OH TO BE A CHILD AGAIN (Control of Time)

Member Name: jingles

Product:	Control of Time
Date:	18/10/01 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Time is a precious commodity

Disadvantages: Its gone before your realise

Remember when you were a kid there seemed to be a great expanse of time. It seemed endless. Summers stretched on and on and on and on. There seems no end to time; you really had all the time in the world. It’s a pity it’s not like that any longer – eh! Now were all grown up and living adult lives, we never seem to have enough time to do the things we want. Its 9 weeks to Christmas apparently – yet it seems like only yesterday we were out barbecuing in our gardens and getting the sun cream read for the long anticipated summer holiday!

Our time is constrained by numerous things. Many of us are forced into having to work for a living – whether we want to or not. Life in the twenty first century demands we have money to live on, and generally the only way to come by this money is to work – of course winning the lottery or criminal activities will give you money too! As l have to work l have entered into a contract with my employer saying that during the hours of 8am until 5pm l will be behind my PC (not necessarily true for my job but lm talking figuratively here!), beavering away on their behalf, for which they will compensate me. So there you have it – a time constraint – l have to be where lm supposed to be or l will loose money and face disciplinary action from my employers.

I study part-time – and fine no one forced me into this – its supposedly for my own long-term career prospects, but then again my time is now not my own on a Tuesday and Thursday evening. I miss watching Eastenders on this night -–and yes some of you may laugh – but l love Eastenders! So between 5.15pm – 8.15pm on these evenings again time is controlled – once l have entered in to a contract with the college they expect me to be there.

I don’t have any children, but for those that do lm sure you understand about time controls – having to pick the kids up from sch
ool, leave them at the child minders, take them to social functions – swimming, ballet, piano lessons – whatever. Your children become the time controllers – you must work yourself around their hectic agendas – how you all do it l don’t know!

What lm getting at l think is that time control is about expectations. What is expected of you by your employers, college, family or whatever? Should you not comply you face the consequences. When you have a second sit down and assess what you do with your time – write or keep a daily schedule – leaving nothing out. You will be surprised – when did you find time to eat or go to the loo? Just how much “me” time is in that log? Probably very little.

Now it would be great if l practised what l preached but l do try at least one evening a week or one weekend a month to do nothing – me time. I watch what l want to on telly, have a glass of wine, surf on the internet, soak in a bath or eat what l like. It’s good for you. Perhaps this is not the way you would unwind – well spend some quality time with your kids, with your parents or siblings, catch up on old friends – do the things you normally don’t have time for. Simply make the time. I know it’s easier said than done.

I have attended a time management techniques course at work, and although it did not really help with my daily work load, it helped to instil in me the notion of time being precious. We are not long on this earth and so we should make the most of the God given time we have. Try keeping a diary, you can schedule your social time – it helps to ensure when you make the arrangement to meet Johnny an old school pal you will not have to canceldue to double booking – something small will do - you can keep in your hand bag or suit pocket or whatever.

Time is precious and even though your everyday life may seem to have
time constraints, time will still march on. Try to remember this, precious moments are fleeting so make the most of them.

ENJOY YOUR DAY

Heather

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