Projects - Time Management = All jobs half done

.........."We shall never have more time.  We have, and always had, all the time there is." - Arnold Bennett

Many people in this country today have several jobs whether you are paid for it or not.  There are the full and part time jobs that you are paid for, there are things to do for yourself, house, children, family, friends, church school and so many other things.  We all have goals which have to do lists we need to follow and completein order to achieve them.  Sometimes, all of these things together seem overwhelming and completely impossible......but is it?

Is it possible that what seems impossible is simply our unwillingness to make it happen?  Do you think about all of the things you have to do and feel hopeless?  Doing that will automatically cause you to halfway give up before you have even began.  Do we relish and desire our down time that instead of doing our best to check things on our list, we work slowly watching the clock waiting for it to be time to do what we really want?  Whether it be it happy hour and margaritas with the girls after work, getting a mani and a pedi, going shopping, to the movies, a class we enjoy or going to bed, playing golf, going to the gym there are ALWAYS things we would much rather be doing than what we need to.

For the most part, those of us who are parents expect our children to complete certain tasks before doing anything they really want to.  Am I the only parent who has realized that I do not follow that same rule?  I am constantly in a battle with my children to pick up there rooms, put up their laundry, put there toys up....all of these things are expected to be in the correct place and not hidden under the bed or some other place bound to become a dark home for a spider.  Could it be that we have such a problem with it is all my fault?.....Could it be? Dare I say it?  Was my husband right when he pointed the finger of blame at me?

His finger pointing at all of the jobs I have going on that seem to always be going, but never finished.  The dishes, the laundry, the pile of paperwork and bills,  cleaning of the floors, bathroom and my office.  I am constantly doing chores, neverending it seems, but not all get done.  It is like a revolving door of work.  As soon as I get halfway done, there is more added to my pile.  I feel like it is impossible to have a clean house all the time.  Is it?

.........."Procrastination is, hands down, our favorite form of self-sabotage."                                         - Alice P. Cornyn-Selby

I have a long list, because there are a lot of things that a wife, mother of 3 who works must do. I also realize that ther are people with much more to do than I.  Maybe I need to actually write out my to do list instead of allowing all the chores and jobs to swim around in my head seemingly impossible to remember or catch.  Maybe I can get it all done and the only reason I don't is because I get sick of doing one and move onto another.  I realize that honestly, I do feel hopeless and discouraged so I sulk and hate the thought of doing these things I really do not enjoy.  But, these things I don't enjoy are simply part of life and I must take the good with the bad.  What I do know with 100% of accuracy is that what I am doing now is not working, so I must change the matter in which I work.

........."It's all about time management.  you can actually do a lot of things if you work out your schedule." - Amanda Izatt

So in order to try and regain some of my sanity and happiness I am giving myself a challenge.  I will write out the to do list, combine the chores that go hand in hand and give myself a goal to complete said list each day.  Of course not all of my jobs will be on the list.  I am going to write myself  a reasonable list each night for the next day.  Within one week I should be caught up which will allow me to put everything on a daily list.  Yes, I realize that that will leave absolutely no time to do things I enjoy, at least until I get into the groove of handling a list.  Maybe my next goal will be to give myself break times so I can watch a TiVo'd show or if I am super lucky, head to a driving range and hit a couple baskets of balls.

......."Don't wait.  The time will never be just right." - Napolean Hill

I will start this experiment on myself and my abilities to change bad habits this evening.  I will keep you all posted on my progress.  If you don't hear from me in a week then I have lost my mind!

Pattie Hart

Dear Motivation........

.......O Motivation, Motivation! Wherefore art thou, motivation?

Seriously, I want to know.  Where in the hell are you?! I need you.  I want you.  But you are never here!  Why can't you show up just as easily as the extra fat on my love handles do?  Or the dimples on my derriere?  If you were around half as much as I needed you, I wouldn't have nature's permanent tattoos (aka stretch marks) riddling my thighs!  It's not like you are a bad influence that I need to get rid of.  You are the good influence that I can't seem to keep around.  Maybe our love story goes a little something like this:

Motivation is the good mate that we know we need but is not near as appealing as the bad mate, Weakness.  Why do we choose Weakness over Motivation?  Giving into Motivation will only leave us feeling good, happy, worthwhile, proud, healthy, hopeful and maybe even put a bounce in your step.  Whereas giving into Weakness leaves us feeling guilty, sad, doubtful, bloated, hungover and may even have you wanting to crawl under the covers until the disappointment goes away.

So why do we choose Weakness more often than Motivation?  Two words, instant gratification.  Face it, we want to feel good right now and not wait for results to show and Weakness only makes it worse.  When Motivation is whispering in one ear that you need to be nice to your body and take care of yourself, Weakness slithers up and whispers in the other ear.  Weakness says,"Why skip the burger and fries at lunch and brown bag it when you can work it off later?".  Then when later comes Weakness says, "Why work out almost daily for one hour a day to only have results not visibly show for weeks? Just skip dinner.  We will go out and have a few glasses of wine instead." 

As a society we have become more concerned with not wanting to feel deprived or left out.  But what we don't seem to realize is that following weakness makes us feel deprived and left out because you will eventually be too tired, sad, depressed, self conscious and weak ourselves.  Eventhough we are adults we sound like a bunch of spoiled little brats.  Let's stop being those crazy people we talk about and get off of our butts and PICK THE GOOD ONE!!!!! 


Let us always do our best to treat our bodies well.  After all, it is the only body you will ever have to carry you throughout all the days of your life.  The better you care for it then the longer, healthier and more enjoyable your life will be.

Pattie Hart