The past few months have been all about managing time and energy. However, when I teach and write about time management, I imagine the sighs and eye rolls – “Yes, Mary, we’re all familiar with time management, thanks so much. Why don’t you teach about something exciting, like Social Media or SEO or multiple streams of income?”
What I know for certain is that if you haven’t mastered time management, the rest of the stuff isn’t going to matter much. I have two stories that illustrate my point.
A few months ago, I was on vacation at a beach at Arroyo Grande, CA. I parked across the street, threw my iPhone in my sweatshirt pocket so I could take some photos, and proceeded to jog across the street. Then I heard something crash to the pavement.
Yep, it was my iPhone. It had popped right out of my pocket onto the road, and the back glass shattered.
This is how we often treat our time. Carelessly. Mindlessly. And we are generally unhappy with the results.
In another iPhone-related story (with a happier ending)… Adam and I went to Flagstaff a few weeks back, and rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain, and back down again. The aspens were gorgeous, it was quiet, and the view was phenomenal. Obviously, I wanted to take pictures.
I was fifty feet off the ground, and my trusty iPhone/camera doesn’t have a wrist strap, so I was highly concerned about dropping it. But the view was simply too tempting. So I very deliberately took it out of my purse, took a few photos while handling the phone with extreme care, and then once again deliberately put it back in my purse. The results were beautiful photos and a totally intact iPhone.
See the difference? Careless vs. deliberate.
We toss away the idea of managing our time. Managing those tiny moments seems like too great a task, and not worth it. But the fact is that our lives are made out of those tiny moments, often overlooked and carelessly tossed aside. Ask yourself – what do your moments add up to? A haphazard existence or a fulfilling life created from conscious thought?
I’ve taught several time management classes recently. If you’d like the recordings, just email me and I’ll get you hooked up!