Welcome back to 31 Days to Less Stress! If you are paying close attention, you might notice I missed posting yesterday. I decided to take my own advice. When your schedule is full, something has to go. Because I was traveling over the weekend for the Allume conference, I was behind on things I would normally have taken care of. It turns out Mark isn’t so good at keeping the kids on track with schooling, so we had some catch up to do. And I also work part-time on Tuesdays. While I hit the ground running, there just wasn’t enough time to do evertything well, so something had to go.
It’s not easy to choose not to do the things we want to do so that we can do the things we have to do. It takes self-discipline, which I certainly don’t always have, but after Allume, I am so much more motivated to start using my time wisely. If every day, we commit to spend our time on our best things – those things that both reflect and impact our priorities – we are far more likely to look back on our time and say we used it well.
Lord Chesterfield was quoted as saying, “Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.” When we freely give away our minutes, our days seem to go by so quickly. How often have you been doing something non-productive and looked up to see 30 minutes had passed, or even an hour? Facebook, Pinterest, Hulu, Netflix – while they are not bad in and of themselves, think about the time frittered away that you can never reclaim.
In reality, had I been more cautious with my time earlier in the month, I would have scheduled posts ahead of time. I’ve come to realize my procrastination is just an excuse to waste my time, and I can’t get that time back. I’ve also realized this characteristic is rubbing off on the kids, and I don’t want that for them.
Time is our greatest asset if we use it wisely and are worst enemy if we spend it thoughtlessly. I am ready to reform. I want to use my time wisely so I can accomplish my goals, so I can love others well, and so I can be proud of myself. I hope today, you will also make a commitment to reclaim your time. Let’s use our time wisely to have the impact we have always hoped for!
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