THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE
-part I-


Too much to do and not enough time to do it? Time-famine has become one of the greatest stresses of modern life, with serious implications for our health, relationships and wellbeing. Here’s how to beat it.

A. General

Time-famine is on the increase and to tackle it you should start with the basics. Invest a few minutes in planning the day in advance. Very few people actually do this. Making a plan of things to accomplish, is not by far as realistic as a view of what you will do, and when and how exactly you will do it. This can dramatically improve your effectiveness and cut down on wasted effort.

Keep interruptions to a minimum. Make your phones take messages not phone-calls. One of the most powerful ways to reduce stress and fatigue levels is to maintain a good relationship with colleagues, family members and friends. According to Dr. Wetmore this is “an often overlooked but uniquely effective method of minimizing stress, staying happy and reducing the amount of time wasted on counter-productivity.”

B. Technology

Technology was supposed to cut our workloads, make our lives more flexible, and give us back time and space to spend on ourselves. Five years ago people were assuming that e-mail would make postal communication dissapear. Two years ago was scored a record for the number of e-mails sent. Last year we had a record for the number of letters.
You cannot dismiss technology and whether you like it or not, you have to appreciate that you have a relationship with it.

Technophobes pass over its many potential benefits and the rest are seduced onto the endless slope of one upgrade to another, without ever really thinking why. We often look at technology as a toy, but behind its promise to make life easier, faster and better lie unspoken consequences. Not least of these is the way technology models our sense of life and time.
We need to let go of both our fear and admiration towards technology, and see it with lucid eyes. Seeing it consciously can uncover its true deficits and benefits and this way it will be possible to estimate how we might apply it constructively in the future. And if you can see where it’s going, it gives you much less to feel anxious about in the present.

If you like this article you can read the rest of it in “THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE – PART II”, which concentrates on work and home-time.










THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE
-Part II-

C. Work time

Energy management and time management are in essence the same thing. You may have an important deadline to meet, but if you’re bored, stressed or tired, you should stop. Identify your personal energy levels. Resolve to work only as long as that permits. You may have to put yourself in this position: “Do I want the job, or my family, friends and health? Be realistic in your expectations. Most psychological pressures in the workplace come from unmet expectations. Many small disappointments grow into one big one. Lowering your expectations – to real rather than low levels – allows you to focus much better on the reality of what you can achieve.

Aim for an appreciation of working processes, not just results. “You are what you achieve” isn’t necessarily true but still hangs over from the 1980s when it was paramount. Don’t ask yourself these questions remorselessly: “What have I achieved?”, but “Did I enjoy doing it?” or “Did I learn anything from doing it?” This relieves you of anxiety and guilt over work. A positive approach to processes produces a higher standard of work, more quickly than focusing only on the end result.

Tailor the available time to the quality of your work. Realize that “good enough” still means “good”, increasing productivity and free time for other tasks.

D. Home time

According to Jaqueline Atkinson in her book Better Time Management, “slumping in front of the TV creates lots of “dead time” and usually ends up making you feel more tired, and just as time-pressured as before”. She recommends that you “use a video recorder and set aside specific time to watch what you really want to in a block”. Or put the TV away in a cupboard, so you have to make a conscious effort to get it out!

Satisfy your inner-needs. It’s easy to let the thoughts and effects of work overbalance into home time. At the end of the day take an opportunity to buy back time for yourself. It’s extremely unlikely that your job gives you what you need to satisfy your inner requirements, so having an occupation outside of work that does is a prerequisite for achieving that balance. When people ask me why I enjoy patchwork I tell them simply, “because of the juxtaposition of colors”.

Wilfully managing your time allows you to do a great deal more with your life. Sadly, this doesn’t translate into no longer having to do the housework. We all have routine chores and responsibilities to attend to but Atkinson believes that “if you’ve accepted that pre-planning is essential, it’s easier for you to recognize the optimum time for attending to the nuts and bolts of home life”. Understand that it’s the accumulation of small daily victories that enhance our sense of self-worth. Be disciplined, do everything at a predetermined time, and you’ll find that beating the housework counts among them.

Finally, wherever you are, time spent in your own company is a very good way to get back a feeling of owning your own time and balancing the pace of your life. There’s no set method for spending spare time alone, the trick is simply to relax properly, not necessarily just do nothing.