Showing posts with label time management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time management. Show all posts

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Where Did Wednesday Go?

Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number. ~Author Unknown

Yesterday was totally nuts. I woke up feeling completely organized -- the night before I'd make up a detailed list of things that needed to get done, both online and IRL. It was long, but didn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

I ran to AC Moore in the morning with DD to pick up a tool we needed for beading -- she's going to start making somethings for Christmas to start, but wants to eventually sell her items online to earn some spending money. I told her if I thought her items were done well enough to sell, I'd open her own Etsy shop. My little entrepreneur.

BUT, that little jaunt put a big blip in the day. Now, DD didn't want to focus on school... she was ready to bead. Um. NO. So I spent a good part of the rest of the day chasing after her to keep her head where it should be.

As an aside, my new car ("The Pea") has a GPS system. Probably good for me, since I get lost in a paper bag, but I don't know how to use it yet. And EVERYTHING feeds through it: heat/AC, radio, etc.

Yesterday, on the way home from the store, DD touched it with her finger. We don't know WHAT she touched, but the audio came on AND it had a route mapped that would send me down to Massachusetts. Now, I know my way home, but I was annoying the GPS lady by not following her directions.

Bong. "Turn left in one point two miles."

One point two miles goes by and it begins to BONG BONG BONG frantically as I pass my turn. Then the screen madly searches for an alternate route in order to send me back to Mass.

Bong. "Turn left in point five miles."

Point five miles passes and it begins to BONG BONG BONG frantically as I pass my turn. Then the screen madly searches for an alternate route in order to send me back to Mass.

And, well, you get the idea. It did this the ENTIRE way home, until I turned on my street which dead-ends. It didn't like that at all and threw a pretty picture of a U-Turn up on the screen.

Today, on my NEW list of things to do: Read GPS manual (and yes, there is one whole manual just for the GPS system).

I miss the simple life.

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DD has been working with Dakota, teaching her tricks. While I absolutely adored my last dog, Bailey, she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Dakota, though, is pretty dang sharp.

She know the basics, of course (sit, down, stay, etc) and we've added shake (with either or both paws), sit up, high five and the latest is roll over. She's so cute -- I'll have to take a video and show you. We tried and tried to get Bailey to roll over and never could teach her.

Next up: teaching her to fall to her side "dead" when we point our finger at her and say, "BANG!".

*G*

Speaking of pet tricks... you HAVE to check this out:


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Saturday, September 05, 2009

A Dribble at the Well

"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape" — Unknown

"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways." — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.


Our water comes to us from a well on our property -- a concept that took me some time to get used to, being a city girl and all. Something else I needed to get used to was the fact that the pump can only send so much water to us at one time.

This morning, while the sprinklers were running outside, I'd just flushed the potty, and had turned on the water at the sink. It was a mere dribble. I didn't get a decent amount of water until the toilet tank finished filling, and it got me to thinking (yes, epiphanies DO come from the strangest places...): we're sort of the same way, right? Only a finite amount of time, energy, creativity, brain power, etc.

I know I could be using my time more efficiently. I am lured by the email accounts on a regular basis -- I feel as though our business emails HAVE to be answered immediately or the world will come to an end. And that's just stupid.

I have a friend who has several tasks she needs to complete on a daily basis. To do so, she figures out how much time the task should take if she worked, focused and uninterrupted, and then sets a timer for that amount of time. THEN she focuses on that task, and that task only, until the timer goes off.

I feel as though I have so much on my plate that I'll never get it all done. But, I'm thinking that if I can focus on one thing at a time (not my strong suit...) I would be able to be more productive in less time, therefore giving me more time to do the things that keep getting set aside.

I've put a kitchen timer on my shopping list and am going to start this new endeavor next week -- Wednesday, when DH goes back to work. And then, maybe, I can give more than a dribble to the things I do.

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You Are Taco Salad



You are brutally honest and totally real. You can't be bothered to be fake for a second.

You are a total riot. You have a wicked sense of humor, and you crack people up.



You often shock people with your antics. You have a very spicy personality.

You are energetic and intense. You live every moment to its fullest.




Well.. yeah... mostly...

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