We’re all going so fast these days that sometimes it’s scary. Where did the time go? How did we get into the situation we’re in? Why do we all have difficulty stopping for a moment just to smell the roses? Grace Bauer advises you to slow down today, enjoy life, and be happy.
Yes, I’m talking about each one of us! We’ve got to learn to slow down. We’re all going in so many directions that it’s sometimes difficult to pay attention to what’s truly important in our lives. We all know that 'work' isn’t it. Family and health come first. Organize your life at work and slow down. Take time to appreciate your family and take care of your health. And, finally, make sure to schedule your 'me' time each week.
ORGANIZE YOUR DAY
Whether through the agency management system or some other time-management software, organize the day. Enter every single thing that needs to be done into the system. Don’t worry about the size of your list. Believe me, it’ll go on forever, but that’s okay. Whatever the item, no matter how small, enter it into the system. Enter everything into the system from checking with a company on a policy, to talking to your supervisor about taking a day off, to calling a friend about dinner. Make the organizer a Bible and live by it. Review all the items in the organizer each day. In a separate area within the organizer enter only those items that absolutely have to be done that day. Then, in another area, enter the items that you’d like to get done if you had the time. You’ll get to all the items that absolutely have to be done, and, believe it or not, you’ll probably get to one, two, or maybe even more of the items that you’d like to get done if you had the time. Set a system, work your system, and be consistent.
Incidentally, after returning from a five-day convention, I got overwhelmed at what was waiting for me when I got back. It took me three days to realize that I’d feel a lot better if I used my system. It actually worked!
TAKE TIME FOR YOUR FAMILY
We all know we should do this. It’s sometimes pretty hard to walk away from work at the end of the day — but we must. Keep work at work! Yes, I say this to myself every day, but most of the time I don’t do it. I know I should, but when I walk away from work at the end of the day I constantly worry about what needs to be done and what should’ve been done. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately?) we all need to do this.
Schedule family times in your organizer and stick to them. Life goes by so quickly. You don’t want to look back at some point in your life and say you didn’t have enough time to truly enjoy your family and close friends. Do it today. Schedule your family times. Slow down, and enjoy life today.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH
I hate to say this, but when talking to others about this subject it always comes out the same. Women are really good about making sure to schedule their doctor appointments, but men are absolutely not. Compare our bodies to any machines. If we want a car, computer, printer, etc. to last for a long time, we need to maintain them. We need to have that 5,000-mile checkup on our car. We need to call our hardware vendor if the computer is slow. We need to clean our printer when the print starts to smudge. And, we need to see a doctor for an annual checkup.
Finally, if you happen to be one of those women whose husband just won’t go to a doctor, try scheduling the appointment for him. It worked for me. Maybe it’ll work for you. Slow down, take care of your health, and enjoy life today.
DON’T FORGET 'YOU’ TIME
We all seem to forget this, but don’t forget the 'you' time. Schedule a half day off at least every month, if not every week. Join that softball team you always wanted to play on. Schedule that bubble bath. Have that massage you’ve been talking about forever. Do something for only you. We all need this desperately, yet it always seems to slip by very easily. Don’t forget yourself! Slow down, take care of 'you,' and enjoy life today.
Can you do this? Sure you can.
Organize your day. Set a system, work the system, and be consistent. It can be done.
Schedule time for your family. Don’t let life go by and realize that you just didn’t spend enough family time.
Take care of your health. Schedule that doctor appointment you just didn’t want to commit to.
And, finally, don’t forget 'me' time. Do something for yourself that you wanted to do for a long time, and make sure to do something just for you at least once a month.
It can be done!
Slow down, enjoy life today, and be happy!