Time Management... or Not

The Importance of Time Management

Why I suck at Time Management

There were so many things that I wanted to write about at the end of my day today: awkward small talk, road rage, toddler interactions and why they are more advanced then adult interactions, but time management just happens to stick out above all else.  The reason being that I am terrible at it.

To go along with my previous post about organization, time management sort of falls into the same category.  If you're not able to properly manage the amount of time you need to do the things you need to do, then you won't ever finish doing anything that you need to get done.

Case in point being that this morning, I had intended to wake up at a time that I consider to be early and leave to be at a birthday party for a friend of mine's daughter around 9:30am.  This way I would have plenty of time to get there, chit-chat, catch-up with my friend and even be a bit helpful in setting up for the party.  

Instead, what happened was this: 

I was up until three o'clock in the morning the night before, woke up at 9:20 a.m. the next day, and after wrapping birthday/Christmas presents, left my house around 11:45 a.m. The birthday party just happened to start at noon and I had already mentioned to my friend a few times (over the weeks prior to the party) that I was looking forward to being there early to help her out.  

So, basically, because I didn't just put myself to bed early in order to wake up at the time I had wanted to, I slept in.  And, in addition to sleeping in and going to bed late, I had a list of things I wanted to get done at home before I took off for the entire day.  I succeeded in brushing my teeth, drinking coffee, feeding and clothing my child, and wrapping presents.  Nothing else that I needed to do was taken care of.  My lack of preparation the night before resulted in a less productive day the following day.  The birthday party was great, by the way, but that aside, everything else I needed to do was left for another day.

Time Management Regret & Guilt

It may not come as a surprise that having poor time management skills results in regret and often times guilt.  As a mother, "mother's guilt" was something given to me at the conception of my first child.  It really isn't necessary to give myself extra guilt by not managing my time and taking care of the things that I have made a commitment to take care of.  

When I am habitually late and constantly rushing, I feel a sense of pre-guilt and an overwhelming sense of regret.  I regret not having spent less time pretending to do dishes.  I regret having spent too much time trying to apply the right amount of make-up to hide how tired I am.  I also regret not taking the time to eat breakfast with my daughter, because now I am hungry, and she's not, so I can't use her as an excuse to stop for food.  

The pre-guilt is almost like a telling of the future, if you will.  Essentially, I have a hypothetical situation of the immediate future playing out in my mind on loop.  Every time this "future" loops back and plays again something small has changed, but it looks equally as bad and the guilt about a situation that hasn't even happened yet kicks in.

 For example, the birthday party today:

Loop 1: I see myself arriving to the birthday party late and the presents are open, the cake is gone, my friend is really disappointed in me, and all of the guests are half out the door just as we are walking in sheepishly.

Loop 2: The party guests are singing happy birthday as we walk in, but our arrival distracts them and so they stop right in the middle of the song and all turn, simultaneously, to stare at me with my arms full of shopping bags, diaper bag and purse, carting child behind me.  Silence sets over the birthday party and I soiled my pants in embarrassment.

Loop 3: I walk in the door with an outrageous "Happy Birthday! We're here! Soooo sorry that we are late, but would you believe the traffic?"  This situation would probably only further embarrass me, but it would certainly break the ice and take the focus off of the fact that I was walking into my best friend's daughter's 6th birthday at a routinely 45 minutes late.

And so on and so forth, the loops continue with the situation progressing from worst case scenario to slightly less worst case scenario and back again to even worser case scenario.

I feel like a horrible friend for having poorly managed my time and once again "ruined" a special occasion, only until the moment I actually arrive at the birthday party and realize that my friend of seventeen years knows me all too well and actually considers my 45 minutes late, as early or if not early, right on time.  Sigh of relief.

Time Management Resolutions

Just like New Year's Resolutions or "the morning after drinking entirely too much the night before" resolutions, most people tend to find themselves making what I like to call, Time Management Resolutions.  

After you have ruined a perfectly planned out vacation, weekend, day, event, activity, whatever, do you often find yourself resolving to never make that mistake again?  

Scenario #1: I will definitely set three alarms next time and hide my phone under a book on my dresser with the volume turned all the way up so that I have to get up to turn it off and by that time I am already out of bed, so I won't go back to sleep and I will start my day when I intended to!

Scenario #2: I will set an egg timer every thirty minutes so that I know how much time has passed and when it is time to start the next thing on my list of things to do.  This way, I won't lose track of time and I will get everything done!

Scenario #3: My phone is going to be turned off, along with my laptop, tablet, palm pilot (do those still exist?)  and locked in the trunk of my car! This way, I won't be able to even glance at Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, or Reddit.  I am going to get so much done today!

If you have to pull shenanigans like this in order to effectively manage your time, then you probably suck at it as much as I do.

Don't just make resolutions to do some crazy routine to manage your time, take control of your day and your obligations.  Get that shtuff done!

End of the day take . . .

Brainy Quotes

I think that I am doomed to always be "checking myself" about whether or not I am using my time wisely. Or, whether or not I am filling it with all the things that I can do, instead of what I have to do or have promised to do.  Unless I start to seriously plan and organize every minute of my day, and then somehow, through extreme force of will, stick to my plan, I am going to always have issues with time management.

(The hour by hour planning is something I've secretly been trying; it never works out the way I plan.)

My friend, hosting the birthday party today, informed me that my inability to be punctual was genetic and I should stop fighting it.  Although it was a sad discovery for me, I think she was right, and now I can finally stop making the same mistakes over and over again.

Well, I am off to make my list of things to do for tomorrow, set my eight alarms, and strategically place my phone so that I can't hit snooze!  Thanks for reading and hopefully, you'll be back!