Tonight’s guest post comes from Jennifer @ Happiness Here. Have a hard time managing your time? Jennifer has some great advice if you feel like there’s not enough hours in the day.
Some days, it’s seems like everything is in short supply.
Time.
Energy.
Resources.
Money.
Space.
We want to add a strength training routine to our schedule, but we can’t find space in the midst of work, school, family, and cardio. We want to eat more healthfully, but organic foods are crowding out an already-stretched food budget. We’d like to volunteer at a local Boys & Girls club, but by the time the weekend rolls around, our energy reserves are completely wiped out.
Sound familiar?
No matter how efficient we are — no matter how disciplined, how mindful, how dutiful — our proverbial pies are only so big.
The time-pie, round like a clock.
The money-pie, crispy and green.
The energy-pie, ripe and juicy.
Our priorities, needs, and wants become loud party guests banging at our door. What happens when the number of guests at your party greatly outnumbers the amount of pie you have available? What happens when your obligations outweigh your resources?
Well, I’m no pastry chef, but it seems to me that we have a few choices. At the risk of being flaky, stick with me (and the pie metaphor) for just a moment more.
Send some guests packing. Church-Bathroom-Paint-Research-Committee Man? Buh-bye. Wear-Pink —Every-Thursday-Sorority Girl? Nice knowing you. And Advanced-College-Bowling-Class Boy? Get outta here.
Assess your commitments. Which ones are truly important? Which ones can you cut from your schedule during this season? Taking a step back to evaluate which priorities are truly important to us, instead of blindly signing on to every opportunity that presents itself, can be tremendously liberating.
Tailor each slice to each guest. Some guests are going to demand more pie than others. In particular, work, relationships, school, and healthy living should demand more of your time than recreation, leisure, and travel. The most important priorities should take up the most amount of time. Though this concept seems obvious, so many times we dole out more time to unimportant things than we realize — television, Facebook, and reorganizing the bathroom cabinet can quickly gobble up more pie than we realize. Again, mindfulness is key.
Finally, ask for help. Just because it’s your party doesn’t mean your guests can’t help tidy up. Maybe your significant other can help out with kitchen duty a few times a week. Perhaps your sister is willing to take on dog-walking duty every now and then. Or, can you arrange a swap? If you enjoy cooking, arrange to swap duties with a friend who enjoys cleaning or car-washing or errand-running. Many times, we are afraid to ask for help from those around us. Once we take the step of asking, though, we often realize that people are more than willing to help than we previously thought.
Well, between this pie post and Chelsey’s last post about all of the yummy samples at the gluten-free expo, I’m pretty hungry. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to come visit me at Happiness Here. I’d love to chat. 😉
Question: Do you manage your time well? Do you find yourself wishing there were more hours in a day?
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