“There are not enough hours in the day,” my roommate and I often to say to each other at night. You know what it’s like, how in the midst of your hustle and bustle, you glance at the clock and feel that, “It’s already x o’clock?”-feeling. It’s been a familiar sentiment of mine lately.
It became most apparent to me during this past holiday season. I felt like I was attempting to “squeeze in” Christmas throughout the month. I guess I’ve been spoiled, especially my last two years of college. Those three weeks of winter break to soak in the holiday hooplah really can’t be beat. Work really changed the picture of what the holiday season looked like. And each evening, those hours after five would just fly by with the usual business, preparing for my trip, and holiday festivities. But now that it’s over and a new year has sprung, I’ve found myself even more “out of time”, retiring to bed a little defeated each night.
It would seem like there was just so much I wanted to get done and get taken care of; always something I want to plan, enjoy; someone to visit, write, or catch up with. And each night, despite even the boldest efforts, I felt so behind on things.
Today I even forced myself to stay home (and sadly miss the “first roda of the new year” at Capoeira, foregoing my planned potluck item) in order to stop feeling so behind on things and “take care of crap”. But even at the end of the day, before I left to have dinner with Ryan, I could only think of the things I still had to get done for work, the pile of papers on my desk at home, and the luggage that was unpacked on my floor. A few hours of getting things done hardly seemed to dent all I wanted to accomplish.
So tonight I tried something different. I knew this had to be a matter of perspective. So I wrote it down. I wrote down everything I’ve wanted to get done and do, if only I had more time in the day. Not super long-term plans, but things that I expected or wanted done in say, 2-3 days. And so I wrote and I wrote of every little thing in mind. Each “I want to ____.” statement, small or big, I jotted down.
Five pages later, I counted a list of 113 items. No less. Quite possibly more.
113 items. The tasks range from cleaning my desk, submitting an insurance claim for my glasses, to researching Nicaraguan economic history. And just seeing this list, to have it sitting in my hand, it was no wonder why I was driving myself mad each night. For even when I managed to fit in that extra productivity into my schedule and accomplish 3 or 4 things, I still went to bed with 109 items that I felt needed to get done, swirling in my head!
It’s no secret that I have a Type A personality, but a resassesment of my expecations is definitely in order. I just think it’s funny how these last couple weeks I’ve felt just so short on time, when more in truth, it’s because I had whole-heartedly (and unreasonably) expected for 113 things to be done in one afternoon.
So yeah, if you ever feel stretched thin or short on time, I’d recommend writing a list. A long, exhaustive, and very honest list.
Comments
8 responses to “Oh Time, Oh Me”
Funny how something as simple as making a list of goals can be so eye opening. I’ll have to put that on my list of things to do.
One thing to do, in addition to making a list, is prioritizing them. Because getting groceries, completing stuff for work, researching something, etc… are not all on the same plane. A simple categorization of tasks, like A/B/C can help out.
A Task – Immediate Impact (e.g. cleaning room makes me feel good now)
B Task – Impact not Immediate, but in the “near future” (e.g. filling out a form for a later payment)
C Task – Not Immediate at all (e.g. some research on some topic that you find somewhat interesting)
Because, having 113 A tasks will drive you crazy 🙂
Oh, you can also check out this article.
Ah yeah, good call on the priority thing. (And by the way, you should know by now that I am crazy ;))
I always put stuff on my daily to-do list that I know I’ll get done. Like “eat lunch”. It makes me feel more productive when I can cross that one more thing off my list. I, however, tend to have lists that are about 100 things shorter than your list. 🙂
Good luck with that.
I like your year in review pics…
Haha yes! I used to do that too on my to do lists, add totally obvious things. One time a friend was over and saw my list and it was a bit awkward, haha.
The one thing I ALWAYS have on my list, without a doubt, is to save time for myself. It doesn’t mean setting time aside so i can cross off the next thing on the 100+ List Of Things To Do. It means, spending time doing something that makes me happy and clears my mind. Whether it be practicing guitar, cooking dinner, playing Madden, reading a book, whatever…and whether it be for 10 minutes or 2 hours, I will always find time to do those things that have an uncanny ability to clear my mind. Oftentimes you can get so caught up in the feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing those “to-do” tasks, you forget that doing the simplest things is what makes you the happiest and refreshes you more than you thought possible. And as a result, 113 doesn’t seem to loom as large.
😀
Keep on chugging though, cuz you’re like The Little Filipina That Could.
Heheh, thanks Stephen. 🙂