UNITED STATES—Time never seems to be on our side. I say it all the time, but I should be careful of constantly saying, “There is not enough time in the day.” Why? Would I actually like to have more hours in a single day? That might mean, more hours spent at work. And I absolutely do not want that at all. More time having to run errands, more time with the kids? I would enjoy that, but more time cleaning, and less time resting, probably now. You may not think 24 hours in a day is enough, but as I age, I’m starting to realize it is, it is all about how we balance that time.
As Americans, we just are not good at managing our time. We sometimes commit to things that we shouldn’t, and as a result it stresses us out. Can you imagine working 16-hour shifts like some people do on a consistent basis? That likely means you’re not getting eight hours of sleep each night, you might be getting between four and five and the rest is spent on your commute to and from work and eating. That is not fun if you truly think about it.
We have to spend more of our time managing our workload. When you work, you work, when you’re off of work you just have to stop yourself from working. It may be tempting to do it, and I think it’s ok to stay over for work every now and then to get things accomplished. It is so much better to know something is complete than to be wondering in your brain ‘what has to be done.’ You just can’t do it all the time because if you’re always working you might be missing out on other things in life.
I cannot tell you how much I hear from family members with kids who talk about working so much right after the child was born to miss out on pivotal moments. The child’s first walk, them crawling, turning over, speaking their first words, the teeth growing in, going to school, school plays and so much more. I’m learning with age you have to make time even if you feel like at times you don’t have it.
That doesn’t mean you toss away something of super importance for something not as important, but if it is something important to you; you know what to do to ensure you don’t put that to the backburner. Procrastination is something I have always struggled with, and I have admitted it countless times, so much to the point that the realization hit, “Just do it, so you can be done with it already.” Once you do it, guess what, it’s done.
The big issue is that so many Americans allow time to control them versus controlling the time that you have. You sit there thinking in your head should I or shouldn’t I. Guess what? I have the answer, just do it, all that time thinking about whether to do something or not is the reason time starts to pass you by. Utilize the time you have and make the decision already. Don’t be so indecisive when it comes to your time because it is the one thing in life that you absolutely cannot get back once it is gone.
Written By Jason Jones
