Frantic

Much to do, little time to do it. I must say I achieved almost unheard of balance during my weekend. It was productive and filled with lovely things. Besides the fact I was limping horribly with every step by Sunday evening. 

Last week I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about time and priorities. It's basic argument was that we normally have more time than we think we have, and we need to be better about what we do with our time. Not rocket science by any means. However, it suggested an interesting perspective shift by focusing on priorities rather than focusing on time. 

For me the take-away was that now each time I think "I don't have time" I instead try to say "that's not a priority".

Example:

Over a week ago I received a replacement credit card and proceeded to lose it before I even left the house. I have NO idea what happened to it. Everyday I found myself thinking "I don't have time to call and cancel it" but when the thought shifted to "calling to cancel my lost credit card is not a priority" - when it's put like that, obviously it is a priority. I called and cancelled it.

Or

"I don't have time to do my homework, I'll clean the closet instead" turned to "doing my homework is not a priority, cleaning the closet is a priority" - both false statements. I settled for doing some homework and then rewarding myself with going through my coats (which took much less time than cleaning the entire closet). 

This approach has been fairly effective so far. Mostly because the tasks I regularly tell myself I don't have time for usually are priorities, while vacuuming again to procrastinate is not. It's has helped cut down on the frantic daily pace I set for myself. When I apply 'priority' to my list I realize there are quite a few tasks that are not priorities, which I should stop worrying about. It is lovely.