Make Time for Time Basics at a Book-Signing Reception this Saturday
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014
In his new book Time Basics, Dr. Jim Muncy, Professor of Marketing in the Harley Langdale College of Business at Valdosta State University, offers 24 principles to help people get the most out of each 24-hour day. Muncy has taught a time management class based on these principles for several years to business students. Many of them encouraged him to write this book.
“A lot of people teach time management using systems that people are supposed to apply to their lives, and I never thought that was the right approach,” Muncy said.
“I think you have to understand the basics first. You don’t study medicine until you understand chemistry and biology. And you don’t study calculus until you’ve learned basic math. It’s the same with time management.”
Muncy will be signing copies of Time Basics at a reception on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the new Healthcare and Business Administration Building on the North Campus of Valdosta State University. The public is welcome to drop in any time during the reception to meet the author. Gift-wrapped copies of the book will also be available.
Learning the basic principles
The first principle Muncy presents in Time Basics is The Perception Principle: It’s Later Than You Think. According to Muncy, “people treat time as a trinket rather than a treasure. If you realize how valuable it is then you would treat it differently.”
He uses a story to make his point. A Scottish couple inherited a vase, a nice vase. They put it in their living room, placed flowers in it, let the kids and the dog run by it. Then they saw a vase very much like it in a museum and decided to have their vase appraised. It turned out to be an early Ming Dynasty piece worth $10 million.
“Would you stick a $10 million vase in your living room? You might if you didn’t know what it was worth,” Muncy said.
Muncy uses storytelling, quotations and a conversational style to make Time Basics appealing to a large audience including business and non-business readers. Another principle, The Andretti Principle, is based on a quote by Mario Andretti, the world-champion race car driver.
“Andretti said, ‘If everything is under control then you’re not going fast enough.’ That’s true in time management too. If everything is under control then you don’t accomplish as much. Being a little out of control is okay and you may just need stress management, not time management,” Muncy said.
Making time to do important things
Muncy anticipates readers of Time Basics will realize benefits, as did the students of his time management class. Many students saw their grades improve. Others cited it as the most useful class they took.
As an example, Muncy mentions a former student, a very successful business owner, who came back to VSU to give a series of lectures. When asked to name the most useful business class she took at VSU, she said it was Muncy’s time management class.
"I was perplexed because I didn’t teach anything about accounting or marketing, which are both critical to running a successful business," Muncy said.
“How could time management be more useful than accounting or marketing? And then I realized it’s because time management helps people learn how to make time to do important things like accounting and marketing.”
Non-traditional students – those balancing families and jobs – in particular, benefit from the class, according to Muncy. Their challenge – fitting multiple demands on their time into 24 hours each day – is faced by people in all walks of life today. And that is the very challenge addressed in Time Basics.
For more information on Time Basics or to order a copy of the book, visit www.timebasics.com.
