A Quiet Hour

Hello all!

I have been so busy lately that I just want to have this quiet hour with you, just a time of personal reflection and relaxation just talking with you.

So get yourself a nice cup of tea and a nice blanket, and reflect with me. 

What I have been thinking about a lot lately is planning and spending our time wisely. So often I see people trying to multitask. This is especially true where I work, I see people trying to cram in some shopping during their lunch break. This saddens me, as this time could be spent with having lunch with your spouse or your children, or just yourself.  I am not advocating that this is how everyone spends their lunch break, but it does seem to be the norm.  We live in a society now where is it increasingly necessary to detach from modern conveniences.

I find that this is true of myself. Since the internet is up twenty-four seven, I oftentimes try to do my research and writing when I am supposed to be readying myself for bed. While this doesn’t happen often, I do remember back to my college days where I would finish an assignment right before bed. Though I did have the victory of finishing my to-do list, I could never sleep well, and slept well into the next day to compensate the lack of restful sleep. Thus, it was convenient for me to do my studying at night, when all the housework and meals were done, but it didn’t help my health at all.

Thus, this brings me to my main point, spending your time wisely. Just like spending your money wisely, we must choose what is most important for us and allocate our resources into it. For me the number one thing is my family, making sure that they are provided in some way, whether it is financially ( which is why I have a job), preparing dinner, or doing the housework.  These things do take time, but if wisely planned into the day’s schedule, I will be able to complete them.

I remember my academic coach coaching me how to plan my day by the hour, and breaking down each task that I had to do by how much time I though it would take me and tracking it so I could plan my day better.  Not only did this time management planning help me conquer my school assignments, but also allowed me to do the housework and meal preparations that needed to be done.

So here are my tips for a successful day and making the most out of every day

1. Write down what you need to do the night before, or what I like to do is first thing in the morning before I even read me email
2. Be specific with your to-do list. As in 1 hour clean bathrooms, 30 mins preparing dinner, etc.
3. Time yourself. I still need to work on this myself, as I find most tasks take me much longer than anticipated. My favorite app is Time-left. I used it throughout school, and when the timer was done I could no longer work on that assignment, finished or not. This really motivated me not to have distractions and give my undivided attention to the assignment!  I now need to get back into the habit of using it.

So, I hope you will implement wise time planning, and be able to spend time with yourself, with your family, and doing what we love. Life is so short, don’t try to multitask, but live as if you never have a tomorrow.

Until next time,

Alyssa