Laura took the time to look up all sorts of facts and figures about how we actually spend our time, and broke it down throughout the book, which was great. I love facts and statistics but in the end I could have stopped after the first chapter because I got what I needed. In the first bit of the book she used the example of playing with your kids. She explained that many parents say, "I don't have time, there's too much to do." To that, she called bullshit, straight up. She said it's either a priority or it's not. You either think it's important to spend time with them so you make it a priority, or you don't think it's important so you don't make it a priority. Simple. As. That. She stated that the average time a parent spends playing with their child is only 20 minutes. TWENTY MINUTES out of 24 hours. That's insane, considering the average person spend 2.8 hours watching TV!
Since I don't have kids, I replaced that thought with Roxanne. I probably spend about 20 minutes playing with her a day. Sure, I let her go outside and play, but I don't do much with her. So now I've made it a goal to go on more runs or walks with her. Because I'm making it a priority, I'm finding it easier to fit time in my day to be sure she gets play time with me.
Another thing I am making my priority is scholarships. I've been telling myself that I don't have time for them and that I might not get them anyways so it's a waste of time, but it's not. Even if I get a $1000 scholarship after spending 40 hours writing essays/filling out applications, I'm making $25 an hour! A lot of deadlines for scholarships are around March, so I plan on spending at least 5 hours a week (but hopefully more) researching/applying for scholarships until then.
I've found myself doing a LOT more with my days recently, and it's been great. I've always wanted to make tinctures/herbal remedies, but I've always said it's too long of a process. I came across this blog and decided I did have the time and that I was going to just start. So I did! I made my first mint tincture with mint from my garden that I'll use for stomach aches, the flu, colds, and toothaches, among other things. Next I'm going to make this cold/flu tincture as well as these cough drops so I'm ready for the sick season.
What kind of things do you say you don't have time for, but you really do? If you have time to watch even one single TV show in your day, you have time to do something!
At first I thought this was a review of the Aaron Ralston book, 128 Hours, and I was super confused.
ReplyDeleteI want to read this book! I NEED to read this book! It's definitely very true! I'm at home all day and there are still things I manage to "not have time" to do... but they are of course things I don't WANT to do!
Read it! There were some parts I skipped over (like how to spend your day at work) but it was all enjoyable. DO IT!
DeleteI'm also at home most days of the week and I hate the fact that I spend a lot of time on housekeeping and other things I "have" to do, but don't really want to. I'm trying to figure out how to do this in less time so I could focus more on making my dreams a reality. :)
DeleteI find it helpful to just not clean a lot! Haha but seriously. My house usually has things strewn about (but not too bad) and I'm ok with that! If i just take care of things as I go, it saves time and is easy.
DeleteI'm another that needs to get some ideas from this book. I knit while I "watch" but even that I find myself more and more just sitting there watching the mindless dribble but I always seem to have a cat or two on my lap! Try some of the keep healthy mixtures. I like the cranberry, rosehip and mint (I think) ones. Maybe I should make my own. Plenty of rosehips outside.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good book and so inspiring! I've noticed recently that when i keep a TV show in the background while doing a project, I've started to just watch the TV, so now I listen to podcasts! And definitely make a rosehip tincture! It'll be packed with Vitamin C! Once cranberries show up at the store I want to make one.
DeleteI listen to audio books when I knit. :) I tried to watch tv, but I would made too many mistakes then. And I prefer books anyway.
DeleteSteff, do you know of any good (possibly free) podcasts? I only recently learned about those, but I haven't yet listened to any.
It depends on what kind of things you like! I like listening to ones from NPR (National Public Radio) which is just in the US, but you can get it online. I don't know if some of the topics be of interest to you, but I like Car Talk Radio (even though I'm not a car person, the guys are just funny) and This American Life (it's like a comedy segment). You can google 'free podcasts' or look under the free area of iTunes (do you have that?) and there's a million that will come up! I also like TEDtalks. (http://www.ted.com/talks) And lastly, comedians! If you have access to Spotify (I feel so ignorant not knowing if these things are available in other countries!) they have a bunch of comedians!
Deletethanks, I will check this out! :)
DeleteI love this post! First, this is great advice and I totally agree with the priority thing. I wanted to put the book on the reading list, but fortunately you spelled out the main point. :) Or maybe you'd advice to read the first chapter? I'm always open to new time management solutions.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I'm so excited about your herbal remedies! My grandma was a passionate herbalist and used to make stuff like this all the time. Such sweet memories! :) My mum also dreams about doing it, but she lacks motivation. I think you're really cool! :D
The first chapter or two would be good to read if you can get the book from the library or something!
DeleteThat's so great that you have memories like that! I'm new to it but loving it so far!