Time Wasters

It's precious...

Relevant to the title let me get straight to my point. Who or what is wasting your time? I saw a quote from a book I am reading called the Purpose Driven Life.

“Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.”

It’s blatantly obvious but not something people think about. Put it into context - it's actually quite scary. Days go by and inevitably  we are all closer to our deaths.

Bearing that in mind life is to be lived well and time is to be taken seriously.

Can you think of a day you wasted? That precious day was a day you could have done something meaningful...

Where has this post come from?

Last week, I had a much-needed conversation with one of my closest friends. We spoke about strange friends, old flames, and bad habits.... It was from that conversation I felt it was relevant to discuss the gems I picked up.

How do you spend your day? Regarding this I will write from the perspective of someone at work.

I can honestly say there have been times where I have let a day sail by at work. As soon as it gets to the end of the day I couldn't tell you what I had achieved. I'd find myself half starting tasks and shying away from the ones I really didn't want to do. I would dilly-dally – check my phone, get distracted by emails, my productivity really wasn't the best.

My scatty work ethic meant that I wasted days without achieving much. It's hard to get organised but it honestly is the way. Once you complete your tasks you are able to think about things that can help you at work. These could be things such as - improvements to your role, working on projects, innovating new things…

Of course this is easier said than done but once you have that focus to organise yourself and cut out the time wasting activities you will have more time to for other things.

How about weekends? It is really important to rest and relax. Do things you enjoy doing but does getting hammered every Friday or Saturday night equate to fun? You go out, enjoy the booze, wake up the next day feeling like shit and end up spending the whole day in bed. Before you know it your weekend has gone.

What??!!

What exactly did you do then? What are the benefits? Don't get me wrong if you want to enjoy yourself by all means do it. But that time you spent hammered in bed could have been time that could have been spend doing other things? Like visiting your parents (they need your time too - remember that), spending time with your younger cousin etc....going to Portobello market and bumping into your future husband/wife lol.

Who is wasting your time?

The bane of my life! If like me you are too nice in life then you will relate. You need to be tactful about who you give your time to. Take a look at your circle of friends. Who is benefiting your life and who is wearing you down? I’ll elaborate.

For the people benefiting your life they should have a few of the following points:

·       They genuinely want to know how you are. When you talk to them they listen, they have time to advise you,

       they are actually concerned about the happenings of your life.

·       They encourage you to be better. When you have an idea they encourage you (if it's a good one) they tell you to go for it and if you are lucky they will help you find ways to pursue your idea.

An example - Monica has a great voice and wants to perform. She is shy and keeps putting it off. Her best friend puts her name down for an open mic night in Shoreditch. Monica is really angry about it at first but she realises her friend does it with her best interest at heart. She does it and is happy.

·       They are there for you when things are bad.

When you are down your friend should see and try to be there. Even if they don't say much at all they should be that person willing to listen.

Saw this on Twitter - #cute

·       Your friend should be someone you learn from. Honestly what is the point in being acquainted with stupid people? They will bring you down mentally and that in itself is exhausting!

·       They only care about themselves. They never ask how you are. They never ask what your plans are. They just literally chew your ear with their stories. NO

·       They want you around to boost their egos. I've been in a situation like this. I was around literally to tell them how great they were. Where they go I would be there cheering like a loser. They rely on you for their encouragement due to their own insecurities. They never boost your ego no; it's all about them.

·       They are not on the same intellectual level as you. They take things at face value and don’t realise that to every situation there is complexity and depth. If you are around people like this then you will find yourself constantly having to defend things you say and your actions. They just wont understand you. I’ll give you an example. Anika and Ronisha are my best friends from school but they are not people I spend time with everyday nor are they people I talk to every day. We try to catch up as much as possible but life gets in the way. When we do meet it’s like we have never been apart. We all understand that things are busy. Now, I have a friend who I’ve know for about 2 years. Again she is someone that I don’t always speak to. She gets annoyed that I haven’t spent time with her and emotionally blackmails me into feeling guilty. *Sense check* I hardly spend time with my school friends but they UNDERSTAND that we won’t always see and talk to each other…. If I can’t even see my best friends often what makes you think I have time for you? It happens! People like that lock right off. Intellectually you are on different wavelengths – it’s draining. It’s not just about time consciousness but also allowing negativity to enter your aura.

It’s important to ask yourself what are you learning from the people around you.

Are you learning how to talk about people or are you learning how to support your family?

Are you learning what rave to go to next? Or are you planning your next cultural escapade?

Are you learning about Facebook and Instagram…or are you discovering a gap in the market and creating you own app?

Think guys think!

Relationships

I’m not too experienced in this field but I will give you my take on things...

Is he or she really into you? Like really into you? Or are they bored and lonely? Think about it…Do you naturally flow together. Do you actually see yourself with this person long term and do they think the same?

If the answer is yes invest your TIME and ENERGY in him or her! Let your relationship flourish because once you let him or her go…. you can either breathe that huge sigh of relief or you feel like you have lost something that you actually loved.

Now back to time wasting antics…

Are you an agony aunt to them? Are you there to "FIX" what is broken? Or to help them become that person? Do you do a lot of supporting?  All of that is lovely but maybe you need your hand holding?

An ex came back into my life recently. Asking for my help with something. I agreed to help him, but after I had spoken to some of my friends and thought about it I thought, Jennifer, what the **** are you doing? Why go back and help this person out? Are you a FOOL or what? 

I would be using my precious time when I would have much rather done something commendable.

Consequently I sent him a message saying I am no longer available. Why I even considered helping in the first place is questionable. I wanted to help and I always do but there comes a time where you have to draw the line. Its good to help but remember you need help too.

Support is really important in relationships and it should be both ways.

If the see saw isn’t balancing in the middle you have a lot of thinking to do.

Do they encourage you to chase your wildest dreams (Like a star with the Sugababes really has some beautiful lyrics) or does he ridicule them? Does she/he help you shape your future or does he or she barely know what it is you really want to do?

I have two friends that I met at work a few years ago. I always knew they would make a good couple and it wasn’t hard to notice the way he would look at her sometimes. I told him to ask her out and kept on bugging him to.

This was about 3 years ago? I recently met up with him and he told me that they are dating! I was really happy and told him to make sure he looks after her! Now the girl used to be an illustrator and would draw from time to time. I told him to encourage that because a) it’s her passion b) who knows where it could take her and c) it’s the little things like that that show you are encouraging your partner!

Now sometimes the dreams your partner may have can be a little wacky or extreme. Lol – don’t ridicule them no, talk to them about it…there may be a hidden gem in the craziness.

Take an active interest in each other’s lives because before they met you, there were things they enjoyed doing. Don’t dismiss these things because ‘you’re not into it’. Learn. You may find out something that you didn’t know and who knows it could benefit you.

Social Media

Be wary of social media. It’s both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because you can connect with people you lost touch with, you can find out information quickly and you can grow your online presence- this is particularly good if you are a new retailer or an artist for example.

The bad things however is that it can take up a lot of your time. You can look at the amazing lives people have and compare (I’m guilty of that) or read a pointless argument between people on twitter? Or analyse who has the best ‘selfie’ on instagram.

Events

Pick the ones you go to wisely. I’m guilty of this. I go to quite a few and some are great but some are waste of times. Pick ones that are relevant to you and that you think can benefit you. Imagine going to a networking event. You speak to a few people, get a few business cards, email them to ‘express how nice it was to meet them’ and that’s it? What did you achieve? Is there a follow up? Or just a nice message? It’s good to get out of your comfort zone because networking isn’t a simple task. But network with an aim.

So this isn’t a rant, I just wanted to share some tips.

Another friend this week said to me. It’s easy to say next year I will do such and such, but how do you know you will be here next year? Yes we should have faith that we will be but you just don’t know what God’s plans are.

I’m fortunate enough to have a friend who broke it down to me and I thought it would be good to share.

Stop wasting time.

Ghana at 57

I started off my Ghana Independence celebrations by watching Nana Akufo Addo and co talk about Ghana's progress (or not) in the last 57 years.

My celebrations continued into the week with a visit to the Jumeriah Carlton Tower for the Ghana High Commission's annual celebration. I went with Akwaaba UK to celebrate with Ghanaians and Friends of Ghana. 

As usual, I had nothing to wear. The invite said I could either wear formal wear or traditional dress. I obviously wanted to wear traditional clothes but my body has expanded over the last 3 years meaning what my seamstress beautifully sewed for me in Ghana just didn't fit.

All I could do was improvise! I ended up wearing a black dress and represented Ghana with some Ankara bracelets. I've sadly lost my Gye Nyame bracelet and earrings so the bracelets did it's job in a way.

I entered the building and noticed the Ghana High Commissioner and friends were lined at the door. I turned around to find another entrance because this looked pretty formal. Could I find one? No...that was the only way into the place! 

I awkwardly walked towards the toastmaster who asked for my name to introduce me to the High Commissioner. Gosh....Very formal indeed! 

Professor Kwaku Danso - Boafo (The High Commissioner) greeted me with a "Miss Amankwa thank you for coming". How lovely, I got a bit shy! 

I walked around the room and decided to speak with drummers who were about to play. One of them assured me that he would teach me. I know its a serious skill to have so I told him that if he was good, I would happily learn from him haha.

Let the drums talk

Soon after that it was time for the speech from the High Commissioner. The speech commenced with National Anthems. I was surprised to hear the National Anthem for Great Britain was played first. This was then followed by the Ghanaian national anthem. I would definitely would have reversed that order! 

Stand up, hand on heart, sing loudly....The National Anthem is playing!

In his speech, the High Commissioner commended Ghana for being the first country to take initiative in Sub Saharan Africa. He explained that over the years we have had successes and challenges. 

He made it clear that we could build a better Ghana through patriotism and national unity and thanked successful governments for contributing to a stable Ghana. 

Danso Boafo continued to explain that Ghana has experienced political and economic stability, earning dividends for our country as a result of the collective effort of the people. 

He believed the government will continue to enhance electoral process and the building of strong institutions. 

The positive growth of the economy was praised for making Ghana an attractive place for investments. Ghana, he continued, provides a peaceful and secure business environment with one that provides good return on investment. 

He mentioned our economy had grown 14.4 % 2011 and 7.9% 2012 and was also proud to talk about our foreign investments.

Governments have implemented policies to drive forward the growth agenda of the government. This is to happen through expanded opportunities such as eduction, health, social security and protection of vulnerable.

The government is also looking into improving our infrastructure, ICT and reliable energy supply. 

I was really impressed to hear that the Ghana Professional School Database was being developed to help those who are interested in returning to Ghana to tap into employment opportunities there. I eagerly await details for that!

He also encouraged active participation from the diaspora through dialogue and practical engagements. 

Thanks were expressed to her Majesty's government and different organisations.

After the speech the networking and dancing began. 

I met some interesting people including a 26 year old future labour candidate ;-), A Minister Counsellor to the Embassy of Serbia, a journalist and an employee of a commonwealth organisation.

The evening was pleasant and lively. Good vibes and good people all around!

I enjoyed celebrating with Ghanaians and of course friends of Ghana.

A few pics....

Cilla, Me, Mavis! #MGUK #Akwaaba

Miss Ghana UK 2013

Can you spot me? I'm taking notes on my phone but it looks like i'm texting :/

The following day, in observation of Ghana's independence, an evensong service was held at Westminster Abbey. I went along to show my support. I have never been inside the Abbey, seeing the black and white tiles took me back to 1997, the year princess Diana died.

Although I was only a child, I still remember the sorrow I felt each time I watched the news. I have never met her but her death really did affect me. 

The service was a mixture of readings, prayer and song. The choir boys sang beautiful, honestly I know it's cliche to say but their voices were honestly ANGELIC. I wonder how one becomes a choir boy? 

The angel boys sang here

The High Commissioner read from the bible, we said a few prayers and it was time to go.

I met Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo afterwards to greet him and I guess to say goodbye! For those of you that don't know he will be leaving his post as High Commissioner! Sad because I thought he was cool!

Professor and myself (excuse the fuzziness - camera man :-( ) 

I ended my celebrations with more hope for Ghana. I am optimistic and hope in some way I can contribute to the positive change.

Nana Akufo Addo comes to London

I'm not very politically inclined especially when it comes to Ghana. I know what I know because of my dad. He's really into Ghanaian politics and is usually found listening to a Ghanaian radio station getting involved in whatever it is they are debating. He can speak passionately about the subject and if it wasn't for him I would have thought NDC (The National Demographic Congress) was a new name for a brand of mobile phone. I do have some kind of interest. I obviously know the lineage of our presidents and what parties they are from. I take an active interest when the elections are running too. My favourite president so far has been Kuffour. Not because he is Asante/Ashanti or a member of NPP (The New Patriotic Party), I just liked his demeanour, the way he portrayed himself, the intelligence with which he carried his speeches, the way he rocked with his kente outfits. I felt a sense of pride when I saw him. Even at the Queens event  to celebrate Ghana independence at 50,  I didn't see him trying too hard to impress our western counterparts. He was simply himself and people liked that.

On the 3rd of March, I went to the Brunei Suite, School Of Oriental Studies and African Studies, University of London to listen to a talk entitled Ghana 57 years after 1957. 

A little background history is needed here, Kwame Nkrumah, for those of you who may not know, was Ghana's first president. He along with Ahmed Sékou Touré, Haile Sellasie and Jomo Kenyatta, were active activists of the Pan African Movement. I see them as great men who fought to put Africa on the political map without the help of the west. Ghana was the first sub - Saharan African country to gain independence from Britain. He had high hopes for Ghana and the whole continent. He fought to stand up for Africa.  I've quoted some of his speech below.

"At long last, the battle has ended!  And thus, Ghana, your beloved country is free forever!

And yet again, I want to take the opportunity to thank the people for this country; the youth, the farmers, the women who have so nobly fought and won the battle.

Also, I want to thank the valiant ex-service men who have so cooperated with me in this mighty task of freeing our country from foreign rule and imperialism.

And, as I pointed out… from now on, today, we must change our attitudes and our minds.  We must realise that form now on we are no longer a colonial but free and independent people.

But also, as I pointed out, that also entails hard work.  That new Africa is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all the black man is capable of managing his own affairs".

Kwame Nkrumah - 6th March 1957

Listen to the full speech here 

He started something big. If he were to see the state that Ghana is in now would he be happy? It's been 57 years since Ghana's independence and what do we have to show for it? We are still suffering, we are still getting help from the west and yes although we have come a long way, there is still a lot to be done. 

Chaired by Lord Paul Boateng, the panel for the discussion consisted of Nana Akufo Addo (NPP presidential candidate) Hannah Tetteh,  the Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Michael Amoah and Manji Cheto. 

Dr Michael Amoah

Dr Michael Amoah  asked the question 'How do we get to where we should be? He compared Ghana to an illness ( in a positive way)  - Ghana sneezed everyone caught the cold :-) 
Which is true, take for example Patrice Lumumba. He knew that the west were trying to do when it came to his beloved Congo! He like Nkrumah wasn't having any of it.
Dr Amoah then went on to talk about businesses in Ghana. In the African Report conducted in 2013, Out of 500, a Ghanaian company was listed as the 241st top company to work for? What!!!! It's surprising seeing as there is a lot of growth and potential in Ghana.

Dr Amoah continued saying that we need to have a plan despite the political party that is leading? Politicians have one year for campaigning, 2 years to do 'something' and then the final year is about campaigning again! I thought that was pretty brave seeing as Nana Akufo Addo was only two seats away from where he was.

Nana Akufo Addo

Next up was the man of the moment, Nana Akufo Addo, He graciously thanked all his contributors and mentioned that  Paul Boateng was a fellow Akyem brother. 

"Ghana achieved independence peacefully and became the hope of Africa".

He acknowledged that we are now a digital world and focussed on youth unemployment and a failed education system. He spoke about hypocrisy and said that after all the 'daily prayers' and 'finger pointing' why is it we accept bribes? Our appearance is important, we must be seen to be building a Ghana for all nations. Africa is one of the youngest continents with 16.5 million people below the age of 30. He stressed that if we plan well we can do well. 
Akufo Addo continued to explain that we as a country are importing from the west and east but we also need to remember to add value to what we do, whether in agriculture, arts, tourism etc the path to prosperity is to gain skills to make things! He mentioned that Ghana has what it takes to develop progressive economic policies.  Infrastructure was addressed - apparently we need 2 billion dollars to meet our infrastructure problems. 2 billion?! How many 0s in billion??

Akofo Addo ended by saying  there is a lot that is right about Ghanaians and Ghana. We are a democratic nation with God fearing people. We have a positive international image residing in a continent that is slowly being taken seriously. Fortunately for us, different ethnicities does not divide us as Ghanaians. We have religious differences too that are accepted.
He ended by saying God bless Ghana and God bless Africa.

I admired his positiveness and his acceptance of what was wrong. He was a delight to watch and pretty funny too, making the audience laugh countless times.

Hannah Tetteh

Hannah Tetteh, who is  the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ghana. Tetteh started with a powerful statement that addressed why we were all there...
She stated that "We need to create a Ghana that our forefathers strived to achieve To achieve transformation we have to ask where are we today".

She continued by stating that In 2009 we became a middle income country.  She observed that whilst a lot of people talk about oil in Ghana, countries such as  Nigeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea produce more oil in quantities that we can't even compare with. We therefore have to be realistic. Oil and gas has contributed as has the services sector (especially with the increase of tourism). She explained the importance of developing the Manufacturing Industry too. It isn't good enough to produce factories. We also need to invest in the supply chain. This will give Ghana an opportunity to compete globally. Even if one if manufacturing for local production. It has to be good! Tetteh like Addo expressed the importance of investing in infrastructure. She mentioned the unreliable work of the West African gas pipeline and suggested that proper investment should be made in the Jubilee pipe line We need to create power in order to eradicate DUMSOR (a reference to the on and off power supple situation in Ghana). Tetteh ended by talking about the importance of education and young people. The quality of information should be improve so that it's not only the Wesley Collegers and Achiomatan's, (those from privileged schools) that become achievers.

Manji Cheto

Manji Cheto is Political Risk Analyst specialising in West Africa. She posed the question - "What are the global realities"?  The private sector is needed to progress Ghana. It may not be something that is liked but it important to have foreign partnership. 
Cheto continued by commending Akufo Addo for taking NDC to court, like Dr Amoah, she was passionate about the fact that we have to forget the politics NDC v NPP and work out a serious plan. Trust is important and within that statement she said many promises have been made but have been broken. The Ghana Investment Fund for example. A great idea but where is it? 

The session finished with questions and answers from the audience which was informative but annoying at the same time. Paul Boateng clearly indicated that due to the lack of time people should go straight to their questions. Did that happen? No! I'm not sure whether it is a Ghanaian thing but people felt that they had to commence their questions with an elongated and pointless comment. Why? Ask your question chale, get straight to the point!

One question did stand out to me and it was something I myself wanted to ask...

Education was mentioned a lot but how else are the youth being helped? How will they be integrated into the working world? Some people in Ghana don't even know how to write a CV and we expect to compete globally? 

Hannah Tetteh responded by saying there are a lot of initiatives for entrepreneurs but not everyone is an entrepreneur and the government is not there to help everyone.  She's right yes not everyone is an entrepreneur and it's silly to expect the government to help everyone. I do however believe initiatives don't have to be focussed on the potential entrepreneurs.  There are many ways in which the youth can be helped in Ghana. Creating workshops to learn about employment for one is a start. Or even enhancing a child's artistic talent through free art or music classes? Thats how we can compete. Developing what the youth already have. 

An interesting evening!