Time

I admit it. I'm guilty of making the comments "I wish I had more time" or "I don't have time for that." Come on - you know you have too.

But a comment I saw the other night pushed me over the edge (I might have been having a stressful day - LOL). I happened to be working on something online and had one of the basketball games on in the background on my TV. Of course, it was one of those games that broke my bracket, which honestly could have been any game in the last few days!

Someone posted (paraphrasing this) that in another life maybe they'd have time to do something trivial like brackets. Now - I am not a basketball fan that watches games throughout the entire season. Though I find it fun to do a bracket and see how good my guesses are. It takes me about 10 minutes to actually put the bracket together.

This comment started to make me wonder "well, how much time do you spend on Facebook? Procrastinating? Doing whatever you do?" And it made me remember what time management is really all about - PRIORITIES.

People tell me that I'm busy all the time. And it's true. However, my schedule has been altered a bit since the beginning of the year - I'm not spending 8 hours a day (or more) at work at the moment. Things have been a bit easier to juggle, and it's been a bit easier to fit in some of the things I like to do but don't always put as a priority, like reading.

My position on the Michigan Jaycees state board of directors takes me all over the state. I'm in the car a lot. I've traveled over 2,000 miles just going to chapters across the state (that's not even counting all that I do with my home chapter). But, it's about putting a priority on things. I keep track of my deadlines and if I slack off, I know I have to bust my butt to get it done.

We all commit to something - whether it's our family, friends or extracurricular activities. We have time - we all have 168 hours in a week. But we have to choose how to use them, and balance our lives so we get the most out of them.

I'm actually looking forward to reading a book called "168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think" by Laura Vanderkam. I still need help sometimes in prioritizing and using my time in the best way possible.

I know when I am back to work, I will have to reorganize my schedule and reorganize my priorities (goodbye reading, ). I am hoping this book helps along with knowing what I want to do with my time.