A few weeks ago, a friend posted an article from the Wall Street Journal titled Are You As Busy As You Think? I laughed. Of course I am! I work two part-time jobs, I'm writing, I'm in two Crit Groups, I have two blogs, I'm in charge of updating articles for our website and I'm a wife (think shopping, cooking, baking, cleaning daily). I am beyond busy. Never enough time in a day. Ever. How many Wednesday Wishes have I used for things that would allow me more time?
You can read the article here.
I spent the week keeping track of my hours like the writer did.
Color me embarrassed.
I can't believe how much time I wasted.
Now, in my own defense - there are afternoons when I get home from teaching and I'm running low on sleep from the night before and I just can't use my brain. I need to decompress with my lunch and Pretty Little Liars. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the decompression was dragging into the late afternoon. Sure, I'd throw some laundry in and make a homecooked meal from scratch, but then I would go back to decompressing - television on, Facebook up. When bedtime rolled around, I would be stressed out! So that must mean that I was working hard, right?
Wrong.
I was stressed out because so many hours had gone by where I could have accomplished something. And the laundry would be in the dryer - I'd realize that as I was getting ready for bed, which would keep me up for another hour ironing and hanging and folding. I'd go to bed later than I wanted, wake up tired and start the same process over again.
Not this week. This past week was different. I was to maximize my time this week! I attended a Humane Education conference at the end of the week and I even utilized our breaks to my advantage - writing blog posts, answering Paws email.
In the time that it took me to write this post, I've made this recipe - Banana & Peanut Butter Flaxseed Cookies (I added the nondairy chocolate chips). Time to go reward myself with one fresh out of the oven.
What about you - would you say that you make the best use of your time?
Canadian Zombie Babies
11 years ago
Hahahaha, no. No, the internet eats my time. I know this and yet, I keep getting sucked in. I've been better about facebook lately, though. That website really doesn't have much to offer me.
ReplyDeleteI waste time in the morning by not getting started right away. But I got rid of Facebook a long time ago, and I've never watched TV. FB wasn't just about wasting time for me, it was constant clutter in my mind. Even when I wasn't on, I'd be thinking about what was happening, and that distracted me. I'm so much happier without it.
ReplyDeletehaha, I'm the same way. To the outside world, it looks like I'm always very busy but yeah, I waste a lot of time just doing nothing. The worst part is, I open up a word doc and trick myself into thinking that I'm writing or editing when in truth, I write a sentence, and then go on facebook for an hour.
ReplyDeleteHa! This is so true. And you totally put me to shame. My excuses are crap compared to all you do every day! Wow. Good luck on cracking down! I can't imagine how soon you'll rule the world when you do. =P
ReplyDeleteI need to learn to turn the Internet off and start getting things done. It really would make such a difference! And those cookies sound yum. :)
ReplyDeleteI know I waste lots of time. The only solution for me is to switch off the Internet. I shall do exactly that ... later. :)
ReplyDeleteI probably spend too much time online, but that's not a bad thing, is it?
ReplyDeleteI definitely do not. I am bad about coming home from work and class and then vegging on the couch!
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