Other than money, which is important, TIME is the most valuable commodity in our lives. Not the magazine, although at times, it is interesting to read...BUT TIME is valuable. Some people don't think so. I do. I guess the older I get, the more important it is to me. It also becomes important in how I spend my time. Several (probably 10) years ago I went to a lecture on Time management. Just as you would budget your money, we learned how to budget our time. I loved it. I don't know how many times a day I hear someone say, "I don't have time," or "I couldn't do that because I ran out of time." The sad thing is when they say, "I really wanted to do that, but no time." How can you run out of time? We all get 24 hours in a day. I do anyway.
I have/had relatives who, no matter where they were, or what they were doing, they absolutely HAD to be home at 1:30 in the afternoon to watch General Hospital or Edge of Night or One Life to Live...possibly all three. They were old though...retired...no kids, so that's what they did. As a child I couldn't understand it, as a teenager, I thought it was weird that someone would do that, and as an adult, I thought it was just flat crazy that someone would do that. OH by the way...if I am offending you, I'm sorry you are offended. You may be one of those people who have nothing else to do.
I also know people who spend literally six to eight hours in front of a computer playing games when their children want to go out and play.
Yes, we have some great vices that help us to waste time...or not waste it, but use it up so we don't have time for the important things.
I have some really great ones. I love to read. I got hooked on a series of books about 15 years ago. Each book had anywhere from 250 to 400 pages and there were 9 volumes. I absolutely LOVED them. They came out each October and I would get the new one on a Friday and sit down and read it until I was done sometime Sunday. I didn't do anything else but read. My kids probably thought I was out of my mind. Well, they really do think that, but not just because of the reading. I have been known to obcess with many things...quilting and sewing are big ones, crocheting, knitting, painting...you name it, I'm there. I found that nothing was getting done. So...the Time Management Lecture. AWESOME. It wasn't that I hadn't tried it before, I just got caught up in other things and, well, didn't do it anymore.
ENTER...Multi-tasking. I have had so many people ask me, "How do you possibly get all this done?" "When did you find the time?" Well, the time was already there. Remember we have those 24 hours...I found that if I really wanted to get things done, I had to change my mindset, and my habits. If something was important to me, or my family, then I would take the time to do it. Not find the time, TAKE the time. You have to take hold of yourself and do it. There are certain "modern" conveniences which we have that our grandmothers and mothers didn't have. When they did the wash, they actually had to wash the clothes...they had to do it...not put it in and let it do it by itself. Then they had to hang it on the line. All we have to do is throw it in the dryer. So, I have found that I can put a load of laundry in, then go and make up a batch of banana bread or some other culinary favorite and put it in the oven. While the wash is going and the other stuff baking, I can get the dishes done, clean or some other thing. If I have calls to make, I can do that...while I knit, crochet, sew, or whatever. I have found that I can do at least five things at one time...if I plan it right. It is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!! So, that's how I get things done. I still have time to read and quilt, scrapbook, sew, garden, etc. Byt the way, I learned how to do this out of necessity. I was working one full-time job at CHS, four part-time jobs, taking classes at MWSU and trying to take care of a house. Among other things.
I guess the saddest thing is watching people waste their time, and then say they didn't have time to do something they wanted to do. Too bad...so sad. If you don't take it...it's gone.
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