There are twenty-four hours in a day. At a first glance it seems a lot, but in our practical day-to-day experience we often feel that there is never enough time to do all the things that we want to do. How can we utilize our time in such a way that we can get the most out of those twenty-four hours? A successful businessman once said, "If you want to be successful in life you have to sacrifice either sleep or television or both." There is much wisdom in these words. To utilize time wisely the first thing we can do is to become conscious of where we are not using time wisely - in other words: where we feel we are wasting time. Television has brought many good things, but it is also true that it can usurp much of our precious time unnecessarily. We can use the time we save by watching less television by doing something constructive in our own lives or by doing something good for mankind.

It goes without saying that sleep is absolutely necessary and indispensable. But sometimes we tend to indulge ourselves in getting more sleep than we actually need - especially on the weekend. So if we really want to write that novel, master that difficult piece on the piano or work out that fabulous business plan, we may have to become more economic in our sleeping behaviour. Eight hours of sleep are recommended for sound health. Yet through the practice of meditation we can gradually reduce the amount of sleep we need. From eight hours it can become seven hours, six hours or even five or four hours, depending on our individual capacity. For meditation gives us inner peace, which can substitute an amount of outer sleep. It is said that a moment of real inner peace which one can experience in deep meditation can replace several hours of sleep.

Another thing which may help us in using time more effectively is to change activity once in a while. By changing activity we give ourselves a break. For our mind everything becomes boring and tedious after a while, so if we venture into a new activity the mind gets new enthusiasm and energy. That new joy and energy will also help us to work much more concentrated and effectively. Then when we get enough of that task we can again return to the previous task and we will again get new joy and enthusiasm. "Rest is change of activity," my spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy always says. If we know how to apply this little phrase of wisdom in our day-to-day lives, we will be taking a big step forwards towards the fulfilment of our dreams.