It seems like I keep coming back to the subject of time management, but it is proving to be one of the thorniest issues I face as I settle into my final (really, I mean it this time) retirement.
One of the things I am finding is that I need to maintain a calendar of appointments and events in order to not get over committed. For instance, this is what happened last week:
My sister and I had wanted to get together to bake cookies, but we couldn’t find a time that worked for both or us (and when the weather wasn’t seriously threatening, since there is a mountain pass between us). So we decided to wait until after Christmas, since our family gathering was on January 7th. We settled on Monday the 2nd, and I knew it would be an all-day thing. No big deal, I have time.
Then a friend here in town needed transportation to the hospital 70 miles away over the mountain, so there went Thursday. My husband went with me, and we made it a date day for the two of us after we dropped her off. We saw a movie matinee, got some yogurt, and stopped for an early dinner on the way back home. I told her I couldn’t bring her home on Saturday (her scheduled release date) because I had my family gathering, and thought that was the end of it.
But Saturday morning as I was leaving for the all-day family thing and the third trip over the mountain she texted that they were not going to release her until the next day, and could I pick her up?
So there you have it. Four days gone out of seven.
Now part of that is circumstances, which happens a lot more during the holidays, but part of it is also that I didn’t take a look at the calendar and the convergence of events.
I look back on that week, and the hours spent in the car, and I don’t really see where I would have cut back.
I won't say there wasn't a way I could cut back, because there certainly was, though I chose not to.
It was something that happened – that I ALLOWED to happen – and I will live with the consequences. Like the fact that I was up several hours early each day and was exhausted by the end of the week, and that I have extra charges on my credit card for gas. I enjoy baking with my sister, and it was wonderful to see all my family after the last two-plus years of small gatherings. The friend who needed surgery didn't have a lot of options and although I did her a favor I also did it for myself because I want to believe that I am a good person.
Even so, I have a lesson to learn from this week, because it was so easy for those things to pile up on each other. I was just going along and suddenly an entire week was gone, I was bone-tired but also wound up from all the hours of driving in marginal weather, and I hadn’t had enough time for the other parts of my life. I need to learn to keep my life in balance, and that’s going to be a tough one.
But, hey! At least there were cookies!