quote Wikipedia, “Quality time” (QT) is an informal reference to time spent with loved ones (e.g., close family, partners, or friends). That is in some way meaningful, unique, productive, or profitable. It is time to pay full and undivided attention to the person or matter at hand. It may also refer to time spent performing some favorite activity.

If we follow the definition, Quality Time calls for total undivided attention.  Each person may have identified persons, places, or hobbies to spend. At work, an employee who devotes his time to carry out his tasks diligently eventually gets a better performance rating. Today’s technology advancement may also be a great distraction. An example is the presence of Facebook. This is both good and bad. Many people find this a significant boost in connecting with long-lost friends, classmates, or even a point of promoting a business. It is a distraction because employees may be found online during office hours. It may be on their computer or a smartphone. Productivity, therefore, is affected. There are now employers who wrote specific policies on FaceBook usage.  

Speaking of Facebook and other Social Media format, companies need to spell and enforce stricter procedures on who is authorized to write on behalf of the company. Remember anything written out of context may be detrimental to the image. Franchisers have begun including in their franchise agreements. The guidelines detail whether a franchisee may or may not put up another page promoting the franchised branch.

Quality time may refer to the time spent with the family.  Bringing concerns from work to your home is not the right way of having quality time. Entrepreneurs especially working from home, are faced with this challenge. Engage the children in a healthy discussion. This may be about life experiences or topics that are trending. Having parents talk about the subject matter will open their minds. No less than Pope Francis stressed the importance of rebuilding family values. Leaving the children with the television, computer, or mobile phones as their “tutors” is not the ideal way of rearing up. Just the other night, I watched an interview with a successful entrepreneur mom. What struck me was despite her busy schedule, whenever her phone would ring or an SMS from any of her children, she would always excuse herself and attend to it.

What is the value of having amassed so much money and luxury in this world if one’s family is decaying?

Thus, being in business these days calls for the importance of balancing spending quality time at work and family.

Perhaps it would be good to constantly review how we have shared Quality Time with people close to us each week. The next time you find yourself bored or plainly looking for things to do, try giving a call to your loved one instead of playing with your latest game.

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You may contact Armando “Butz” Bartolome for questions and more information.

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