Filed under: Time Management
My book club is reading The Great Gatsby for our May meeting. Afterwards, we plan on seeing the movie together.
I read The Great Gatsby when I was in high school, so it has been fun to pick it up again and reread the novel. It was always one of my favorites!
What was the last book you read, and when? With this great weather, consider picking up a classic, or any book you think you’d enjoy, and schedule some fun reading time into your week.
May 16, 2013
It’s not fun standing in front of your refrigerator at dinner time, trying to figure out what you’re going to eat based on what ingredients you have available.
If the kids are whining during this time, and your spouse just asked why dinner isn’t yet ready, and you’re tired and hungry yourself, it’s going to be very easy to get stressed out.
You may even throw your hands up in the air and order in a pizza or send your spouse out for McDonald’s. While this is OK once in awhile, if it becomes the norm, it’s going to get pretty unhealthy and fairly expensive in no time at all.
I find the easiest way to make dinner choices is to have a plan of what we’re going to eat BEFORE dinner time rolls around.
And I don’t mean a minute before.
I mean, at minimum, a few hours before so you can pick up what you need at the grocery store if necessary and get started early enough.
That being said, planning at least a day or a week in advance is even better…and I try to do that with my family most of the time.
I know…it takes time to plan out meals. But it doesn’t have to take hours. In fact, I get most of my weekly meal planning done in about 20 minutes, and I try to do it during ‘waiting time’, like while I’m waiting for my daughter’s dance practice to end or while I’m waiting for a load of laundry to be completed.
In general, I choose at least five ‘I already know how to make it’ recipes, and one ‘give it a try’ recipe per week. That results in six meals. Then, I have anywhere from one to three days with no cooking after that as we enjoy our leftovers.
May 6, 2013
Apparantly sleep walking has evolved in the electronic world. Now researchers are describing a new sleep disorder called sleep texting.
Sufferers of sleep texting send texts while half or fully asleep. Apparently people are texting so much during the day that they’re subconsciously doing it at night too.
Besides the fact that most texting is for fun, conversational use, rather than productive use, perhaps this is yet another reason to cut down texting time during our busy days.
April 11, 2013
As in years past, the Motion Picture Academy tried to limit the number of stage minutes granted to each Academy Award winner at the annual Oscars awards ceremony. This year the theme to Jaws was played as a reminder to the actors that their ‘time was up.’ This was a very effective (and funny) organizing tactic to keep the show moving.
Now a similar app needs to be created so we can use it during uninteresting meetings! Maybe there is already one available…if you know of one, please comment!
March 15, 2013
With everything you have to do in a given day, it’s easy to fall into the non-stop trap. This is when you’re doing nothing more than chores, working, errands, cooking–after a while, you’re exhausted from this never ending hamster wheel you’re on.
No matter how busy you are, always make time for yourself. After all, life isn’t about living to work. Rather, it’s about working to live.
Schedule a minimum of an hour per day to do something for yourself–something you really enjoy.
Enjoy a hobby. Take a walk. Read a book. Listen to some uninterrupted music. Whatever it is, this hour per day will help you to unwind, decrease stress and more fully enjoy life. You deserve it.
February 26, 2013
I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable, regardless of the amount of time given.
I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero.
If at first I don’t succeed, there is always next year.
I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator’s Society) if they ever get it organized.
Source: Via the Internet.
January 29, 2013
Here’s a very simple idea for a ‘visual’ To Do List. Get yourself a corkboard with push pins. Divide the board in half from top to bottom with pushpins or a few narrow strips of construction paper.
Write one task each on colorful 3 inch by 3 inch squares of paper. Attach each To Do with pushpins on the left side of the board. As you complete each task, move that square of paper to the right.
You’ll have a great visual of how much you’re getting done! As the right side fills, you can remove and recycle the completed tasks.
January 17, 2013
Today, I’m attending a business seminar…online. It’s called a webinar, and it’s basically a seminar that I get to view and participate in online, at my computer. Webinars are an excellent way to be educated about various subjects, without leaving the comfort of your own home or office.
My schedule is pretty heavy today, and this particular webinar is live, so I have to be at my computer at a specific time for 90 minutes straight. Conveniently, it’s scheduled right over my lunch hour.
To ensure I don’t fall behind on other projects I need to do, I’ve decided to watch the seminar DURING my lunch hour. This way, I can get the information I need, and eat and relax at the same time.
I generally don’t suggest ‘working’ through a lunch hour unless it’s absolutely necessary. We all need time to regroup. That being said, if what you’re working on is not too intense…like reading or watching something…I think it’s a great way to make up time on occasion.
Gotta go get my lunch ready…have a super day!
November 15, 2012
My sister and niece were in town from New Jersey this past week. We just drove them back to the airport, and boy, were we sad to see them go. (I was weepy…my daughter cried for an hour!)
During their visit, we did lots of the typical tourist things in Wisconsin such as State Fair, Riverfest, the Milwaukee Zoo, Country Springs Resorts, and dinner in Madison (with a stop for ice cream at Ella’s Deli), but we also had lots of time to kick back, relax, and enjoy each other’s company in our house, and on our deck.
What a joy it was for our children to play together (we generally only get together with my sister’s family once or twice a year), and the time and conversation my husband and I shared with my sister was priceless.
During their visit, yes, a few email messages were left unanswered, and yes, I did have a bit of catch up work when they left, but really…it wasn’t that big of a deal, and there’s no way it was more important than taking time out for family.
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. That’s why it’s good practice to ask yourself, each and every day, if you’ve given at least some of your precious time on this earth to your loved ones.
August 23, 2012
If you login onto Facebook pretty often, you already know which of your friends and family members are spending way too much time just hanging out. Maybe you’re even one of the social media addicts out there.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying some relaxing time on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media sites…unless you’re doing so at the expense of more important things getting done.
I do log onto social media sites daily, but only as a reward for getting projects done throughout my day. And once I do check in, it’s just for a few minutes at a time, once or twice a day…not hours.
If the laundry is piling up, dinner is not cooked at a decent time, your To File pile is overflowing, or the dog wet the carpet because you forgot to let him out, evaluate the amount of time you’re investing in social media each day.
If it’s too much (in my mind, more than 20 minutes a day is way too much!), then consider easing up on social media sites and using that time more productively. You may even find that you suddenly have time to learn a new skill or reach a new goal!
August 20, 2012
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