It’s just a few minutes before midnight as I finally find time to focus on writing another blog post. 11:51 PM, in fact. That information will probably confirm to you that I don’t really sleep. I’ve been going since 8:00 this morning, because I overslept. I woke up to my personal trainer banging on the door. Yikes. So, what the heck do I know about so-called expert time management? Right. So, I don’t know everything about time management. But what I can tell you is that it’s about finding a balance, and doing what’s important. It’s about making it so it’s harder to fail, and that the things that absolutely must happen, do. It’s not like moms sit around eating bon-bons and watching soap operas all day long. We go, go, go. Frequently at great cost to ourselves. For me, it’s about not always having enough time to eat properly, or get enough exercise. It can also be about needing more time to take care of the house, kids, and poor, neglected husband.
I know that there are a lot of time management consultants out there that will tell you to set a clock. I think that can work, if you actually DO it. Setting time limits on most activities, and racing to beat the clock is a huge help for me, because otherwise I find myself piddling along. For instance, when I get to playing on the computer, I can pin like mad on Pinterest. Have you seen my 12,807 pins? Aren’t they fun? Yeah. It’s a fun time waster, but doesn’t really accomplish much, and I can spend hours in a time-warp pinning pretty things. So, I set a timer, and try to stick to it.
I also hide certain websites from myself. Like facebook, and Pinterest, when I’m supposed to be focusing on other things. The one big challenge I have is that in this day of social media, I actually have to go onto facebook, and set up posts for my companies. And then I have to check four other boards, and ooh, look.. Isn’t that a cute picture? Oops. There I went again.
I like to joke that it’s not that I have ADHD, it’s just that, “ooh, look, it’s a squirrel”. I get lost in the weeds. Getting lost in the weeds is a time killer. Trying to do 14 things at once is another time killer, because you find yourself spinning wheels.
Expert time management is a work in progress. It’s about realizing what works, and doesn’t work for you, and setting up rules so that you can succeed. It’s best if you figure out what the rules are that you have to set for yourself before a boss does. You’ll look better. 😉
