One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. Well, Murray isn't one of the actors I particularly care for, but he did a good job in this movie, and it's actually the premise that I like. Well...envy.
A weatherman - Bill Murray - goes to to the little town of Puxatawny in order to do a show on the groundhog and his shadow. He is a complete and utter jerk and can't get to first base with the news producer - Andie MacDowell. (Rita). They stay the night, he does his show, but there's a snowstorm and he and his newscrew are stuck in the town for another night.
It's never explained what triggers it, but the next day, when he wakes up, it's the previous day, Groundhog Day, again. He retraces his steps and the same actions happen. This happens for several days, so much so that in despair he commits suicide, only to wake up the next morning, still alive.
Then he gets an epiphany, and starts learning everything. He learns how to play the piano. He starts reading literature. And so on and so on. And eventually he becomes an expert in all these things, but does not age a single day.
Finally, a changed person, he and Rita go out on a date, she sleeps with him out of genuine caring and feeling, as does he, and the next day, it is the next day.
I've always longed to be in a sort of Groundhog Day style loop, because there are a lot of things I'd like to do - that I'd wished I'd learned as a kid,but didn't - playing a musical instrument, speaking several languages, learning the classics of literature.
Now, as an adult, age 50, I'm making time to do these things...but at this age time is my enemy, not my friend... And how I regret the time I wasted as a teenager and young adult - spending 6 hours a day playing video games (this was back in the day when you had to go to an actual arcade to play, and spend quarters, too!) [Yes, age 50 I'm a successful businesswoman - with many accompishments, but I can see how much more I would have accomplished if I'd used my teenage years more wisely...how I regret it...and regret that teenagers today [read nephews] simply do not want to learn from other people's mistakes, oh no, they know best...so they continue the cycle of learning (hopefully) from their own mistakes, which is so unnecessary.)
And it's why I despair when I look at kids today - case in point my nephew - who spend all their time playing video games, slouched in the entertainment room of their house, playing video games on their computers, and taking their PS2s to restaurants when the family goes out to eat, so instead of engaging in conversation or at least take an intelligent interest in what's going on around them, or at least of their parents, they instead have their head bowed playing their game, taking time out only to eat.
So, back to the point of this post. There is no Groundhog Day. There are only the unforgiving minutes. As each one passes, it will never return again. Time is so precious that every second of it must be spent well. Sure, take an hour to relax and play a computer game [believe it or not I play Newopets!) to relax your mind, but don't spend six hours doing it! [If I may preach a bit, don't do mind-altering drugs, or drink to excess, either, even if its just your weekend ritual. That's vital time you're losing, time you won't be able to remember - and when you get old you'll wish you could look back on that time and remember a nice book read, a movie seen, a person talked to intelligently, instead of the blackness of some kind of drug-induced haze.)
Anyway, back to time management!
Time management in general is a good idea. If you get things done efficiently - whether as a homemaker, a career woman, or a homemaker and a careerwoman, that will leave you more time to do the things of leisure.
How can it help certain people lose weight? Well, a lot of people who are under stress eat too much at one time, and don't take time to exercise. By managing time effectively, they lessen some of that stress (and there's nothing like a walk or a bikeride to help relieve stress). What causes stress? Many causes, of course, but one is having too much to do, and too little time to do it in. And sometimes that is caused by carelessness with time - procrasting too long, keeping messy records so that you can't find anything, necessitating you having to take time out of your day to look for things you need, ya da ya da.
A lot of overweight people eat too much because they are bored - they have no structure in their lives, nothing to do. Okay, that's not really a part of time management, but a question of taking the initiative to join some clubs and start looking for interests to fill your day...
But, you get the gist of what I'm saying.
So, here's one book I suggest - although, really, any book on time management will do.
Time Tactics of Very Successful People, by Eugene Griessman
Description
A new approach to time management focusing on how highly successful people get their work done without sacrificing the life they live.
This entertaining volume has what no other time management book has: insights on how to manage time from high achievers such as Malcolm Forbes, Jr., Ted Turner, Sandra Day, Dr. Johnnetta Cole, and Home Depot CEO Bernie Marcus. Dr. B. Eugene Griessman has interviewed hundreds of contemporary peak performers (and researched dozens of historical high achievers) to unearth the secrets of their success. He presents their time management tactics in short "Bites" designed to inspire today's time-starved readerwhether they're over worked managers, working moms, entrepreneurs on the go, or even newly unemployed people who must suddenly learn to structure their own time
Table of Contents
1. Get a handle on your time
-the myth of "free" time
-Give yourself a raise
-Bill yourself - a tactic professionals use to become more efficient
2. Get organized
-set your priorities
-Write down your goals
-Apply the 80/20 rule
-Create a to-do list that works, and work your list
3. Increase your efficiency
-Neatness is more than a neurotic compulsion
-Make your workplace work
-Learn to rely on checklists
-Take a checkride - see you as others see you.
-Become a speed learner
4. Shortcuts
-Readiing shortcuts
-Speed reading
[okay, these two pieces of advice are bad, in my opinion. Reading is something to be enjoyed and savored!]
Underline and highlight
Writing shortcuts
Use the piggyback principle
5. Find Hidden Time
-make the most of downtime and in-between time
-make a game out of saving time
-use your commute time -or eliminate the commute
-create chunks of time
-be a contrarian
-the five o'clock club
-use the power of leverage, learn to think lazy
6. Learn to Focus
-don't scatter your force
-learn to listen
-Spend more time in the now
-Tap into the power of the "flow state"
-passion and obsession
7. Pace yourself
-Create routines - discover your work rhythms
-Adapt to the rhythms around you
-master your moods
-give yourself a break
-know how long you can wait to do it
-beware of Parkinson's law
-learn how to shift into the surge mode
8. Avoid procrastination
-do it now
-finish it now
-make the unpleasant phone call first: the Jackie Ward rule
-exceptions to the Jackie Ward rule
-eliminate overdrafts
9. Avoid Time-Wasting Activities
-if it's not worth doing, be sure not to do it
-don't quit too soon
-know when to cut your losses
-know when to leave well enough alone
-become decisive
-don't finish every book you start
-Don't be penny-wise and hours-foolish
-the use and abuse of meetings: to meet or not to meet
-develop survival skills if you're absent minded
10. Don't Let Others WAste Your Time
-learn to recognize and avoid time thieves
-don't adopt other people's monkeys
-just say no
--make yourself scarce
-expand your time-cue vocabulary
-the high cost of a free meal
-think like a politician
11. Enlist Others to Save Your Time
-become a squeaky wheel
-to save time, smile
-learn to tip effectively, the Gerardo Principle
-master the art of interrupting
-enlist the aid of coaches
-associate with time-conscious people and companies
-learn to delegate
-hire the best
-master the art of conflict management
12. Invest Time to Save Time
-Sharpen the axe
-become an expert
-one extra hour a day can work magic
-get it right
-write it down
-learn the rules of the game
-don't wait untiil it breaks to fix it
-don't think it has to be broken to improve it
13. Plan Ahead
-think through, then follow through
-anticipate trouble
-build in redundancy
-prepare a script
14. Use Technology that Works
-phone tactics that save time
-make the most of voicemail
-when possible, automate
-the time saving uses of computer technology
-become an effective dictator
15. Balancing work, family, and social life
-if I'm so efficient, why am I miserable
-make an appointment with yourself
-take care of your body
-do add-ons
-learn to let other people help you
-take a sabbatical
-taker the road less traveled
-cut yourself some slack
-blur the boundaries
-play solitaire
-enlist in peacetime patriotism
-find something you love and do it
-time tactics vs time strategies
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