Father Time

In the past few days my schedule has changed rather radically. As some of you know, Jim got a regular job, and I’m able to stay at home a little more. I went PRN (as I want to!) at the nursing home, and unexpectedly, my private duty case, the little baby, is in the hospital so suddenly I have a LOT more free time than I expected.
(If I work for you and you’re reading this, don’t call me. I’ll call you!)

Time, and my use of it, has become rather important to me

“Sleep in until noon”, Jim urges. While in fact, I wait until I hear the front door click closed before I jump out of bed to start my day. I don’t want to “waste” a minute. So, is this good or bad? Is being organized important, or a noose around one’s neck? Should we really be accountable for every minute of our life? Or, should we drift along smelling the roses and enjoying doing whatever comes to mind when we are not forced into some time control thing called “WORK”?

Just before I left the nursing home, a newly hired nurse came in on her own time to, “watch my organization”. If you’re a nurse reading this article, you know that it's in your best interest and those of the next nurse coming on to be in complete control of your time and hope nothing comes along to upset the thin timeline you have to finish up so you can go home.

Actually, most nurses I know do not finish their work on time and either just leave it for the next nurse or stay over, or even come back in a couple hours to ‘finish up”. But this is for another story.

People ask me (or complain about me) doing too much. I always respond that I don’t think I’m doing too much but just get more done in my 24-hours a day than most people. (Yep, sounds like me.)

Here are some ideas on Time Control that I believe help keep me organized and able to get the most out of each day.

Number 1. A well-organized person must have a timepiece and be aware of each passing hour and what they have done in that hour. Otherwise, we do slip-slide along doing what we’re in the mood for – or we let other things and other people control OUR time.

Maybe this part is easier for me than others because I have an innate ability to know what time it is without looking. Even if I wake up in the night, I can tell you what time it is without looking at the clock. I’ve never gotten up for work at 2 a.m. in the morning unless I was scheduled to do so. Do you know anyone who got up and took a shower at 3 a.m. only to discover it was 4 hours early? Good timekeepers can’t do that. I know only a few other people like that.

Number 1 may actually be impossible for some people to comprehend and follow all the time. If you are like that, don’t be too hard on yourself, but beware of how many hours are ‘wasted’ when you feel like you, ‘aren’t getting anything done’.

Of course for me, wasted time is when I’m not doing at least three things at a time. Before I started writing this story – which I was very anxious to do after a 20-minute imposed nap – I got a pot roast going in the oven; started a load of laundry and set the timer so I wouldn’t write too long to get some ironing done before Jim gets home.

If truth be known, I was fussing at myself because I really wanted to get two packages to the post office by 3:30 p.m. but decided to allow myself the privilege of doing that tomorrow and write my story today!

I found a cute little woolly lamb to send to a friend who collects lambs (Marian), and I’m sending an Easter Care Package to Philip and Shelley because I know they won’t spend money on all the favorite chocolates they love at Easter time. (Billy and Katy live too far away for chocolate!)

Number 2. Set goals. Oh ouch! Many years ago when I listened to Wayne Dyer’s tapes on setting goals I thought I’d never be one of those people! First of all, grandma always said Jesus was going to return before any goals would be reached anyway. And that was the end of that discussion.

But now I firmly believe if we want to be prepared for tomorrow, we need to know in our hearts what we want to be doing (notice I said ‘want to be’ doing) tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years and ad nauseaum. (I think that’s a word.)

During a simple job interview, a good employer will ask you what your goals are. At least for the next year. Jim has learned this well during the last couple years of constant job interviews. He has his answers written out and memorized, and I think it has actually helped him be more organized – at least in our future planning.

Me. I never even ‘saved’ or ‘planned’ for retirement as most young people are doing today. If so, I would have worked at jobs that provided for such. Or started a 401K (whatever that is). See how much I’ve missed out?

Jim tells me that I’ve worked my limit for what social security will pay when I retire, and I should think about getting a state job that will pay a hefty sum in 10-15 years when I will have to retire because of OLD AGE! Well, that’s long-term planning and this story suppose to be about being organized today. I got off track.

Starting today, write a little list of what you would like to accomplish tomorrow. (Tomorrow is too late.) Get a little book that feels like a warm fuzzy and starting setting goals that are within reason.

I know that setting a goal for me to loose 20 pounds in two months is just not going to happen. Maybe setting a goal to cut meal portions or skip the bread is reasonable for me. So make sure you set goals that are reachable for you.

Make a schedule that you are happy about. If it’s drudgery, it won’t happen.

Let go of people and things that/who take control of your time. This works best if you already know what you are going to do with your time.

Last night I got a call from a good friend. At first, while I was delighted to hear from this person and probably could have talked for hours, I knew that it was nearing suppertime, and Jim was just in from work. Jim would have been understanding and probably after awhile might have gotten himself a snack and not worried about me talking on the phone. But, the call would have distracted from my plan to enjoy some time with Jim, so I was able to pleasantly bring the conversation to an end with a promise to talk more soon.

I’m bringing this to a close because I want my sister to enjoy this (just teasing) and because I don’t want to bore you, the happy reader.

Later, we will discuss things that control your time. Like, reading the mail, watching TV, working on hobbies and even sleeping. I’ll explain how having a place for everything and everything in its place will also open up time for things you want and love to do!

If you enjoyed reading this, please click the flower.

Take Care on the Journey
~Linda