One Step at a Time
You know that nothing is at it seems. A witch who is kind saves time, where do you keep it, in my pocket ofcourse, want a nice piece of time girl...I have no time, I am out of time.
from Grandmother Turtle - by Carolyn Hillyer
As my energy has plummeted over the years, I have noticed that it takes me longer to accomplish certain tasks and by not being able to complete all the things on my list that I feel I have to do, I have noticed that when I feel out of time, my stress levels increase just like a car engine that is being revved up to the max. I have reasons why it is taking me longer to walk, longer to deal with washing and longer to cook a meal.
What would it feel like to run at the speed of life? Is it possible that each and every one of us has an optimum capacity to do things in a certain time, at the speed of our life. If we exceed that speed we will use up more energy. What, if any, is your personal optimum speed and has it changed?
This lead my maths brain to start thinking about my personal time requirements at the speed of life :
24 hours per day
I sleep 10 hours at night and 1 in the afternoon which leaves me with 13 hours.( I know that is a lot but that is my requirement to function for the other 13)
Getting up and getting ready for bed takes about 1 hour.
Eating and preparing 3 meals per day - say 3 hours.
That leaves 9 hours.
So when I schedule anything else in, I have 9 hours of time to work with.
Then there are household chores, washing, cleaning, gardening, childcare, sick boys, chickens to feed and clean, watering, weeding, spinning, writing, travel etc etc.
What is your optimum speed of life and how much time are you actually doing what you want to do?
When you have an idea of how long things take and how much time you spend on each item, you can look at what time is left. I suggest leaving a margin of 10 mins between your activities as a buffer so that you are not rushing or can head back to pick up that letter you left on the sideboard.
That should help with planning your day at the speed of your life.
When you know what you spend your time on...you can learn to let go of some of those activities that do not serve you.
When you are next offered a job move, look at the time you will spend commuting to and from against the value of your time you could have saved when not sitting on public transport or wading your way through the urban jungle. It may make sense to take a paycut and work closer to home as well as being good for the planet.
Want a piece of time? Now you can go and search for it in your own time.
7 comments:
My work life recently increased from 5 half days to 4 whole days. It is a good thing because the extra hours at the company now allows us to purchase our health insurance coverage at a lower group rate instead of high cost/low coverage personal policies and will help us toward retirement in just a few more years of working/saving (we are in the USA). However we now need to learn to make better and more productive use of fewer hours of "free" time with less energy after the increased work hours. Thank you for a lesson in budgeting.
Thats great...quite often people in the Uk say they have no time to work or play and looking at exactly what energy and time you have available allows you to make choices that reflect how you want your life to be and what makes you happy. Budgeting is not only for money but time also
Time is money
Countries will vary as to their priorities too and healthcare is about investing in yourself. It requires both elements of time and money. Unfortunately if you are poor you may not have those opportunities.
Hi Anne,
Working my shifts wipes me out, i have opportunities to work my rest days, but my free time is to important to me, as i need to get out and about to photographer things.
Cheers Mark
Hi Mark
The way you use your free time is to do what gives you joy and fits in with your purpose. Thats great and you are aware that although the shifts tire you out, it gives you time to do what is important to you. I would say you have it about right. So when do you see doing what you like balanced between time and money?
This is an interesting post as I too find that it takes me much longer to get things done these days. I've assumed it's just that I'm getting older (although I'm only 32!) but realise it's problably a combination of a few other factors as well, including my overall (dis)satisfaction with my life. For example, I know I used to be able to get up, washed, dressed and out the door in 8 minutes a few years ago, 12 if I needed to also wash my hair or iron something. These days I can't get up, washed and dressed in less than half an hour but have no idea what is taking longer as my routine hasn't changed perceptibly. I might try and sit down and do myself a time budget to see where I'm at.
Moonwaves, I would be interested to hear how you get on what you find. It could be the hairdo that needs more gel and care, it could be that your sleep requirements have changed,doing an audit will enable you to find out exactly what it is and then you will find clues to set it right. There will be another post tomorrow following on from this one, about saying NO.
I say hallelujah to this post. I just recently moved for a new job that is 4 miles away from my home instead of the old 27 miles. In addition to saving a lot of gas money each month (there was no public transportation that went where I worked), I save a ton of time for doing more constructive things (or sometimes just relaxing). It is amazing how that 23 miles difference each way has given me back my life. You don't realize how draining things are when you are "in" them.
The nice thing is that I didn't really have to sacrifice - new location is same salary and less expensive!!!
Thank you for reminding me to appreciate what I have!
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