How to Manage Time Management

Do you experience frequent time management woes that are shrouded in guilt? You my dear friend are absolutely NOT ALONE.

Prior to becoming a mother I thought this unbearable plague was something I already endured - however, since having my son I became vividly aware I had not even scratched the surface to what this actual plague is!

To get adequate sleep, to breathe, to eat, to cook, to prepare meals/snacks, to work on projects, to stop and play, to sit in small moments presently without trying to plan how to allocate my time after I "finished" my current time-slotted task. The irony of this all - the more time we give to "managing time" and stressing over not having enough of it the more time we actually lose presently.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying throw your hands up in the air and wave them around like you just don't care ... 24/7 (sometimes we absolutely need to do this). Planning offers value in moderation, but when it comes to completing our tasks and plans and asking ourselves "why do we still feel so overwhelmed or guilty"... once they are finished is key to actually finding peace. I've recently acquired a tidbit of advice that helps puts co-existing with never-ending-tasks into a peaceful perspective.

When you are in the midst of a task and life happens (for better or worse) and something is pulling you away from the only time you have to get it done and frustration and guilt start seeping in, ask yourself this question:

10-10-10

Will it matter in 10 minutes?

Will it matter in 10 months?

Will it matter in 10 years?

Seems too simple and yet it is so profound -

Allow me to provide a real life example to help this formula's usefulness marinate. Whilst I was folding laundry my son asked me to play with the "choo choos" aka trains. I felt pulled not because I don't love my son, but because I had this stack of laundry I was finally getting an opportunity to fold. I felt torn seeing and hearing the delight in my young son wanting to share a moment and felt guilt that my mom brain was thinking about the pile of laundry I would leave piled. With what felt the matrix sequences flashing through my mind, I recalled this little formula and asked the simple question 10-10-10. This laundry wouldn't matter in 10 minutes, in 10 months or in 10 years... but I guarantee that the time I gave my son to presently would mean everything and will would still hold that meaning in 10 years.

With that all said I managed to place my guilt aside and be presently engaged with my son for the time he wanted to devote to the trains ... and lo and behold I finished the laundry later (shocking I know) because another opportunity arose that didn't rob me of the golden experience I shared with my son.

Reality dictates that there will always be "something", we all know this and have lived this - so let's find ways to challenge the value we put on the time we spend and plan to rid ourselves of unnecessary guilt. Will it matter? 10-10-10. I guarantee you know the answers to that question for yourself better than I do.

Stop and smell the roses, take the time to smile and remember that doing it will mean more that the laundry. Be kind to yourself and let that kindness spread to those you love.

LIVE. LOVE. GIGGLE ON -

Stephanie