Time

Got a minute?

Now that the time has shifted in the US (except in my home state of Arizona where they're smart enough to never change) everyone's received the gift of a little time.

Unlike Spring when we're anxious becuase we've “lost” an hour in the fall we're laid back, everyone chillin' just a little bit all because of a few exta minutes, a less hurried pace and a general sense of time.

Yet we could feel this way every day if we chose to. Since time is the only commodity we cannot replenish how about a few thoughts on how to manage yours a little better?

Get Up Early

• Its may seem counterintuitive but if you want to feel a little less stressed get up few minutes early. I know: those last 15 minutes of sleep seem like the best, but often taking them leaves us careening around the house grabbing a cup of coffee on the way out the door and praying the traffic isn't too bad. Is that really a calm way to start the day? Getting up a few minutes early might require you to turn in earlier (probably not a bad thing) but it will make you feel like your day can be managed on your terms. That's a good thing

Exercise

• You want to enjoy time? Exercise. Every day. Don't know how to start? Use the stairs once or twice a day. Get off the Metro a stop early. Walk to lunch. Get a dog. A Labrador, like Chewy, say. Regular exercise has so many health benefits I can't enumerate them all, but it has one you may not have thought of: energy. People who exercise are more energetic making those long days feel a little less so, and more important, having the ability to do something after work other than resembling a couch potato. Walk – it'll do you good

Choose

• Do you really have to do everything you sign up for? Make every meeting, take every phone call, support every cause? No. You don't. But you're a high performer (like me) and it sounds doable when you're first approached. Do what busy people do: never say yes immediately. Instead say something like that sounds good, let me check, or, I'll get back to you. And then delegate, decline or delay: not everything has to be done. By you

Be Realistic

• So you narrowed your list to what you really care about and you want to get it all done well! Today. May not happen. Be your own best friend and allocate enough time to do things well. The office space is littered with the careers of many who bit off too much and failed to deliver. Once you've focused your targets allow enough time to do work people will be proud to receive. Be realistic about quality

Be Selfish

• Never least when it comes to managing time you must be selfish with yours. Find that thing that gives you release. And do it. For me, its reading, for you? Who knows, oil painting, politics, ballroom dance, etc. Whatever it is make time for it weekly if not daily. The things you do for no one but yourself. Indulge, enjoy and give yourself the gift of time. Somehow everything else will wait

While it can seem like there's never enough time in our lives the simple act of going back to Standard time shows how little “extra” time we really need to feel relaxed and de-stressed.

So take these tips and start your chillin' today.

Chewy is available to walk with you if you need some help.

 

by Christopher Demers