Five P's of Time Wasting

Procrastination: This seems like it would give you more time but in fact it makes everything due at one time. Not only does procrastination put you into a huge time-crunch, but it also causes you stress and guilt which can lead to our next time taker…

Preventable Illness: Stress, lack of sleep, skipping routine check-ups, poor eating habits and “burning the candle at both ends” are just a few bad habits that make moms sick. I have experienced it many times. For quite a few years, right around the holidays, I would come down with a fever and a cold that knocked me flat into bed for a couple days - right when I could afford it the very least. When I went back to school, the problem got even worse. I would fight my annual illness with a routine of cold medicine and coffee. Once finals were over in mid-December I was down, in bed, and this time it was for more than a couple of days. In addition, I felt really crappy for weeks. If I had only taken care of myself, got plenty of rest, ate quality foods, drank water, and all the other things that my own mother told me to do – I could have avoided all this craziness. The time you save by ignoring your own wellness today is NEVER worth it in the long run.

Piles and “put it anywhere” thinking: When you do not have a place for your belongings it can cost you plenty of time. Keys, glasses, and shoes probably cost moms thousands of hours of time a year! Once in college, the pile process won’t work. You’ll spend so much time looking for things that you won’t be able to get any studying done. Worse yet, losing an important assignment to disorganization is heartbreaking and frustrating. At times, I have been the victim of my own disorganization but with the help of Flylady.net, I’m getting better.

Perfectionism: This is another personal challenge. It's a terrible thing to be late for a class because you had to do “just one more thing” to finish an assignment. This tendency really showed up when I went back to school. In actuality, it worked against me. For some moms the tendency toward perfectionism shows up in housework (not me), or personal appearance (definitely not me). For others, it is the resistance to delegate or always saying “yes”. These moms won’t ask their children do laundry because they never hang shirts the right way. They are ladies that serve as the chairperson for every committee. It’s just a trap we all fall into at one time or another. Flylady.net addresses this in a really great way. In the meantime, just be aware of your perfectionism tendencies and then try to nip it.

Petty Pleasures: These are things that pass the time but really don’t get you anywhere. Surfing the web, watching television, or talking on the phone can add up to plenty of time with little results. In small doses, these activities can be harmless but when all the sudden you look up and two hours of passed, you might have over-done it. Try limiting your petty pleasure time by using a timer or making an appointment. For example, if I am really time crunched I only get on my email from 7:30-8:00 pm at the same time I review my calendar for the next day.

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"What may be done at any time will be done at no time"

-Scottish Proverb