T I M E M A N A G E M E N T
You may not be able to eliminate the wait, but you can mini-
mize the damage it can do to you by accepting what you can’t
change. Stop blaming the fates (or the jerk who kept you waiting).
Stop festering about where you should be and what you should be
doing. Be where you are, doing what you’re doing.
Achieving the acceptance mind-state is not easy, and absolutely
impossible for some people. No matter how often they tell them-
selves, in good faith, that they cannot control the situation and to
make the best of it, these types will continue to rage and stress. So,
try this technique and see if you’re susceptible to reason. You may
be pleasantly surprised, as will all others with you.
Step 2. rename the Wait
You speed through the day, pushing your body and mind
beyond fatigue, putting off needed rest...
- until you get home and can finally kick off your shoes and put
your feet up, or - until the kids are fed and bathed and storied and put to bed, or
- until the weekend, or
- until the vacation, or
- until retirement, or...
Some of those “untils” never come, of course. And sometimes
when they do, they come too late to help, because you’ve already
been pushed past the point where you can relax.
Meanwhile, you may have rushed and squirmed and fretted
your way through four or five potential rest periods a day.
Rename the wait. Call it a rest instead.
Oh, what a difference. Waits are cold frustrations. Rests are
warm comforts.
Could you really feel warm and embraced stuck in the middle
of traffic? Probably not right away. Such a major change in mind-