Page 17 - Harnett Life Fall 2018

By: Dr. Veronica L. Hardy

Time Management: Breaking

Contract with Busyness

Michael never grasped how to live his life at a gradual son in your life, this is a great way to prepare.
pace. He was raised in a household with his parents
and four siblings. The air was consistently flowing 2. Seek Help to Remember
with the breath of movement, busyness, and accom- As busyness increases, our memory tends to decrease.
plishment. To sit still meant to waste time, there was Why? Because there are so many tasks running through
so much more he could be doing. As an adult, he your mind that some will be overlooked or even forgot-
packed up the busyness trait and carried it with him. ten (leading to some “oops!” moments). Therefore, call
Yet, “it” seems to be controlling his life rather than in some help. The traditional to-do lists and daily plan-
him keeping “it” under control. The oppressive nature ners may be best for those who prefer the paper and
of busyness has left Michael’s condo in disarray, his pen method. Yet, for those who tend to lose little slips
relationships in despair, and his freezer stacked with of paper that hold important information, a technolog-
pre-packaged dinners. He has a goal to scale the cor- ical strategy may be best. If you have a cell phone, use
porate ladder and feels he only needs to maintain this the calendar function to store your appointments and
hectic life pace just a little while longer. Endurance is send reminders. If you use your computer often, there
his key. Yet, persisting at this current level of stami- may be a reminder function that posts appointments
na can harm his health, emotions, and well-being. As on your screen. Also, I cannot forget the handy tech-
there are loopholes in just about any contract, Michael nique of placing a post-it note on the bathroom mirror
can also find gray areas in the commitment he made – the first place many of us visit in the morning.
to busyness. Instead of endurance, time management
will be his shiny new key. 3. Day or Night
Examine when you are most productive throughout
In order to break contract with busyness, Michael and your day. Are you a morning person or an evening
others in this situation could take the following steps: person? If at all possible, handle your most demand-
ing tasks at that time (you may see an increase in your
1. Stock Up and Save productivity).
Stock up on the items that you tend to use most fre- In order to break that contract with busyness, it may
quently (e.g. printer ink, shampoo, toothpaste) and take a little time for a period of self-examination and
store nonperishable foods. This helps to cut down on reorganization. Yet remember, every minute counts, so
road trips, gas, and time spent perusing the stores. why not use it the best way possible.
When you know that you will be entering a busy sea-