- Details
- Category: Current Issue
In prior columns, I have written about not only the usefulness of making a list for the things you wish to accomplish in a day, but also for the positive impact crossing off items on the list can have on your own personal feelings of accomplishment. Lately, however, with an ever-increasing demand on my time for school-work, I find myself not only making a list of To Dos, but also, assigning a period of time during the day in which to accomplish these tasks. I am guessing that I am doing this because if I don’t, I will find myself pouring over my studies for hours and hours, resulting in accomplishing little else during the day.
This ‘incessant amount of time’ attitude toward my school work would be just fine if my school work was ending in a week, or a month or even a year, but it is not, and so, assigning a beginning and an ending time to the day’s tasks is helpful in being able to actually get everything done.
As nice as it is to assign a finite period of time to the tasks I wish to accomplish in a day, sometimes, it can be a challenge to allocate the right amount of time to the tasks. For instance, perhaps I need to change the sheets on my bed, fold laundry and transition my PJ drawer to my warmer, winter pajamas. I might think that since all of these tasks are taking place in my bedroom, efficiency in completion should be approximately 30 minutes. Truth be told, folding one load of laundry, changing sheets on one bed and moving pajamas from one accessible drawer in the closet to another, slightly harder to access drawer, should actually take less than 30 minutes provided you can focus. Unfortunately, as I have so often learned, life does not work that way. When I go to get the laundry, I discover that it is not 100 percent dry and so I need to add 15-20 more minutes to the dryer so that it does not in any way shape or form take on a damp, unclean scent as I place it in a drawer. Tackling the bed sheets next is just fine but when I attempt to rotate my pajamas, I find myself spending countless extra minutes wondering if I really need 12 sets of winter PJs and if it’s too early to start wearing my holiday PJs.
This, typically, gets me thinking about the holidays and shopping, wherein I head back downstairs to my list and add “make Christmas shopping list- 30 minutes” to it.
This starts me thinking of my actual Christmas list and wondering what I already purchased over the year. Of course, now I must confirm what gifts I already have stashed away, lest I mitigate my proactive shopping practices, and soon enough, it has been 45 minutes and I have only accomplished one of the three tasks I was doing.
But, since so much time has gone by, my laundry is surely completely dry by now and I can fold it and tuck it away. I neatly stack my PJs in a pile on the floor and check the weather. Since the thermometer reads 70 degrees, I consider it way too early to wear my winter PJs, promptly going back downstairs to cross not only the three items off my list, but also, the newly added one!
1 Hour! 1 Hour!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
.