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Time by Lisa Weisblatt Feren
Hi! Lisa Feren, Editor of LifeGrid San Diego here! This month’ s theme is time management. Wikipedia defines time management as“ the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.” I was thinking back to my office jobs and time management. Prioritizing tasks, setting time limits, keeping a calendar … But what about time management in LIFE? Societal pressures has us all buying into the notion that we must constantly strive to be even more effective, more efficient and more productive leading us to figure out time management as never before.
So here’ s a few of my views on the whole time management thing...
1. Never compare your“ busy” to someone else’ s“ busy”. My“ circle” is comprised mostly of moms who are running lives and businesses. We are throwing more tasks and obligations into the same amount of precious time. It honestly seems as if we are all competing to see who is the most“ productive” – but what is actually happening is a competition for busiest and most stressed out. We wear this title of tired, busy and stressed out proudly like a badge of honor. Like the woman who is juggling the most crap in her day wins. Busy does not mean important – or productive and I realize I am happy not to win!
2. Time Management is a pie. I have always subscribed to the notion that you can have it all, just not all at the same time. I mean, I tried to work full time while stil being around for my kids and finding time to cook and exercise. That didn’ t work out so well … I then had the opportunity to listen to Samantha Ettus speak – author of The Pie Life: A Guilt-Free Recipe For Success and Satisfaction. Her book is life changing for working women. She says to think of all the important things in your life as a pie and each aspect gets a slice. Your slices of pie change over the years as you add or take away things you deem more or less important. But, the book shares the secrets for how you can sustain a thriving personal and professional life- at the same time – all by categorizing your life into a pie. I knew I liked pie!
3. Sometimes you have to lean in … Some days, I have the best intentions of being productive but then I see a trip to Discount Tire in my very near future for a key stuck in my tire( true story). But, it could be a sick child, an unexpected new project, a rush job for an old client or even an impromptu lunch date with the hubby that throws your day completely off track. That’ s ok – there’ s always tomorrow.
But, when the day is right and you actually sit in your office with a flash of brilliance- when you finally put your nose to the grindstone to get some work done – then how do you manage that small amount of work time? Amy Barnhart, Co-Founder, President & CEO at Co-Founder of StrongMarriageNow. com, tells me to take a break, to stand up, drink water and walk a bit every hour and remember having that deadline will help keep you fresh and focused to get the work done! I have also been told multitasking is overrated. Single tasking is where it’ s at. Work on one thing – get it done and then move on to the next. Reducing distractions by closing unnecessary tabs on your computer – including social media and email and silencing your phone also help maximize time.
So while I write this, I have one child sitting next to me, the TV on, a dog playing and a husband and second child having a conversation! So don’ t judge me – these 600 words took me waaaay too long to write. So much for time management …
With love and gratitude, Lisa Feren
August 2017
LifeGrid ® Local Editor- San Diego www. handcraftedmarketing. com facebook. com / lifegridsandiego
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