A battle that I never seem to be able to win is the one against time. I’m not sure if anybody can ever win that battle.
No matter what I seem to do, it seems as if I’m always on the losing end when it comes to time. There never seems to be enough of it, and I’m always left trying to prioritize what seems like multiple priorities. I have too many things in my life that seem to be important, and never enough time to truly devote to them all.
So, it becomes a challenge when I’m faced with figuring out how to squeeze one more task into an otherwise booked day. In some cases I’ve been successful, but in most, not so much.
Therefore, when we’re given an opportunity to possibly save time, we should consider taking it. For instance, my oldest daughter plays soccer in the afternoon on Thursdays. I often have to leave work slightly early in order to get her there on time. I normally bring her gear to her after school program, where she changes, and then we head off to practice. The other day, one of the teachers in her after school program said, “Hey, why don’t you just leave us with her gear, and we’ll have her get changed and be ready for you when you arrive?” It was a great idea, and one that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
While this change will save just ten minutes, it is ten minutes that will allow me to more effectively wrap up my work for the day, and transition more comfortably into after school time.
Whether we are exploring ways to do things more efficiently at home or at work, we should heed the advice of others and also make sure that our efforts to save time don’t cause quality of work to suffer. If given the option, I would rather have too little time to do everything but still do what I can do well, then engage in everything and have the end results suffer.
While there is no way to slow time, we can always find ways to work better within its confines. Sometimes, we just have to listen.