February Editorial: Time Flies
In this month's editorial , PHS Founder and Editor Trish Wylie, talks about how quickly time goes by and how finding time for what you love can mean making some tough decisions ...
Where did January go? It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the new year!
I don't know if it's because I'm getting older that time seems to fly by faster these days or if it's simply that I’m busier than I was before. Either way it often feels like I'm not getting much done, and that, as I’m sure you know, can be incredibly frustrating.
But it got me thinking... Where exactly does my time go? And why do I never seem to have enough time for the things (and people!) I love most?
It's all too easy to look at the fact there are 168 hours in a week and think, that’s loads of time! Of course, the demons in your head say you must be lazy when you have all that time and aren’t getting much done. Far as I’m concerned, they can STFU as the saying goes in Internet land. I did the math...
I work thirty hours a week in a day job and it takes me an hour a day travelling to and from the office, not to mention the addition minutes spent on side trips to a post box or a petrol station or to get extra milk or sitting in traffic. Then there is the time consumed by the basics like laundry and cleaning and cooking and eating and sleeping and shopping for groceries and taking showers and doing hair and make-up before leaving the house. Add time spent either face-to-face or talking on the phone/Skype/Facebook with friends and family, looking after my four-legged babies, watching a handful of my favorite TV shows or a movie, reading a book and/or some of the other things I do to un-wind and find inspiration as I refill the well. and it starts to become clearer why my days are disappearing in a fog-like haze.
Question: How the hell am I supposed to fit writing into all of that?
Answer: I do, because I want to.
It’s the same effort you put into keeping the love alive in a relationship: Conscientious. You make the decision and you stick to it., come hell or, as it is in my case, new series of the X-Files (thank goodness for catch-up TV!).
Think of all the men and women competing in the Winter Olympics or any sportsperson at the top of their game. Ask yourself what it took for them to get there. Did they get there by binge watching four seasons of a Netflix show every weekend? Did they do it while repeatedly polishing and scrubbing every square inch of their home to remove dirt no-one else would notice when they pop in for a visit? Did it help any when they reached level 98997 of Candy Crush Saga? Did staying in bed for an extra half hour, or two, or three, after they initially woke improve their stats? Do ironing socks and underwear ever earn anyone a medal?
I rest my case.
Whatever ‘sacrifice’ you make doesn’t have to be permanent. You could give it up Lent-style with an Easter-egg reward at the end, or stop doing it at regular intervals or simply do it less. The most important thing is, you make time for whatever or whoever matters to you most. Cos we all have a limited quota of it. It’s the one thing money can’t buy. And as it continues to fly by with a silent whoosh! we all want to make the most of it, don’t we?
So, seize the day! Let's clip time's wings and slow it down some. Are you with me?
Trish's latest book is Mostly Married and it is still FREE! To keep up to date with what she's doing you can visit her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
What would you quit to make more time for the things/people you love? Would some things be easier to give up than others? Is there anything you absolutely couldn’t give up, no matter how hard you tried? Have you ever done a time-in-motion study to see how you are spending your time? Let us know in the comments or join the discussion on Social Media.
