Time Management

Since it was raining last night and I had about an hour to kill while waiting for Jojo to get off from work, I found myself browsing at Borders on 3rd and La Cienega. There was a display right at the center of the store where they were selling 3 books for the price of 2. Since I am a sucker for promotions like this I had to check it out. There were a couple of interesting titles (Close Range by Annie Proulx; Snow Flower & the Secret Fan by Lisa See; Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd; and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez). I stood there for about half an hour reading back covers and prologues, debating about which 3 books I would pick. After meticulously selecting 3 and getting in line to pay, I had to will myself to walk away from the line, return the books, and walk very quickly to my car. That my, dear readers, is EXTREME WILLPOWER! I realized I do not have time to read those books. And having them around would be too much of a temptation and a distraction from everything else I have to do.

Lately, I’ve been suffering from the “24-hours-in-a-day-is-not-enough” syndrome! (Maybe it’s not just me?).

Let’s see, 24 hours in a day. In my case, most (week) days are normally broken down into three equal parts: 8 hours work time (or rather time spent in the office since it’s not really all “work”), 8 hours sleep time, and 8 hours free-for-all time. Free-for-all time includes: 1 hour in the morning to schlep out of bed, shower, blow-dry, change and grab coffee; 2 hours stuck in traffic; 1 hour from when I get off work till I have to pick up Jojo, which I spend either walking (for exercise) or running errands; and 1 hour doing stuff around the house when I get home (making dinner, tidying up; reading mail; and a dozen other “little” things).

That leaves me (more or less) 3 hours for everything else. “Everything else” includes:
· Spending quality time with my hubby;
· Reading stuff and doing homework for my HRM class (not to mention that actual class itself, which is 3 hours every Wed. night and every other Sat. morning);
· Trying to review for the PHR certification exam (which I am hoping I will be ready for in December);
· Getting my reality tv fix (this is my one true guilty pleasure!). Just when one season ends (“Dancing with the Stars” and “Skating with Celebrities”), a new one begins (“The Apprentice” and “American Idol”). I’ve really tried to curb my reality tv viewing, but after I found out there are Filipino contestants on both Idol and Apprentice – how can I not watch??? (FYI: Cheryl Burke (Drew Lachey’s partner) – winners of Dancing with the Stars - is half-Pinoy too!;
· Job searching (am serious about this!!!);
· Posting on my blog (my solution to this is to do it during my lunchbreak at work!);
· Keeping in touch with family and friends – emails; phone calls; instant messenger;
· Reading for pleasure. I've started a “hope-to-read-someday” list;
· Joining extra curricular stuff – am contemplating on signing up for the Torrance Library’s local book club, Michael’s (craft store) jewelry beading class; and our parish’s Catholic Formation program;
· Working out on our home exercise machine (as you can see this is way down on my priorities list!).

To think my hubby and I have not yet been blessed with kids ...

So, unless I can find a way to cut down the time I spend at work (isn’t the Mega Lotto jackpot at $265 million?), find more innovative ways to multi-task, or survive on 4 hours of sleep a night, I think I’ll have to be much more disciplined and stick to prioritizing what I want and have to do!


P.S. I know it's ironic that I keep complaining about not having enough time and yet I manage to write these long posts on my blog. But lately I've come to view blogging as strangely therapeutic. Call it my emotional outlet if you will!