Busy Busy

FINDING TIME

How do people manage with children? It seems to consume the lives and energy levels. If there's a job and travel to consider on top, where is the time for one's own enjoyment?

I'm selfish. That's why I'm not having children. It's not that I don't like kids, it's just that I want to get stuff done and there isn't enough time available in my day as it is. Once we take an 8 hour job out of the way, there really ins't much left for enjoyment. We have to factor in buying and making food and there's a lot of other chores to take care of. Once we take care of all the priorities, make sure we're keeping in with our families and friends, add in some exercise, made our ablutions and personal care/grooming, the bit remaining should be used to evaluate/take stock/assess the status quo and make plans for ways to improve our lives. 

Making Time To Learn

I barely have time to fit everything in, but at least I've managed to keep a routine of fitness for physical management/improvements. I've also read a lot of great books this year. And every day when I read a bit more, I'm finding myself saying in my head or to whomever will listen - 'everyone should read this book'. Just as everyone should take more time out for community & political matters, volunteering time towards doing charity and generally giving everyone about them the time and attention they deserve.

Unfortunately, people would rather waste their precious limited time reading poor newspapers, playing with smartphones checking Facebook status (or similar), procrastinate/lounge around watching trash TV or get drunk. We all need to free up our time more in order to understand what is happening in the world today. I'm sure much of the distractions are geared up to distract us away from the real agenda and keep us busy.

Time and again I've asked people to get on board with political issues that affect us all (I am not politically minded), or read an article/passage in a book that has been a revelation to me, yet they don't have the time - or rather they can't make the time. But better organisation of our time, with prioritisation of the most important matters - real matters that is - will help everyone to find time to improve themselves and ultimately the lives of those around them too.

Working Celebrations

BIRTHDAYS & LEAVING DO'S

There's occasions when we have to work hard to prove our worth and there's occasions when we have to play hard at assuring our position in the company we keep. 

By company - I could mean a collection of people that are our friends - or alternatively, our work colleagues. The same rules apply for both. 

Miss a friend's birthday and you risk becoming less of a friend - even in just some small way. While a work associate may not think too badly of you for missing their birthday, by making an effort to celebrate with them, a stronger allegiance will definitely be formed. Work colleagues will be forming allegiances and friendships in all kinds of subtle ways and it pays to have as many of them on your side as possible. 

At work, we are measured on our work output to a degree but someone who is well liked by everyone, will go a lot further - even if their work contribution is questionable. It's a sad truth. And that's why going for social drinks is just as important in a work environment as it is with the mates and why birthdays & leaving do's are the most valuable events in a work calendar if we're to stay friends and keep in with the right crowd in the work place. 

Don't Ask - Don't Get

HANDS UP!

Just like back in school, to grab some attention, just put your hand up! Squashed into my seat on an early morning flight this morning, I witnessed first hand how best to get an advantage over everyone else (including business class travellers) ordering from the drinks trolley.

British Airways, along with other premium airlines, still offer complimentary drinks on their service, but alcohol is not usually featured on the breakfast flights.

However, the planes are stocked with booze for the later flights and some happy holiday makers will want a beer or Bloody Mary over a tea/coffee to get through the stress of getting to the airport and kick off the holiday good times. So, to keep their customers happy, attendants will make exceptions and the service crew will be traversing the length of the plane on these special trips to the galley. This takes time. Club class get priority and depending on your position on the plane, you could wait a long time for a drink and left with little time to relax and enjoy it.

Assistance Given

This is where the call button comes in handy. Pressing this attention grabbing button means you are suddenly 'numero uno priority' out of a full plane of 200+ people. It means your needs will be met first. You'll catch the stewardesses as they commence their duties, more happier and compliant to help, as opposed to jaded and resilient to giving their limited time to yet another budding British (functioning) alcoholic. The smiles will be more genuine and the question of 'can I get a beer?' answered and confirmed 'yes' by happy crew, making that first priority drink taste all the more sweeter.

Keeping an eye on the Calendar

PLANNING DOWN DAYS

Something as simple as making plans for some extra recovery time after a fun-filled boozy weekend is all we need if we wish to stay on top of the hangovers and illness picked up from overdoing the partying. Yet, this is rarely been something I've looked at in the past.

By taking a regular look at a diary, blocking out the weekend's activity and forward-planning the week ahead, we can all make better decisions for when and how long we want to push the fun limits. We can then make a good judgement call with a measure taken against the importance of having a functioning brain for the week and for better taking on our responsibilities where anything less than being on our game will suffice.

Therefore, every Sunday afternoon, I now look at my diary for the week. All mutual diary events shared with my partner have to be agreed in advance and shared, but if there's events planned that aren't showing, they may be crossed off altogether. This means both of us are now much more on the ball with our timings and coupled with a new attitude towards freelancing/portfolio working and being punctual, makes for a much better way of managing life to counter having any sick down days.

Caught in a Fast Moving Flow

SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT

When the pressure of multiple time-sensitive jobs mount up, like they have done for me today, it takes a quick head up from the tasks at hand to assess the situation if we are to avoid a catastrophe.

These sudden changes in flow can catch us unaware. From a seemingly easy sea of tranquility, I'm now caught in a fast moving rip of important jobs. A rip current in the sea will take you out far away from your safety zone and drown you....unless you know how to deal with it. The same applies in a work dilemma. If we don't assess the situation in time, we'll be swept up in the frantic panic before finally succumbing to the stress of no easy return.

This rip metaphor may seem an odd one but it's symbolic of how we feel when trying to tackle many jobs at the same time. Panic and fear take over. While it might suddenly put a seemingly overwhelming burden of tasks for us to clear from the in-tray of life, like a rip tide, there's always a way to tackle the fiercest current and these flows are rarely that wide. So take action quickly and swim with the most pressing jobs sideways out of the rip. Focussing priorities on getting clear of the most ferocious stream will help us avoid being swept out any further. Once the danger of being swallowed up passes, even though it may seem far away from where we want to be...if we can just stay calm, we should be able to muster enough energy to deal with the slow and steady swim back to the safer waters of tranquility.