On the Management of Time

A few days ago I listened to a pod-cast thingy done by a local business-person.  He was trying to share his feelings and philosophy of running his business at a time when there is so much uncertainty, fear and so much more, during this Covid-19 Corona virus pandemic.  It was a good listen as he was mostly sharing some words of encouragement with those listening, many of which were his clientele.

One of his observations was a pretty powerful one and I have tried to keep it in mind the last few days since hearing it.  He observed that while people all over the world are creating "social distance" from one another, staying home, avoiding social gatherings of all kinds, physically separating from one another... and yet in so many ways we are actually growing closer to one another.

We are physically distant and yet we are slowing down from the busy-ness of our regular lives.  People are going for walks together, while keeping a safe distance apart.  People are checking in on friends and family.  Neighbors in cul de sacs are eating outside in the street their own meals, but near enough in the street that they can share conversation with their neighbors.  Some are running errands for others who are at high-risk, others are learning technology to help in distance learning or just to stay in touch.  Neighbors are playing music from balconies, sharing toilet paper, projecting movies on walls so that all can enjoy.  People are making personal sacrifices in order to take care of their families, neighbors, strangers.

While we are working at this "socially distance" thing we are actually growing closer as a community.  This is a good thing.

For a lot of people this means a lot of new things to learn and adapt to.  People are having to take responsibility for their children's education, many for the first time.  Some are having to learn how to work from home themselves for the first time.  And there's always just the adjustment to being home more, slowing down, spending a LOT of time with the same couple of people who you may love to pieces and yet... 

Time is a strange construct and sometimes it messes with our minds.  At times like these when we are forced to slow down we can have a range of responses.  Our quarantine-mates can drive us crazy, we can become grumpy and live on edge.  We can get pumped up at all of the extra time we suddenly have on our hands and start checking all those household chores off of our to-do lists.  We can take advantage of this forced rest time and easily get sucked into being lazy and accomplishing as little as possible, other than checking those episodes off of our binge watching list.

As someone who has always worked at least one job in which I have had to manage my own time, I can relate to each and every one of these things.  I have found myself experiencing many of them even just this past week, let alone in the past.

For many years I have worked multiple jobs, working ones which are sometimes hard to "log" my time.  How do you record the time it took for an off-and-on text conversation that happened throughout a day?  Or a two minute phone conversation?  Not to mention all of the mental thinking which occurs twenty hours of your day, dreaming and planning lessons or games or conversations?  Reality is, so often in these types of jobs you are NEVER not working and it is really easy to exceed your job's expectations of twenty or forty hours on a consistent basis.

Right now I am super blessed to live on-site at my job.  My commute is a simple two-and-a-half minute walk thru the "woods".  It is a slow time of year for us anyway, made way slower now, and it is super easy to work from home or go ahead and get stuff done in the office because nobody is around anyway.  There are only a handful of us living here on site so we have already all exposed ourselves to one another and while we live under different roofs mostly, we are basically still a family unit.  And so while we continue to get work done we are also taking advantage of this time to slow down, get some personal projects done, and just take time to breathe and take care of our own persons too.

I've spent a lot of time this past week reading, playing with the cats, walking, doing some random house chores.  It has been helpful that the weather has been pefectly beautiful.  As good as it has been to slow down and take a breather, I also know that I have some projects that I'd like to make some progress on during this opportune time in which distractions that I don't have a choice over are limited.  It is really easy to just continue on and let the days pass by.  If I'm not careful it will be June and those projects will suddenly be breathing down my neck!  And so, while I have enjoyed the down-time, and can still take advantage of it, I also know that I need to keep myself motivated and accountable to still be successful.

I've seen a lot of good resources for parents and other folks these past couple of weeks.  Websites where they can download activities for their kiddos, or even places the students themselves can take virtual tours or learn thru other online tools.  People are also sharing the creative ways in which they spend their time while on quaratine, helping others to avoid boredom and insanity.  Craft projects, menus, home Do It Yourself advice.  People are coming together to support and encourage one another, all while staying physically distant.  Amazing.

And so I wanted to share a tool that I have used off and on for many years.  As someone whose jobs have required me to manage my own time, and as a workaholic, failed at it terribly most of the time, I have a little exercise that helps me to re-center myself and prioritize how I spend my time.

I will make a pretty basic Excel spreadsheet and spend a week or two logging what I do with my time.  I don't necessarily change what I am doing, I just keep track and write it down.  I mean, like everything.  Over the course of time I can then look it over and see where I am actually spending most of my time and energy.

How much time do I actually spend reading or watching television?  How long does it actually take me to empty the litter box?  How much do I sleep?  Am I really putting my hours in at work?  How much time do I spend with my kids, verses friends?  Holy smokes, did I really just put in 60 hours of work for three weeks straight?!  How much time do I spend in prayer, meditation, reading Scripture, worship?  Is there true balance between my work-life, my hobbies, my family time?

Often when I spend a little bit of time logging all these little details of my days and weeks, I come away realizing that, yes, I have a lot to do.  And yet in reality if I simply managed my time more efficiently and re-centered myself to remembering my priorities, often I can be more efficient and productive.  Often, I realize that no, it's not impossible to get it all done, and no, I don't actually have too much to do, I just need to be purposeful and aware of where I am actually spending my time.

This week I plan to regain some of the structure in my days that I have allowed to slip away in recent weeks.  I will NOT allow myself to sleep too long, or for other things to pressure me out the door, before I spend my time meditating on the Scripture.  I will spend one hour in the afternoon or evening writing on my book, before I spend time reading someone else's book.  I will go for a walk or do my in-house work-out every day.  And I will spend one hour of every day working on the Learning Materials for summer camp sessions.  I plan to regiment myself so much that I actually use the timer on my celular device to help me reach these goals, where applicable.

It is really, really, really important to slow down and take the time to care for yourself.  It is also really, really, really important to stay active physically and mentally.  There are a lot of really important things to do and we can get them all done if we make the right choices weekly, daily, hourly.

Please, don't look back on this time as a time of "quaratine" in which you squandered your time.  Look at it as a time of solitude in which you rested, you grew yourself and you accomplished wonderful things in the process, checking off those to-do list items that may not have got done had this pandemic not slowed us all down.  Choose to invest in this time, rather than just spend it.  Make the choices now to be pleased with yourself when this is all over.

"Save the excuses.  It's not about 'having' time.  It's about making time.  If it matters, you will make time."  Jay Patel

"Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time."  Victor Hugo

"Whoever keeps staring at the wind won't sow; whoever daydreams won't reap."  Ecclesiastes 11:4

"In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty." Proverbs 14:23

"Be very careful, then how you live--not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity..."  Ephesians 5:15-16a

"Teach us to number each of our days so that we may grow in wisdom."  Psalm 90:12

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is.  You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath."  Psalm 39:4-5

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men."  Colossians 3:23