Time management intrigues me. Way back when, when I was a bed and breakfast innkeeper, I learned from a time management expert that everyone needed to block their time, and be committed to those time blocks. Since then, I’ve felt there has to be a better way. That was further reinforced when I was a real estate agent. My broker followed the advice, blocking his time — and that meant we couldn’t get his input on contracts except during specific times. That seemed just as crazy. I felt then that when you are in the service industry, time management took on a different tenor than it did for those in traditional office jobs.
time management
Structure’s Challenge
It seems to me that all the time management courses and conversations promote scheduling and blocking your time. I think it’s especially valuable that ADDers use schedules because it helps keep them on track and being productive. In general, it’s a great idea for anyone wanting to be productive.
Time Perception
Time warps for many ADDers. Our perception of time is different than others — and often not accurate. Whether your warp is a space-time continuum or a reality distortion field, it’s not what others live by. That can cause problems for you if you don’t learn to manage it.
Manage Your Time, Manage Your Energy
Time management is one of the most valuable, yet overlooked, habits we have to make our days more organized, and one that contributes to a day with more energy.
Holiday Chaos to Holiday Simplicity
The holiday season, that period of time between Thanksgiving and New Years (in my book), is filled with food and fun, parties and people, shopping and singing, and cleaning and chaos. We get so caught up in all the things to do that we forget what’s really important — spending quality time with friends and family. It’s a shame, really.
How To Get More: Time
It seems the more technology we have as time-saving tools, the less time we have! Why is that? Is it that the technology isn’t so time-saving? Or, could it be that fill up our “spare time” with more and more?
Energy Vampires
What did you pick up from last week’s blog post on generating your own energy? You were at least reminded of things you knew to do but may have slipped out of the habit of doing. Hopefully you picked up one new habit along the way.
Another energy drain in your life is distraction. Part of the reason distraction is an energy drain is because it takes multiple, frequent decisions. Decision making burns glucose. I talked about that in the blog post “Kit, Help Me Say ‘No’” . Designing your day so that you have as few distractions as possible is more energy conserving than just going with the flow and hoping to get everything done. And that makes for a more productive day too.
Chaos Is Like A Carousel
Carousels and chaos have so much in common, from my way of thinking. They go ’round and ’round, parts go up and down, there’s noise, and people, and moving parts — just lots going on. One difference is that people enjoy carousels but think they should rid their lives of chaos. I think that the attitude of not having chaos in your life needs to be explored.
Ridding Your Life of Pain
Let’s talk about pain. How do you get rid of it? How do you make it go away?
I’m not talking about spiritual pain, or medical pain, but life pain. There is a huge number of resources for the first two, but few even acknowledge the third kind.
Road Trip!!!
Road trips are the best! It doesn’t matter where I go, I love the adventure and the change of scenery and pace. Through the years, I’ve gotten quite good at planning and executing my trips. As long as I keep my “eye on the ball”, or stay focused on what’s at hand, my trips go smoothly.