In the Time It Takes..Time Management Lesson
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 02:49PM | Lynn In the time I've spent browning ground beef, I could have gotten a law degree.
Now, that I'm nearly over-the-hill, I think about that statement from time to time. It is all about time management...and, choices.
This thought illustrates how most females wreck their time by imposing repetitive actions on themselves. For, who is generally standing in front of the stove at home? A woman! Men who stand in front of a stove in a restaurant are generally well paid. But, if you are a male who cooks every single day...three meals a day...congratulations for allowing your spouse to do something else with her life, unless she is doing laundry. Read on.
Move on and think of the endless tasks that mostly women do (because they are expected to and because they don't have the guts to delegate to other family members). Now, there needs to be time for women to lament about the things they've done for the comfort, health, and cleanliness of their families (for decades) that no one appreciates. Maybe it should be said they need to lament only if they know their efforts are not appreciated. (Measurements for appreciation begin with sincere thank you's and go on to being the recipient of a romantic weekend in Hawaii.)
Start with laundry. It includes sorting, washing, drying, folding, and putting it away. Over a ten year period that comes out to be 1,560 hours minimum, based on only three hours a week. Over all, that equates to 39 days (based on an 8-hour work day). If everyone over the age of nine did their own laundry or shared laundry duty there would be plenty of time left for everyone to accomplish something other than washing, drying, and folding the same underwear.
Since, at one period in my life, I had three children, a husband, and my mother living with me, I can't bring myself to think about how much time I wasted doing laundry, that doesn't include browning ground beef for spaghetti sauce, chili, and soup.
In 1996 I attended a storytelling master's course at East Tennessee State University (they offer a master's in storytelling). One of the instructors used the ground beef example after a student complained she didn't have time to research and learn stories.
"Just stop browning ground beef," the instructor said. "I could have gotten a law degree in the time it has taken me to brown ground beef."
"And, so could I," I thought. From that day forward I knew I would earn a master's degree, even if it meant I'd never brown ground beef again in my life.
For sure, I always need more time to write, to grade papers, to sit on the patio and read. I don't brown too much ground beef these days and the laundry builds up until certain people realize they'd better do something about it. After all, they are helping themselves.
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I definitely stopped browning ground beef a while ago. I began doing things that would increase my value, my worth. I was finally ready to do me. I totally stopped the nonsense after raising five children as a single mother and after the youngest graduated from high school in 2008. Although they pitched insome, I was still bound up by managing my time in things that were not productive in forging me ahead into a healthy and wealthy lifestyle. It's true, we make our sacrifices, but at some point in time reality slaps us dead in the face and asks us, "What are you going to accomplish in your life" and "when are you going to make the time to do things so that you will begin to see 'your dreams' come into reality". Duh! Talk about a wake-up call.
It's astounding when we take the time to reflect on the measures we will go through to make sure that everyone in our lives are happy, taken care of, and dependent upon us to be sufficient. Come on ladies, what about us?!!!
Giving place to allow such reflective thinking such as this, by God, is the first step toward successful time management, and if I might add, true independence from life-sulking leeches. Time to think about the reality of things and plan your next move. Disabling my disablers was the best time management decision I have ever made. It has definitely propelled me to the place I am today: Living working towards an AAS degree in Human Services. I refuse to die making others shine. And because they can't give fuel to light my lamp, I have struck out on my own adventure to get my pot of gold. So, long old common caretaker and hello goal-getter! And ladies, I wish you much success in choosing to manage your time wisely.
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