It seems appropriate that my first blog entry after many
months away is on Time Management. After
all, the only reason I haven’t blogged in a while is because I haven’t had
time. It’s a very precious commodity
these days. As an example, my husband
and I just put all our Christmas boxes back in the attic. Yes, on February 23, the Christmas decorations
are packed away.
Just to be fair to myself, however, we left the decorations
up longer than usual because my daughter couldn’t get home for the holidays
until late January. Then we had
something going every weekend, whether it was out-of-town guests, work or
family parties. At least all the
decorations were down. It’s just the
boxes that were sitting in the basement family room--a room we hardly use. So it wasn’t like we saw them every day, or
they were in the way.
But what is all this, except excuses? And don’t we have one for just about anything
that goes wrong, or doesn’t happen at all?
As I look back, can I have put the boxes back in the
attic? Not by myself. Many of them weigh 20-30 pounds, and we have
to climb a ladder to get to the attic.
My husband can do it by himself.
I can’t. Plus, he has a special
way of stacking them so they all fit properly.
Can I have pushed him harder to get them put away? Sure.
But after four back surgeries, two neck surgeries, and two shoulder
surgeries, I don’t press him very much when it comes to physical activity
around the house. Especially with his
job as a driver with a major package delivery company. Every day at work is a challenge for
him. I can only imagine the pain he is
in when he gets home. His days off are a
luxury.
So all this also made me wonder, is Time Management really a
TIME issue? Or is it an EXCUSE issue for
some, or most, of us? Do we not do
things because we really don’t have time?
Or is it because we are averse to getting the task done? Or because we decided to spend time with the
family instead? Or because that book
looked a lot more inviting than the pile of laundry in the corner? Or we love to procrastinate?
When all is said and done, everything seems to get accomplished,
whether it’s writing a blog, cleaning the bathroom, or baking a batch of
cookies for the holidays. I may make
myself crazy by leaving things to the last minute. But at the end of the day, if I am truly
honest with myself, the only one to blame is me. I could delegate some tasks to other family
members, say ‘no’ when asked to volunteer somewhere, or get up 30 minutes
earlier each day to give myself time to exercise or send emails or pay bills.
There are so many tasks that can be done in the space of a half hour.
How honest are you with your time and schedule? Are there instances where you could have called
for an insurance quote, but chose to talk on the phone to a friend instead?
