“The bad news is time flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.” — Michael Altschuler
It could be the number of gray, rainy days, but time doesn’t seem to be flying for me. Can we please, for the love of all that’s holy and good, get on to summer? Or at least a spring that doesn’t resemble a Victorian gothic novel, where everyone sits in a dark, chilly house in various states of despair?
It’s probably just me. When things are busy, time does seem to fly, but lately, I find myself looking at the clock and either thinking, “OMG, it’s 4:30 already?” or “Mother of God, how is it still light out, will this day ever end?” Time is a constant; a minute will always be 60 seconds long, an hour is always 60 minutes, and we won’t ever change that, but we do get to manage a lot of those minutes and hours. That’s where it gets challenging, at least for me.
I’m lucky that I have time, most days, to get my work done, keep food in the house, throw in some laundry, and even spend time with friends. We all get the same 24 hours a day; what we do with those hours is the real challenge. Some people are very good at multitasking, but that’s never gone well for me. If I try to heat up some dinner while also organizing the recycling, there will be a fire. I know this because that’s how I started the last fire in my house.
A friend who is much more organized than I will ever be says one of her strategies is “like with like.” Similar things get put away in the same place because then, as you leave the house, you’re not wasting time looking for what you need.
I tried this for the winter. Next to the door is a basket of knit hats, mittens, and scarves. There is another basket with dog leashes and poo bags and a shelf that is just for travel mugs and lunch bags. At least, that’s how it started. The other day, I went to tidy it up a bit, and none of the travel mugs had their matching lids attached, every pair of mittens was missing one, and there was a New York Yankees hat in the basket. That is some next-level nonsense because there is no way I’d ever allow a Yankees hat in my home.
Clutter is one thing because we can always break out the big guns and purge to get rid of what we no longer need, but we can’t manufacture more time. No plastic bins or sorting boxes can give you an extra hour or two. Also, let’s be honest; look around your house or office and see what needs doing. Most daily tasks are not fun, so motivation can be hard to find. No one’s to-do list includes options like “Have lunch at the Barnacle, 12-4 p.m.” or “Eat six pudding cups while binge-watching Facebook Reels, 3-6 p.m.”
Still, a list is the best way I’ve found to try and manage my time. I love a good paper journal with a calendar to fill things in, make notes of stuff I won’t remember, and write down bits of my day and what I did. My journal saved me from getting a new credit card when I misplaced the one I had. I couldn’t find it anywhere, but my notebook said I’d been to the bakery the day before, and yes, my Amex had fallen into the bakery box and was sitting on top of a slice of strawberry shortcake.
I will always struggle with managing my time, but recently, I found a stack of old planners and notebooks. It was a good way to look back and see that while some days dragged and others flew by, there were way more good times than bad. Maybe that’s the trick to time management — making sure most of those hours and minutes matter.
Brenda Kelley Kim has lived in Marblehead for 50 years, and is an author, freelance writer, and mother of three. Her column appears weekly.