Take Time To Smell The Flowers – Part I

This is a three part post: Part 1, Part II and Part III

Being busy is really not an excuse, specifically when I keep insisting that if one wants to, one CAN. We manage to find the time for those things we really want to do. So it is simply a matter of prioritizing. It is not often that I miss posting here – I try to go for an average of at least three a week.

But lately, although my head’s been swimming with ideas, I’ve found that I have just not gotten around to actually writing. So much for being a writer! 😀 In fact, I had begun to feel guilty about the signature I attach to my email messages where I end off with “read my blogs at…” I mean, how can one read when there’s no update? A week is too long to go blank!

Anyway – since I’ve been grumbling about not having enough time to do all the things I’d like to do, I decided to write about the most obvious thing now – Time management. Call it a bit of therapeutic self-talk, if you will. What’s more, I am even inspired to make it a three-part post just because I am bursting with ideas.

It is time to practice what I happily preach – Take time to smell the flowers. (see blog description under title!). It is all very well to let the hectic flow of life sweep you along. I came across a tragic story the other day while browsing for some info. It is about a distracted mom and brings home the fact that mom, you’ve GOT TO slow down. Here’s the story:

She is a school administrator with two daughters and has a super-busy life. One morning she had to drop her youngest daughter off at the sitter’s. She didn’t usually do this regularly so it involved a change in schedule. Also she was resuming work after a break.

Well, she got to the sitter’s a little earlier than planned and found that her daughter was fast asleep. So she decided to stop by the store nearby for donuts for her staff. She got the donuts and went on to work as usual with the sleeping child in her car.

Here comes the tragic part. At the end of the work day, one of the staff members noticed the child sleeping in the car. Sadly, she did not survive the 100 degree heat in the locked car.…

Okay, now without getting judgmental, the idea now is to stop – and think – how are WE managing our time? Multitasking is the name of the life game today. We see so many people driving, talking on the phone, cooking, yelling into the phone and screaming at the kids to keep quiet – all at the same time. That’s hardly multitasking.

That story scared the hell out of me, I must tell you. Me and a lot of other moms I know habitually do a few things at a time. I caught myself talking on the phone, trying to finish something on the computer, listening to my son Vidur and trying to answer the doorbell and tackling the caller by mime – simultaneously. That’s not multitasking! And it is certainly not fun!

It is important to realize, I learned, that we’ve got to be mentally present and focused on the moment. We just can’t let life overwhelm us and try to tackle several things at once. Often, multitasking means we just cannot focus on one task – and this can result in missing some important stuff – which is something we just cannot afford to do.

I mean, how silly does it feel when you’ve been nodding at your child, believing you have absorbed everything she or he said – only to discover later that you can’t remember a word! Then guilt sets in. There’s no need for this to happen.

All we’ve got to do is – apply the brakes on life for a moment to take stock. We really have to tune right into what we are doing, to get it done well. We have to be more present. It is time to take time to smell the flowers….

How? I’ll write that in Part II – just to make for easier reading.

Cheers!

Vidya