the challenge of managing yourself: February 2012

I wasn't one to compartmentalize.

If you're not sure what this means, think of your cabinets with different compartments where you organize your things and put them in the assigned space.

one of my compartments, taken by me

Not for someone who is always in a hurry, right? You will need to think of how much space you have, how much things you need to put in which space. Then, you will spend time putting things in the right compartment.

Hmmm. Not very encouraging, I thought. When will I find the time to compartmentalize?

I was more of a multi-tasker.

In fact, I should say I have become an expert in doing several things all at the same time:

talking on the phone while reading emails
eating while driving
cooking while doing laundry
ironing clothes while watching TV
dreaming while sleeping

Well, maybe not the last one. Although I think I had lots of sleepless nights because my schedules got so hectic, I try to think while I sleep. So much so, that the minute I opened my eyes, I jumped out of bed and grab paper and pen.

Crazy life! I was speeding and just about ready to crash.

rushing in hanoi by errol papera

That got me thinking, seriously, of listening to experts who say that multi-tasking is crap (forgive my french!). As my schedules got crazier and I got more and more stressed and tired, I sat back and look at the impact of multi-tasking on my time. On my life.

How many times did I have to make another call to the same person because I wasn't listening? I was reading emails while on the phone.

How many times have I missed important emails because I was talking to someone? And I have to go back to my mailbox (with thousands of unread mails) and search and search and search.

How many road turns or street corners have I missed because I was busy chomping on a sandwich and a banana? And how many times do I have to clean the car because food was all over the seat and the carpet?

I thought of the burnt dinners and the burnt clothes - I was busy taking the laundry out of the washing machine or I was busy crying over a mushy, romantic movie.

And I thought of all my sleepless nights and I thought - enough! This multi-taking thing was not working. My schedules were getting tighter because I had to re-do things or do other things I would not be doing otherwise.

It's time to manage myself better, to manage my time more efficiently.

I found these tips from the article "Compartmentalizing Your Life" by Mary-Rau Foster of Monday Motivating Moments:

Make a decision about what tasks need to be accomplished and which ones do not.
Eliminate the "I shoulds" and replace with the "I wills."
Create a list of the "to do's." Categorize the tasks as "must be done now," "should be done soon," and "it would be nice to get this done."
Decide which job you will tackle first.
Compartmentalize the tasks of the project that you will be tackling.
Commit to spending a designated period of time, 30 or 60 minutes, on one task.
For that period of time, work as though you were under a very pressing deadline, putting all of your energy and focus into the task.
Use a kitchen timer to alert you when the time has ended.
Stop when the timer rings, even if you feel like continuing on. Why? Because one reason we do not tackle big (or even small) projects is because we are sure that it will take too much time right then. If we continue working, we will find that our prediction has come true. However, for 30 to 60 minutes, we can take time out of other civilities to begin to attack this project.
Pat yourself on the back for staying on task and take notice of what you accomplished.
Reward yourself for the accomplishment.

I can't say the transition was easy. Old habits die hard. That's for sure. But I was intent on making changes, of taking control of my time instead of my time controlling me.

I'm making progress. With God's help, my life is more relaxing and I have more time for prayer and for things and people that matter.

Today, my work is as demanding as ever. But I have time.

Time to enjoy the flowers.