Time: the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues; duration.
Management: the act or art of managing; the conducting or supervising of something.
Why is it that I feel time is not constant? It either drags or races by.
Christmas is still twenty days away, yet for some of us it will be on a doorstep tomorrow. There’s so much to do, we must manage our list.
Children will drive you crazy over the next twenty days as their world is in slow motion waiting for Santa to appear. If they could manage time parents’ lives would be peaceful.
Can we truly manage time? Yes, and no. I wrote about the Power of Three , where I talk about playing a numbers game in accomplishing all we have to do on our list.
But the list continues to grow and time passes without much headway.
Yesterday I had an agenda and it was pretty simple. I felt I was busy from sun up to sun down. I accomplished a lot, though I didn’t seem to accomplish everything. I even used the three most important things on my list to get the jobs done. How at the end of the day do I feel a bit of failure as well as success? I did, however, manage my time.
If I’ve learned nothing else while living on a boat, it’s that we’ll never be completely ready to leave on our next adventure. We can manage our time and our list, but there’s always something else to do.
In that vain, time is not manageable as we’d never move to the next project if we wait for the list to be complete. We can’t make life stand still until we accomplish everything.
Deadlines come and go. Events shall pass and you may not have the exact gift at the last minute for that special someone, but does it stop you from enjoying the holiday?
I’ll suggest you’ll get through the event or project just fine whether the deadline zooms at you or crawls unmercifully slow. We need to remember that life is a journey and we are actors in our own lives. We just as well enjoy the ride.
The moral of the story is, if we manage our projects and reduce our perceived stress by accepting not all will get done, we are managing our time.
How about you? Do you manage time, or does it manage you?
Probably a little of both. Sometimes I feel I have time under control just by being aware of it, and other times, I just throw my hands up and say “whatever.” Actually I struggle more with managing me and my focus than anything else. I think that if I can focus on the task at hand, the time issue cooperates a bit more. Thanks for a great reminder, Nancy!
No problem Diana, I think we’re all in the same boat. (pun intended)
I guess I do a fair job of managing time as you have described it. 🙂 Thanks, I feel better. I do what I can, if something is not completely done it just gets moved to the top of the next list/deadline. I don’t stress like I used to either. Things always work out in the end.
Absolutely Carol, they always see to work out of we are just making an effort.
I go through periods where I feel overwhelmed and anxious about my to do list and everything that’s not getting checked off. And then I go through periods where I alter my perspective and accept that what I get done, gets done and the rest I can let go and forget about it. I try to maintain my more zen attitude because I accept that there’s only so much time in a day and I don’t want to waste any of it being upset or focused on what I didn’t accomplish. I want to try to focus on relishing in my success, reviewing the list to prioritize for the next day and then let it go. I mean, what else can we do?!?!
But it’s hard…I often ask myself “why do we tend to take so much on???”
I have yet to find an answer. LOL!
Natalie, I love the positive attitude. I’m not sure any of us have a really good answer.
I’m with Natalie. Sometimes the list overwhelms. I get tense and snappy until I feel I’m caught up to a reasonable level, and then life is on an even keel again. Time management? No such thing in my world! =)
Carrie, I can just imagine what your world looks like. I’m with you, I think time management is fiction. We can only control our immediate actions.
I’m just glad when the to-do-lists pause and there is time for long, chatty phone call with a friend 🙂
I have only just begun to accept that some things will get done in the time allowed and some things won’t. Once that part has been hammered into my head, I mean accepted, I then prioritize what HAS to get done. Kid needs fed? Okay. Litterbox needs changed? Not so much. But only for a day. Ultimately, I don’t manage time so much as acknowledge how finite it is. Christmas being a fantastic deadline for that one.
Kimberly, Welcome aboard Fawkes! I’ve been there with kids and it’s not easy prioritizing with them around, but they do come first. Keep your head up and if the young ones are happy and healthy and you get a bit of ‘me’ time, you are a success!
I used to be super organized. Since I put myself on a writing deadline, I’m not feeling so organized about Christmas. But we’ll be together, I’ll stay up late to shop, and somehow I will bake all those treats! I think I can, I think I can.
Jillian, I think all of us over-achievers find this to be true. When we are super organized and then we focus on one specific area of our lives, it becomes a compromise. Don’t forget to give yourself a break and find a bakery who will help you out. 😉
For me, it’s all about making that list and checking it twice … and then whatever happens, happens. Everything usually falls into place. Staying calm and feeling positive wins out over getting uptight so I just roll with the punches knowing it will all work out in the end. Honest! It will!
Patricia, I admire your enthusiams and priorities. I feel the same way, but that over-achiever in me can get wrapped up sometimes.
For me, it depends what’s on the to-do list. I thrive on chaos and sometimes work better under the gun. Everything usually gets done, and I’m slowly learning not to sweat the tiny stuff. I keep telling myself, “What’s the worst that can happen?”
The flip side…I finished my holiday shopping, ordered more folding tables to accommodate the crowd, wrapped all the gifts…and I’m wondering if I’ve forgotten to do something.
Jennifer, there have been a few times in my life I’ve been so prepared I was at the same place you are. It always works out, but it’s an erie feeling.