You probably know that I teach workshops in Time Management. It might be easy to assume that maybe I’d solved it all, met all the challenges, got it all sorted – but no. I live in the real world too.
In the interests of a little honesty, here’s an account of how it went for me last week:
“Friday morning, reflective writing: after a little “stream of consciousness”, I focussed in on what I had to do for the day, the things still on my to-do list and realised that not everything would be finished by the end of the week.
I felt sad and frustrated that in my business-column, the page for the new time management resource I’d created wasn’t going to be launched this week and I still hadn’t sorted the supporting email sequences.
In the home-column, the side-table in the dining room was still covered with the bits that had nowhere to go and, despite three full loads this week there was still more washing to be done.
My heart sank. After a pause I reminded myself that, due to staff sickness I had taken two days out of my business to support my sister – she has special needs, requires full time support and, well, that was two days work that didn’t get done. I chose to prioritise family care over business progress.
And aware of the potential for a depressing end to my week I decided a shift in focus was needed.
I reminded myself that, in spite of everything I had still created and formatted a resource document for people who are already pretty good at time management, prepped for 4 workshops that are going to be delivered next week, clarified the research I needed to do ahead of a new programme launch and read several papers on the persistence of gender issues in Higher Education. (Have you read the work of Clare O’Hagan or Pat O’Connor – it is excellent!)
On balance, for a 3 day week my glass was now at least half full rather than half empty and I’m happy with what got done.
On a side note, I’m delighted and privileged that my business schedule allowed me the freedom to re-prioritise my work at short notice. The silver lining of my unfinished to-do list is, I have clarity about where to start next week.
And breathe. The weekend is nearly here.”
So this week, I started with the very best of intentions but knowing that I had four workshops scheduled. It’s now Thursday morning, and I have delivered 3 out of 4 of those workshops. I’ve spent hours in the garden trying to stop my pet hens, their coop and enclosure being blown away in the two storms that passed over this week. I hope you and yours were safe!
Isn’t it amazing how much time this stuff takes?
You might remember that I was also working on creating new time management resources – even though the week has been busy, these are done. One new and two updated, reformatted in Canva and ready to be uploaded to my website. I’ve created the page and it’s all ready to go…
So why am I sharing this with you?
Well, I hope I’m showing that, even when life doesn’t go according to plan, having a plan still helps. It keeps me on track even when it’s not perfect. Having a plan gives me something to aim for, even when life and Atlantic storms blow me off course…
What did you get done this week? I’d love to know how your plans worked out!
Margaret