I am constantly seeking the secret sauce of time management and this week…my system failed me…or, more likely, I failed to effectively implement the system to my benefit. Ugh. #Truth.
Dominoes
The falling cascade of dominoes were predictable as early as Sunday morning when I awoke and realized (interpreted as ignored the knowing that I needed to do it and did other things) I had not completed a meal plan on Saturday night so that I would be ready for the grocery store early Sunday morning—by the way, the golden hour in the morning is not just for those in their golden years. It’s prime grocery shopping time! Well stocked shelves and minimal people. Bliss.
Not planning made the grocery run an experience in grab and go from memory—which is definitely inconsistent in its reliability about what is in the pantry. Meal planning this week is “what can I make out of THIS?” It’s a fun challenge when you have plenty of time. This week, time is extra tight so again…a domino falls.
Sunday is “plan the week ahead day”. Instead of planning my week, I put in my garden, churned compost, built structures for climbing garden plants, dug up old flagstone stepping stones and moved them to the raised garden bed in order to provide better access for harvesting. I went to bed early (interpreted as I’ll get up early and do that planning thing in the morning) tired and satisfied and with no clear idea of what incremental moves I needed to make at work this week in order to accomplish my goals here. Another domino falls.
I jumped right into Monday, without getting up extra early, with back to back commitments—meetings, calls, donor communication and visits. Worked late. Went to bed without the kitchen being “mom clean.” Another domino falls.
Here it is, Wednesday, and I’m FINALLY getting a blog out to all of you as I work to stop the cascade that started on Saturday evening. I only have a haphazard plan for this week—kind of the “which fires are burning list.”
So what’s my point? While it may be cliché to say, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” It’s true. And while there is no need to be rigid about plans—all good plans have breathing room in them—plans provide us with freedom. You’ll find if you do what you didn’t want to do during the time you need to do it, your future self is free to do other things, your stress is reduced, and you feel more competent in your life. At least that’s what I find. And the better I am able to plan, the more energy and time I can devote to changing lives for good!
