The Elf Blog

Dark and Light

When we turned our clocks back last weekend, we did more than gain an hour of sleep (welcome though that was!)  We also shifted the pattern of light and dark.  Now, the sun rises and sets earlier each day. When I wake up in the morning, the sun is already up.  By the time I get home from work, darkness has fallen. 

Depending on how you deal with light and dark, you may need to rearrange your basic schedule.  With the sun up so early, I find it easier to get out of bed and start my day.  I find that I can actually get a few tasks accomplished before I leave for work.  On the other hand, I am far more hesitant to run extra errands in the early evening darkness.

That means I try to make stops on the way to work or I do outdoor tasks in the morning.  On the way home, I make a maximum of one stop.  I'll have to use my weekend daylight hours more efficiently as well.  In the evenings, I can clean the house, do laundry, cook, craft, and take care of other indoor tasks.

Whenever possible, try to schedule your tasks to take best advantage of both the daylight and your energy!

How NOT to Save Time

By now, everyone who reads this blog knows that I'm a huge fan of multi-tasking and using small blocks of time well.  But lately, I've seen people trying to save time in unacceptable ways.

It seems like every day when I get on the subway, someone has confused it with the beauty salon.  I see people putting on makeup, doing their hair, etc.  NO.  Those are things you do at home.  I also get to listen in on people's intimate conversations -- another big no. Your subway ride is an excellent time to catch up on reading or to make lists.

On Sunday, I saw something that takes the cake.  A woman in the airport departure lounge casually sat waiting for her plane while flossing her teeth.  I don't want to see that.  NO ONE wants to see that.  It's fine if you want to use the time before your flight to freshen up.  That's why airports have bathrooms.

So, when you decide to multi-task and use your time well, please keep in mind how that will affect other people.  Living life graciously means being kind.

Stopping the Yo-Yo

Sorry about the lack of blog yesterday.  I had a problem with my Internet connection.  So there will be two today!

The last post looked at the problem of yo-yo scheduling.  Ok, now it has a cute little name.  But what do we do about it?

The first step is to look at how you spend your time.  What do you actually do in a day? (Write things down if you have to.  The results may surprise you,)  If you are doing too much to allow sufficient relaxation, you'll need to make some cuts:

• Are you doing anything that you don't need to do?  If so, that's the first thing to go.
• Are there things you are doing that are neither important nor necessary?  If so, those can go.  There is nothing wrong with telling people no.  Just practice these phrases:  "I'm sorry.  I won't be able to help with that project.  Please ask me the next time."  or "That sounds like such a lovely event.  I'm so sorry I won't be able to attend." 
• Is there a short-term short cut?  For example, you have an incredibly busy week ahead.  Can you pick up a roasted chicken and some sides rather than cooking?  Drop off shirts at the dry cleaner rather than doing laundry and ironing?
• Can you get help? Unless you live alone or there is a disability issue, you shouldn't be doing it all yourself.  Even a child can learn to make his own bed, put away her toys and clothes, gather recycling, etc. The older a child gets, the more responsibility he or she should have.  A high school student can do some of the laundry and cooking.  Yes, I know they have extra-curricular activities and homework.  Are they learning how to balance their schedules?  If not, how will they survive college or the work force when everything depends on them? 
• Can it be less than perfect? Here's something Martha will never tell you.  Not everything has to be top quality all the time.  Sometimes good enough is good enough.  You can not iron the parts of a shirt that no one will see.  Or you can close the doors to rooms that aren't guest ready.  Or you can buy snack for soccer practice instead of baking.  Life will go on. 

In the long run, a peaceful spirit will create a more pleasant memory than perfection.

Yo-Yo Scheduling

You've heard of yo-yo dieting.  It's when a person follows a strict diet very carefully and loses weight.  Then, he or she gets tired of the strictness, goes off the wagon, and regains all the weight lost and more.

Many of us do the same thing with our schedules.  We overload and work incredibly hard for a period and we are extremely productive.  Then, once exhaustion sets in, we crash and do nothing for a period -- getting behind once again and repeatng the cycle.

The remedy is very similar to the remedy for yo-yo dieting.  No strict diet -- just eating healty, small meals periodically through the day, balanced with exercise.

With scheduling, it's important to find a balance between work and play.  Overall, we need to cut back on how much we are doing.  But more than that, it's about doing reasonable amounts of work and play each day.  Doing one or two chores or errands each day means not having to spend a whole weekend doing it.  Getting a bit of relaxation every day instead of denying yourself rest and refreshment and then binging on it.

Tomorrow, we'll look at some basic strategies for managing your schedule.  But for now, ask yourself:  Am I a yo-yo scheduler?

Christmas Countdown -- Three Months To Go

Christmas Eve is three months from today.  That means it's time to kick the Christmas countdown into high gear. 

Within the next month, you need to complete the following tasks:

• Make your holiday travel arrangements.
• If you are throwing a party, let folks know to save the date.
• Update your Christmas card address list.
• Build your Christmas gift list.  You don't have to start shopping yet, but you should at least decide who you'll be shopping for.
• If you plan to make gifts or decorations, purchase all craft supplies and start work, if possible.
• Pull out your holiday recipe file and start narrowing down the ones you want to try.
• Make room in the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer for the holiday surplus.
• Finalize your holiday budget and make sure you know where the money is coming from.  If you don't have enough saved, you need to reduce the budget.
• Stop buying things you don't absolutely need.  Put them on your Christmas list instead.

the sooner you start, the higher the chances that three months from today, you'll be cosily esconced in a chair, drinking hot cocoa, eating homemade cookies, and watching a Christmas movie -- not making a mad dash through the mall only to come home to defrost the turkey with a hair dryer before pulling an all-nighter to finish crafts and wrapping.

Make It Easy

Sometimes it seems as though life is very complicated.  There is so much to do and so many demands on our time.  It seems as if we've failed before we even begin.

We need to look for strategies that make our day-to-day tasks easier. Some of the basic strategies are well-known.  We should all have a place in the house where we keep the things we need each day, like keys, backpacks, etc.  Having a place like a folder or a basket to put the bills that need to be paid or the school papers requiring review can keep life well organized.

But we can do other things as well. We are more likely to make healthier food choices if they are easy.  We can do initial prep of fresh veggies as we put them away so that they are easy to use when we are ready to cook.  (Most veggies steam in a matter of minutes in the microwave, retaining their color and their vitamins.)  A grill pan or something like a George Foreman Grill can make for quick and easy dinners.  Putting leftovers right into lunch containers makes it far easier to take your lunch to work than if you have to use precious morning moments.

If you find yourself with a few minutes to think (sitting in traffic, at a boring meeting, on the traedmill at the gym, waiting for something to start), think through your daily routine.  What changes could you make to simplify it?  To make your life easier?

Using the Pockets of Time

So, now you're thinking about the pockets of time you have available.  So, how do you make using them a part of your life.

The first step is to have a system in place that allows you to use these pockets of time.  A key is to always keep basic supplies in the same place.  It's much easier to do a quick clean of the bathroom sink if the cleaning cloths are always in the same place.  If you only have 10 minutes, you can't spend 8 of them looking for what you need.

You can keep a small basket of little tasks next to your chair.  This little basket might include bills to pay, envelopes you need to use to update your address list, cards to write, buttons to sew on, etc.

You can keep note cards or other small tasks in your glove compartment, your gym bag, your trunk, or whatever you might have with you when you are waiting for appointments, practices, etc.

You can assign each room a day of the week or a time of the day.  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays can be bathroom while Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday is kitchen. Or you can tidy the bedroom before leaving in the morning and the living room while dinner cooks.

If you have a family, you can assign each person to a room.  Or take 15 minutes and make it a game.  Make a deck of flash cards of typical tasks:  gather recyclables, empty dishwasher, make bed, clean kitchen sink, vacuum rug, etc.  (You can even use an old deck of playing cards that is missing a few cards.  Just write on the card.)  Shuffle the cards and have everyone draw.  When you finsih the task on your card, you draw another.  Whoever has the most cards (and the most finished tasks) and the end of 10-15 minutes wins.  Winning can be anything -- the right to choose the next DVD, to push the cart at the grocery store, whatever works!

You can also use the cards for yourself.  Sometimes, deciding what to do can eat up the time you have available.  Just draw a card and that's what you do.  Decision made.  No fuss, no muss.

Small Pockets of Time

On several occasions, I've mentioned the importance of using small pockets of time well.  But I don't think I've ever really explained what I mean.

If you think about your typical day, there are short gaps of time (no more than 15 to 30 minutes) that are unscheduled. You have to wait a bit in the doctor's office.  You finish your lunch quickly.  You are ready to go 10 minutes before you need to leave.  You get to soccer practice before it's over.  You have 15 minutes while dinner finishes roasting. 

Well, you get the idea.

Now, you can let these pockets of time pass you by, just sitting and daydreaming, flipping through the tv channels, surfing the web, etc.

Or, you can chosse to use this time.  It's amazing what you can accomplish in 10-15 minutes.  Here are some of my stand-bys:

• Fold a basket of laundry.
• Take out the trash and recyclables.
• Vacuum the living room carpet.
• Put away the dishes.
• Pay some bills.
• Make phone calls to schedule some appointments.
• Clean the bathroom sink and toilet.
• Sort the mail.
• Write a birthday card or a quick note to a friend.
• Do a quick tidy of a single room -- putting things back into place, tossing trash, running a quick dust rag.
• Sew a button back on.
• Gather your dry cleaning.
• Sort the laundry.

What are some of the quick tasks you can do?  Later this week, we'll look at ways to use the task list to get more accomplished.

The Information You Need

The refrains are common:  I don't have enough time.  I don't have enough money.  I weigh too much.  I have too much to do. If you've never said one of those things, you can stop reading now, pour yourself a beverage, and go watch a movie.

But, for the rest of us.....

The first step in taking control of your time, money, and weight is to get the information you need.  It's about challenging your perceptions with facts.  We often underestimate what we eat and spend.  We don't recall how we spend our time.  The only way to get a true picture is to build it carefully by tracking what you actually do over a period of time.

If you want to know how you spend your money, start by pulling out a few months of bills to get a sense for what things cost.  You can even do a year's worth.  I know my gas bill is way higher in the winter while my electricity bill is higher in the summer.  By looking at the year, I can balance things out.  Use that to make a basic expense list.  Don't forget automatic deductions or authomatic charges to your credit card.  Then, using a small notebook or your pda, write down everything you spend for at least a week.  If you put 35 cents in the parking meter, write it down.  $2.79 on coffee -- in the notebook.  You might be surprised at how much you spend without realizing it.  And, you'll have a handy listing of what you spend money on, so you'll know what you can cut.

You can do similar tracking with your food intake or your time.  What do you eat?  When do you eat it?  What time did you wake up?  When did you leave for work?  What did you do in the interim?  What did you do on your lunch hour? (I wrote this blog.)

Knowing what you actually do is the first step in taking control.  If you find yourself always eating an unhealthy snack before bed, you know that's a danger time.  You can pre-empt that hunger by eating something healthy an hour earlier.  You can identify the pockets of time that appear in your day and plan for ways to use them more productively.

Lots of changes become possible when you have the information you need.

Spring Forward

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 9th.  Before you go to bed tonight, move your clocks forward one hour.

Even though it means I'll get home in the light, I hate this day.  I hate losing an hour of sleep!