With Eyes Wide Open...

Books in small doses

2007-05-24T10:24:00.000+01:00

From Reuters- By Claudia Parsons (Tue May 22, 2007):

Never had time to read "Moby Dick" and want something weightier than spam to read in your email inbox? A new Web site is offering to send classic books in bite-size installments to your handheld device or e-mail whenever you have a free moment, for free.

The e-mails from www.dailylit.com are designed to be read in under five minutes. Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" comes in 82 parts while Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" could take nearly two years of working days to read at 430 parts.

And you don’t have to register either. I just received the first chapter of Sense and Sensibility (yeah, yeah, I haven't read it yet) and the email subject came as ‘Sense and Sensibility (1 of 144)’ so you know exactly how many parts you’ve read/ have left to read.

Happy reading!

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2006-11-02T05:49:00.000Z

This movie is a must watch. At least twice.
If you can, try to see it on a big screen. The full effect of the camera's/editing team's genius will hit you better. The unlikely combination of Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey actually works; though Kate as Clememtine is brilliant in her portrayal of an impulsive and somewhat eccentric yet loving girlfriend to Joel, Jim as Joel does not come up to the same mark. Make no mistake, his portrayal of an insecure, shy guy is brilliant, yet you can often see glimpses of the volatilely funny characters he's played so far.

Here's a plot that's really original. Clementine and Joel have been seeing each other till Joel makes a particularly hurtful comment and Clementine in a fit of anger and pain, decides to erase him from her memory. I mean literally! Through a non-invasive medical procedure. When Joel finds out, he determines to do the same, but during the process, he has a change of heart and tries to cling to his memories of Clementine. But the procedure barrels its way through his subconscious and eventually all memories of Clementine really do get erased. Then God (what, Fate, who?) gives them another chance. You really don't know what's going to happen until the very last minute.
This movie deserves as Oscar! If you saw Crash and thought it deserved Hollywood's highest accolade you'll change your mind after watching ESSM.I know I did. The story has a very strong lesson too, something that we all know but have oftentimes had to learn again— that only through the process of loss do we discover what we had.
The ending sound track 'Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes' by Beck Lyrics sums up the movie beautifully:
"Change your heart
Look around you
Change your heart
It will astound you"

Virtual Graffiti

2006-10-26T05:42:00.001+01:00

Netdisaster.com is loads of fun! Always wished you could do something about a website that you thought sucked in design or content? Just go to Netdisaster.com, type in the URL of your target, choose your weapon of mass destruction, and fire!
Experiment with tomatoes, pies, cow dung or even acid pee. While I only recommend it for private amusement, I wouldn't be surprised if site administrators of some websites received images of their website all splattered with tomatoes via email!
What would be really nice is if instead of being limited to webpages, it can be used against files stored offline (on a PC or netwrok).
Anyway, my favourites are graffiti, most of the 'Life forms' options, all the 'dirty' options and the most satisfying 'Tomatoes' option!
Go ahead, have some fun!

No offense Orkuters, the site was most handy for this pic.

Myriad Art Gallery

2006-10-26T05:42:00.000+01:00

I'm an art lover. If that sounds pompous, let me explain. I look for and appreciate Art in nature (sunlight streaming through the branches of a tree), art in people's behaviours (what makes a person a joy to look at, even if not good loooking), and art in mundane things like a room arrangement. I believe in fact, that art is all around us— beauty really does lie in the eyes of the beholder.
But probably the most difficult of all art is the art captured on canvas (aka painting!) or through a lens eye (you guessed it: photography!) That's because what the artist tries to do is reproduce a scene for someone who hasn't witnessed it. This 'scene' may be real or imaginery, anything the artist feels like sharing that he thinks will evoke an emotion in the beholder.
My most treasured 'scene' is a black and white framed photograph of a window of an old Goan home taken from the inside, which hangs on my bedroom wall. This scene was captured by photographer Jude D'silva from Goa. I find it difficult to explain why exactly I love this picture, but the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it.
Jude is the owner of Myriad Art Gallery in Panjim, a beacon of hope (yeah, I know that sounds cliched, but what would you say, huh? Huh?) for undiscovered talent. Jude describes the gallery as a "place to bring artists and Art lovers together on one platform". He says, "We don't want to be a contemporary, cliché gallery. We will be hosting art workshops, seminars, exhibitions, artist showings, Art appreciation courses, even if art groups would like to meet at the premises something can be arranged. We also plan to host special events for fresh new artists and open events for art critics." For Jude, the gallery and all it represents is a dream that has become reality.
Situated on the first floor just opposite Vinite restaurant in Fountainhas, the gallery has an old world charm which makes it a very comfortable atmosphere for musing. You can walk in without any pretence, stand and stare at the paintings and photographs displayed on its wooden walls and wait for a scene to speak to you. Just, listen.

Prayer for the Work place

2006-04-03T08:33:00.000+01:00

This prayer was written by my friend Kenneth Fernandes. It's an amazing prayer—straight from the heart! I encourage you to read it, save it and use it again and again. God bless!

My Heavenly Father, as I enter this work place, I bring Your presence with me. I seek Your peace, Your grace, Your mercy and Your perfect order into this office. I acknowledge Your power over all that will be spoken, thought, decidedand done within these walls.

Lord, I thank You for the gifts You have blessed me with. I commit to using them responsibly in Your honour, give me a fresh supply of strength to do my job. Annoint my projects, ideas and energy so that even my smallest accomplishments may bring You glory.

Lord, when I am confused, guide me.When I am weary, energize me. When I am burned out, infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit. May the work that I do and the way I do it bring faith, joy and a smile to all that I come in contact with today.

And Oh Lord, when I leave this place, give me travelling mercy. Bless my family and home to be in order as I left it. Lord I thank You for everything You've done, everything You're doing, and everything You're going to do.

In the mighty Name of Jesus I pray, with love and thanksgiving....
Amen.

Of Roast Chicken and Trance Music...

2006-03-23T03:47:00.000Z

21st March was Nyla’s birthday and she decided to take us out for dinner to Little Vagator. I had no idea where we were going till we actually got to the place.
First we went to this amazing joint called Nine Bar. It’s a free entry, open air, party venue that apparently plays mostly only trance. (Well, at least it was playing trance when we got there on Tuesday night. And friends who had gone on a Saturday also got trance.) Situated on top of the hill overlooking the Disco Valley, Nine Bar has a very 'chilled out' ambience. Mostly foreigners here, minding their own business and appearing to have popped over just after having woken from a nap, so you might not feel comfortable if you wear your best threads. Great trance music but if you're not the type, then you could just sit down (there is sitting down space built all around the dance floor) and snack into their juicy pizzas. Didn't get a chance to try these myself, but am told they are second best after the ones made at Ingo's. (Another snippet- If you’re in Anjuna, try this place called Munchies for their pancakes.) We were at Nine Bar for less than an hour before we had to leave for dinner.

(This is the best part!) Dinner was at— and this is probably Goa's best kept secret, no more (and no, I won't kill you 'cause I told you)— Fusion. Mediterranean food and pizzas are the specialty. The name's a bit of an anticlimax, but from the moment you step into the place, it keeps getting better. The climax is the house special, their te... uh oh, hold on a sec, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Backing up a bit, to when you enter the restaurant. The place is huge and most of it is open air. Fusion is divided into two dining areas (formal and casual) and each of these is sheltered under a huge thatched roof. We chose the casual area where we got to sit on cushions on the floor. Cloth covered lamps and a low dining table completed the décor. Since its open on all sides, the breeze was, er..mind blowing! And the night sky, oh the night sky! Brilliant!
I ordered ginger lemon juice to start with and it was delicious. For the main course, we ordered pizza and roast chicken, some salads and French fries and roasted potatoes. Everything, right down to the fries (and I seriously believe you can tell how good or bad the food is going to be from the way they make their fries) was perfect in my rating. The chicken though, was only the best roast chicken I've ever tasted in my life. Crunchy on the outside, soft and delicious on the inside. It must have been marinated with some herbs ‘cause I kept finding pieces of it on the skin.

If that wasn't enough, there was the pièce de résistance—the dessert! I ordered chocolate cake with ice cream and it was absolute heaven! Not the gooey chocolate stuff, just a solid chocolate cake. If there was 1% of something lacking, then I found it when I tasted their house special tea (complimentary) which was a mint/lemon grass flavored concoction. It just hits the spot! Nothing like it to wind up a great dinner. (If I could have met the chef, I would have kidnapped him and sold him (or her) to a king.)

The entire experience was made all the more enjoyable by the head waiter Sonum. A native of Sikkim, Sonum is off to Switzerland to make cheese for three months during the off season. A very endearing chap, Sonum is the first waiter to advice me to order less. A word to the uninitiated- Fusion, like most beach area restaurants in Goa, is closed in the off-season (between May and September). The place is owned by an Isreali so it's closed on Saturdays. And the German lady who makes the pastries leaves next week, so try to make it there as soon as you can.

Weekend trip to Hollywood

2006-03-21T03:43:00.000Z

Saw 5 movies over the weekend (yeah, ok I know I need to get a life; maybe I will- next weekend!). Started with Pride and Prejudice at the cinema on Friday night and went on watch at home— Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, No Man's Land, Easy Rider, Lost in Translation, and Arlington Road. Excellent movies all!
Of all of these, the ones that you can take home with you (or since I was already at home, the ones that my mind kept chewing at for hours after) were Pride and Prejudice, Easy Rider and Arlington Road. I promise to do a review on Pride and Prejudice— not on the movie, but on the book, 'cause by then everyone would have seen the movie but perhaps not all would have read the book.

Cat calling...

2006-03-21T03:41:00.000Z

Tried explaining to my cat the other day that she belongs to my family and hence cannot have a life of her own. What brought on this conversation was her coming home at all odd hours of the night, dropping by to grace us with her presence at mealtimes, et al. Told her that since we look after her lodging and boarding the least she could do to pay us back would be to occasionally chase and bring down the odd cockroach, rub herself across our legs as a sign of appreciation, or maybe even entertain us by friskily running around the house chasing her tail. But did my heart to heart do any good? Nah, she blinked at me, gave a wide yawn and promptly went back to sleep.
Why do people love cats so much? Can't figure it out...

My First Sale!

2006-03-18T05:28:00.000Z

Heh! Recently I sold through ebay, a candle I'd made at home. Here's how this came about: I got a call from ebay soon after signing up for a free account, asking if I'd like to go through a short course on how to sell on ebay. Why not? I thought and signed on. As part of the instruction, I needed to put up something for sale (I took the 'Auction' option) so I chose to write about a candle I hadn't yet made. One week later, when the auction date was up, I got a message informing me that my candle had sold! Even though I got just one bid, it was quite a thrill, cause my candle must have been listed on the 7-8 page for 'scented candles'. So ebay works for everybody! Anyone reading this, I suggest you give selling on ebay a try. Who knows? Soon you may be running a full-scale business. Three cheers to ebay!

A closer look at 'Closer'

2006-03-01T09:26:00.000Z

Just seen the movie 'Closer' for the second time and had to write a review on it. A favourable review of course, since I loved the movie! Here's how the story goes: Dan (Jude Law) meets and falls in love with Alice Ayres (Natalie Portman) and leaves his girlfriend for her. The first duplicity!
Then, a year later during a photo shoot for his new book, he meets Anna (Julia Roberts) and is immediately and incredibly attracted to her (" I have to see you again!"). The second duplicity. Then, inadvertently, through a gag gone wrong, Anna meets Larry (Clive Owen) a dermatologist, falls in love with him and they get married. Dan, in the meanwhile is constantly ‘lurking’ in Anna's life. He's obsessed with her and eventually Anna succumbs. The third duplicity! They have an affair for a year and finally break the news to their respective partners who are very much in love with them. Here, Alice's berating, "There's always a moment when you can say no!’No I won't succumb', is particularly thought provoking. Here the plot fast forwards four months. Anna meets Larry to get his signature on their divorce papers. Larry uses a bit of mental manipulation to get Anna into bed and then advices her that 'such things are best not hidden' and she should tell Dan. When Dan finds out he is distressed and rightly accuses Anna of not having the courage to let Larry hate her by refusing him his need of her. Fast forward a few weeks. Dan pays Larry a visit at his clinic to demand Anna back. (Yeah, Anna goes back to Larry. Another duplicity, this time Dan's the victim. And yeah, I've stopped keeping track of the number of duplicities!). Instead he leaves with Alice's address. You see, while Dan and Anna were together, Larry met and bedded Alice. She even told him her real name which Dan doesn't ever get to know.
Does Dan get Alice back? I'll leave that part for you to discover when you watch the movie. And I strongly recommend that you do! Each of the characters are brilliantly portrayed.
The biggest strength about the movie according to me, is how it captures human emotions and expresses them in words.

Blogs to Riches

2006-02-20T10:41:00.000Z

I've been thinking about why people blog and so far I've come up with just four reasons. I'm sure there's more of them; I just haven't given it enough thought, so more on this later.
If you've been considering blogging for profit, then you should read 'Blogs to Riches'. The article talks about what makes a blog a hit and how easy it is to flop. Just having great content on your blog won't assure your rise to riches though. If you choose a niche, and post around the clock though, you may just stand a chance. Go ahead, read it. You know you want to.

Trashy Stuff

2006-02-16T12:58:00.000Z

The new Corporation of the City of Panjim sponsored campaign to clean up the city (optimistically) titled “Mission Chak a Chak” has got off to a great start.
The CCP recently organized a three day event to evangelize the concept of segregating and composting waste. So now all residents of Panjim have to segregate their waste into ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ waste. The aim is to reduce the amount of waste that leaves the city destined for garbage dumps (Panjim has no land available as waste sites). The CCP envisions about 114 composting sites for wet waste in different neighborhoods that will first be handled by the municipal staff, then gradually handed over to residents. Dry waste, consisting of domestic and industrial waste will be sorted for recycling, incineration and landfill.
If Panjim residents think they have it tough, they will get no sympathy from residents of Yokohama in Japan. Here, residents have to sort waste into 10 categories; they have even been provided with a 27-page booklet on how to sort their trash! There’s burnables, small metals, plastics, bulky refuse, used cloth, to name a few. And even residents of Yokohama can’t complain, for then there is Kamikatsu, where residents have agreed to raise their trash categories from 34 to 44 in the next four years! The goal— no garbage by 2020.
Ok CCP. The residents of Panjim are with you. They think it’s the best thing that happened to the city. Now just show us the way and don’t go running off to Japan for a ‘study trip’ or we’ll create a stink to the high heavens!

2005-04-07T06:12:00.000+01:00

Adjoining the Church of St Francis of Assisi and also located in the Se Cathedral grounds is the chapel of St Catherine of Alexandria. The chapel was built to commemorate the Portugese (led by Alfonso d'Albuquerque) victory over the Muslims that ruled the city. The battle was won on Nov 25th 1510 and this day was celebrated as the feast of St Catherine. I love this chapel because it has such an earthy look. Made entirely of brick, it has imposing doors and windows. This picture is of the chapel's right side. On this side, there is a small cobbled slope that leads to the church. At this spot, there stood the gate throught which the Portugese entered the Muslim city. Old Goa is so rich in history and yet none of it is in the school syllabus...

2005-04-07T05:59:00.000+01:00

Constructed sometime in the second decade of the 16th century, this building, called the Convent of St Francis of Assisi is located in the same complex as the Se Cathedral, Old Goa. This convent, which now houses the offices of the Bishop, formerly used to be the residence of the Franciscan 'friars'. I love this picture because it depicts Goa at its best slanting rays of the sun bouncing of windows made of oyster shells....whitewashed walls set among greenery...sigh!

2005-04-06T05:45:00.000+01:00

This is my friend Paresh. Paresh is working as a software developer in Denmark. So tell us Paresh...er, what's the food there like?

2005-04-06T05:41:00.000+01:00

Another picture of Bangalore....I'd been to Bangalore for Sting's concert on Feb 2nd. Man, it was an experience! Every member of his band is so talented in what they do- it was sheer pleasure watching them perform! This was my first visit to Bangalore and I really liked the place. Its clean, very well laid out and lots of open spaces. Only, the labels on the public buses and most shops are in Kanada which makes it very hard to get around. In the picture is state transport bus. I've never seen a bus as long as this one it's the size of two buses. Unfortunately I didn't get to travel in one...

Hi I'm back...

2005-04-06T05:09:00.000+01:00

Hi! A combination of two things have kept me away from this blog for the last two months- work and general laziness. But I'm back with lots of news and lots of pics. So here goes...

2005-01-08T05:06:00.000Z

Team Synapse: This picture was taken on board the Solita- a yatch that can be hired to sail up and down the backwaters of Goa. In the background is the village of Bastora

2005-01-08T04:38:00.000Z

Picturesques isn't it? What you're seeing is an old lighthouse built by the Portugese that guards the mouth of the river Mandovi. Just 10 minutes from my house, scenes like this are common to the city of Panjim. Panjim has to be India's most beautiful city!

2004-12-30T23:15:00.000Z

From 12 o'clock to 10: Anthon, Neil, Brian, Clint, Elvis and Osric. These guys have grown up together- from Boyz to Men! Missing from this family picture is Jorge. They're funny, decent and loads of fun! Anyone interested? ;) Oh, btw, Neil is already taken :$

Meozine

2004-12-30T22:11:00.000Z

I have two cats at home. Measuring about 2 ft from tip of ear to tip of tail, both are huge and make great foot warmers! One is called Blackie and the other one is called Brownie. Why did we give them such generic names? Well, it used not to be like this. When they were kittens we gave them proper names, but cats being cats, they wouldn't respond when called by their names. Now if we want to call both of them, we just say 'Puss'. Saves us the trouble. Heehee...
For cat lovers, here's an excerpt from a poem by T. S. called 'The Naming of Cats' Enjoy :)

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effableEffanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name...

2004-12-30T22:03:00.000Z

Blackie. A cat of few meows. Dignified. Never begs for food. A bit temperamental sometimes...

2004-12-30T08:22:00.000Z

Brownie. Absolute sweetheart! Huggable, squeezable,...loudmouth. Undignified rogue. Always hungry or sleepy.

2004-12-21T10:32:00.000Z

My mum's eldest brother and his family in Perth, Australia. From R-L: Crispin, Kerrie, Jackie and Garreth.

2004-12-21T07:00:00.000Z

Raul and Shubho who got married on October 31st. The wedding was held in typical Bengali AND Goan tradition!

2004-12-21T06:56:00.000Z

From R-L: My dad's sister Aunty Lourdes, her eldest daughter Sandra (aka Sandy) who is an Occupational Therapist, her brother Savio (aka Sav) who is a pilot, and eldest brother Rosario (aka Ross) who is a children's phisiotherapist. Missing from this picture is David. This picture was taken at Yosemite National Park's Awahnee Hotel

Bridge on the River Kwai

2004-12-02T18:20:00.000Z

Rajesh was knocked down by a car last evening while riding Umesh's bike. Miraculously, he only got away with a few bruises. The driver of the car was DUI and when I got there, he was guzzling litres of water (to pass the breath analyser test and to drain the alcohol from his blood stream). There are so many things one should remember to do/not to do when one is involved in an accident. Like not removing the vehicle till a cop gets to the site- even if it takes him an hour. Maybe I'll research this further. God knows, I wanted to hang around at the accident site (long after I wasn't required) just to get an experience of how such things get resolved.
When I got home though, I didn't tell anyone about the accident because— I wanted to borrow my brother's bike to go for a movie. As it was, my mum was anxious about the traffic and my no-license status. Anyway to cut a long story short, I did make it to the movie (10 minutes late) and only twenty minutes later did I realise I was sitting right next to Neeta, Shaalini and Abhishek. Shalu was as surprised as I was!
Coming to the movie itself, ah, I enjoyed it! Lovely cinematography! This epic film is loosely based on a real life incident during the second World War. Directed by David Lean it picked up 7 Oscars. William Holden as Colonel Nicholson performed brilliantly. A lot of the phrases he used reminded me of my Dad like- 'matter of principle', and others. Guess the film must have been a big influence on my Dad when he was growing up. In fact, I went only because mum and dad have spoken so much about it!

The IFFI is here!

2004-12-01T02:34:00.000Z

IFFI has come to Panjim! Yeah, unfortunately it can't be called a Goa thing because it's so centred in and around Panjim. But with the Chief Minister promising to make Goa the entertainment destination for Asia, hopefully in 3 yrs, entire Goa should get a face lift.
I went for the musical extravaganza held at Miramar beach last evening. Missed Tidal Waves- my favourite and undoubtedly Goa's best band- but caught Forefront at their best. They really rocked!
The highlight of last evening for me though had to be Subodh Kerkar's 'Installing the Beach' a kilometer-long installation on the beach. From over two dozen colourful saris tied to bamboo masts waving in the breeze to a forest made of shells, to teracotta figures, to illuminated castles in the sand, the installation was a site to see! And such a perfect setting too, with the night waves touching the shore just a stone's throw away! A good beginning to the IFFI....

Time-management Tips...

2004-11-15T11:55:00.000Z

Some tips for making the best use of your time at the work place. Let me know if you find them useful- I'll be sure to try them out ;)

Parkinson's Law: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. This explains why deadlines make us more effective. For example, if you have all morning to complete a task, it usually takes all morning. But if you allocate two hours to the task, you will probably be able to complete it within that time frame. All tasks should have realistic deadlines. The deadline becomes a goal to work towards. If the deadline is unrealistic, it will put you under needless stress.

Pareto's Principle: The significant items in a given group normally constitute a relatively small portion of the total items in the group. This explains why about 80% of your results are achieved from 20% of the things you do. It's critical to pinpoint those few priority items and complete them at all costs, even if it means leaving the less important tasks undone. This can be more easily accomplished by scheduling the time needed to complete the priority jobs, applying both a start and end time in your planner.

Law of Diminishing Returns: The amount of time required to approach perfection increases exponentially the nearer the job is to completion.
This is why it seldom pays to delay decision-making until you get all the facts or spend an inappropriate amount of time on a task. The extra value received by doing a near perfect job rarely justifies the cost of the additional time spent. Always let the amount of time spent on a task be proportionate to the importance of the task. Don't be a perfectionist.

Law of Comparative Advantage: You should assign, delegate or have someone else do any job that can be done at a wage less than you earn or desire to earn. This is another way of saying that you should not spend $50 per hour labor on $10 per hour jobs. Put a value on your time, whether at work or away from work. Try not to get involved in tasks or activities that yield less return that this value. Delegation, for instance, will free up time to work on tasks that can yield greater returns.

Pleasure Principle: A psychoanalytic concept suggesting that an organism avoids pain and seeks immediate gratification. This explains why we tend to procrastinate on distasteful or overwhelming tasks and work instead on those brief and pleasant tasks, even though they may be less important.

Law of Excluded Alternative: Doing one thing means not doing something else. Since we have a limited amount of time, spending time on one thing means that there is something else that we will be unable to do. It's a life of choices. A corollary to this law is that saying yes to a request is the same as saying no to something else, perhaps something that we would rather do. Have clearly written personal and organizational goals so that you will be able to make wise choices.

Law of Diminishing Importance: The importance of any item varies indirectly with the length of time it lies dormant. The longer an item remains filed, for instance, the less chance it has of ever being retrieved. About 90% of filed paperwork is never retrieved. Important items left on your desk rather than acted upon or filed will gradually lose their importance as time passes. Unfortunately, in many cases the reduced importance results in lost opportunities. To avoid clutter and increase the value of time spent, act on each piece of paper, e-mail, and voice mail message etc. during your scheduled mail time. Do it, file it, delegate it, scrap it or schedule a time to do it later.

Law of Forced Efficiency: There is always enough time to do the most important things. If something is important enough to you, you will always be able to find time to do it. This would indicate that certain things don't get done because of a lack of motivation to do them. This is close to the choice theory, i.e., what gets chosen, gets done. This law denies the validity of the argument that we didn't have time to do something. There is time to do anything; we just can't do everything.