IELTS
JOURNAL
156
IELTS READING FULL TESTS
READING PASSAGE 1
PERSONAL TIME MANAGEMENT
Since the early work of Halberg(1960),the existence of human "circadian rhythms" has
been well-known to biologists and psychologists. Circadian rhythms dictate that there
are certain times of the day when we are at our best both physically and
psychologically. At its simplest, the majority of us feel more alive and creative in the
mornings, while come the evenings we are fit only for collapsing
with a good book or in
front of the television. Other of us note that in the morning we take a great deal of
time to get going physically and mentally, but by the evening are full of energy and
bright ideas, while a very few of us feel most alert and vigorous in the late afternoon .
Irrespective of our personal rhythms, most of us have a productive period between
10a.m. and noon,
when the stomach, pancreas, spleen and heart all appear to be in
their most active phases. Conversely, the majority of us experience a low period in the
hour or two after lunch (a time when people in some societies sensibly take a rest), as
most of our energy is devoted to the process of digestion. The simple rules here are:
don't waste too much prime time having a coffee break around 11a.m.when you
should be doing some of your best work, and don't make
the after-lunch period even
less productive by overloading your digestion. A short coffee or tea break is ,in fact,
best taken on arrival at the office ,when it helps us start the day in a positive mood,
rather than mid-morning when it interrupts the flow of our activities. Lunch is best
taken early, when we are just beginning to feel hungry, and
we are likely to eat less
than if we leave it until later. An early lunch also means that we can get back into our
productive stride earlier in the afternoon.
Changes in one's attitude can also enhance personal time management. For example,
the notion of pro-action is eminently preferable to reaction. To pro-act means to
anticipate events and be in a position to take appropriate action as soon as the right
moment arrives. To react,
on the other hand, means to have little anticipation and do
something only when events force you to do so. Pro-actors tend to be the people who
are always one step ahead of other people, who always seem to be in the right place at
the right time, and who are always better informed than anyone else. Many of us like
an
easy life, and so we tend to be reactors. This means that we aren't alert to the
challenges and opportunities coming our way, with the consequence that challenges
bother us or opportunities pass us by before we're even properly aware they're upon
us. We can train ourselves in pro-action by regularly taking the time to sit down and
appraise the likely immediate future, just as we sit down and
review the immediate
past.