This is a continuation of a 3-Act Play. See Act 1, “The Conflict,” and Act 2 “The Consultant and the Boss”
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Productivity Consultant:
Boss-Cheryl, I trust you’ve worked this week on being more aware of Cheryl’s time and energy restraints. And Employee-Cheryl, I hope you appreciate the changes that Boss-Cheryl is willing to make on your behalf.
This is how you can help her.
1. Budget your time like you budget your money.
I know you’re a Dave Ramsey fan, and you use his envelope system well. You decide what you’ll spend on groceries, clothing, fuel and entertainment, then you stick the cash in an envelope. You know that when the envelope’s empty, the buying is finished.
However, there’s an important difference between income and time: Income can grow; time is static.
So this is my suggestion: Your time schedule is a good start. Now, start looking at the time segments she has created as “envelopes of time.”
When your morning work segment has come to an end, that “time envelope” is empty – and you must move on to the housework segment. Be ruthless at first. Of course, you may have to adjust the schedule when you’re working directly with clients, but at least you’ll learn what’s practical.
2. Schedule a no-screen day each week – which means the computer is off all day.
Your boss doesn’t expect you to work every day. In fact, she doesn’t think it’s good for you.
Remember those computer-free Sundays you had for a while? Remember how peaceful they were? How you moved around the house, read, tidied up, took a walk, or called one of your kids? Remember that great Sunday-night Jane Austen series on Masterpiece Theater you watched? Remember how refreshed you felt on Monday morning?
You’ve fallen back into the habit of saving your writing tasks until Sunday afternoon. Then you feel like a martyr because it seems like you never get a break.
3. This may sound harsh, but you’re an embezzler.
It’s not money: it’s worse than money. You embezzle time, which can’t be replaced. You think you can steal a little here, a little there, thinking you can put it back later. But those minutes – those hours – are irreplaceable. You can never put them back.
That’s why sometimes when you get to the end of the day, you feel like you haven’t accomplished anything!
To Both of You: Recognize your priorities, and plan for interruptions.
As Cindy pointed out in her comment on Life Is Full of Choices, “The hardest part…is dealing with delays you didn’t cause — like sickness, or losing a family member you love. That can put you in a black hole not of your own choosing.”
The fact that these incidents cause delays means you know what’s really most important: Your relationships.
You realize that your business, your busy-ness, and any income that comes as a result, are merely means to an end. It means you can be a giver rather than a receiver; it means you can travel to see your grandbabies. It means you’re doing what you can to prevent being a burden to your children as you age.
When “life happens,” you’ll wish you had back the time you had wasted, you’ll wish you had finished your projects early and paid more attention to the people that are important to you.
Wrapping It Up
Make peace with your selves.
Boss, be aware of Employee’s limitations before you make a decision that involves her.
Employee, don’t you feel good, now that you’ve finished not one, not two, but three blogs this week?