Mastering Time

Please welcome ...

Psychologist – Writer – Presenter  Margie Lawson

with more advice on keeping romance alive and the lines of communication open. Margie promised to stop in later today to respond to your comments, so let's get some conversation going!

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At the end of a day, and the end of a weekend, we often wonder WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

This easy TIME PIE exercise will show you where your time goes. You’ll see where you’re putting your energy and your priorities. You’ll also see the slice (sliver?) you’ve set aside to NURTURE your RELATIONSHIP.

Consider this exercise a baseline. A snapshot of how things are now. We’ll follow up in February to see how you’ve managed time and your relationship in the next TWO MONTHS.

I know -- it’s the holiday season and there’s so much to do, see, experience, and enjoy. It’s also a perfect time to reach out and strengthen relationships. SHOW the most important person in your life how much you care. Give them some build-your-relationship time, even a little time, and make your relationship stronger.

THE TIME PIE EXERCISE:

Take a plate, or similar large round object, place it on paper, and draw a circle around it. Now comes the hard part: using a ruler, divide that pie into 24 slices, representing the 24 hours in our days.

Next: Label those hours.

Most people need two pies, one for weekdays, one for weekends.

If you’re a computer whiz, you can create one on your computer and e-mail it to your friends so they can check their TIME PIE. ;-)))

Labeling those hours is tough. We know our days aren’t standard. Yet, you can come close to identifying where most of that time goes.

What did you learn? Does time master you? Or do you master time?

How much time have you set aside for your relationship each week?

How much time have you set aside for you?

We all wish we could stretch our Time Pie -- add more hours in our weeks. This exercise can help you be cognizant of where you spend your time.

My First Friday post for February will follow up on this topic. You’ve got two months to become more of an expert at managing your time. Enjoy!

People who’ve taken my Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors course know I’m a big fan of timers. If you don’t use a timer, or two or three, treat yourself to one today!

We have to learn how to master our time. Our time is our life. If we master time, we can have the time of our lives!

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Margie Lawson, counseling psychologist, is teaching DEFEAT SELF-DEFEATING BEHAVIORS on-line in January. For more information, please visit her web site, www.MargieLawson.com, or e-mail her at [email protected].

Margie Lawson is well known in the writing world for her expertise in Deep Editing. She presents 1) Empowering Characters’ Emotions, 2) Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More, and 3) Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors in one and two day master classes. She also teaches these topics in month-long on-line courses and offers Lecture Packets through PayPal from her web site.

Comments

[Mary Connealy]

Margie, I'll do this as soon as I get my 'rating my mood' system in place.
So far I've been too scared to mention 'mood rating' to my husband.
Also, I've got a nasty cold so my mood is pretty bad and also my husband won't let me within ten feet of him for fear of catching it, although he did kiss the back of my head on his way to bed last night.
Without using alcohol wipes on my head before or his lips afterward, so that's pretty romantic.

I feel for you, Mary. Or rather, I feel for your hubby. Mine came home from a business trip yesterday sniffling and sneezing. I kept my back to him all night! After dosing him with Airborne, zinc lozenges, cough drops, etc.

[Julie Lessman]

Gee, Margie, your "time pie" made me hungry ... both to figure out where my time IS going ... and, well, for pie, my all-time favorite dessert! :)

I'm guessing I need to cut my hubby a bigger piece these days, but December has a way of swallowing up so much time, doesn't it?

Thanks for the pie ... and the advice!

Hugs,
Julie

Here's a question for Margie. My cute little timer seems to have kicked the bucket (cliche alert). What's your favorite brand/model?

[Carla]

I will admit that since we're empty nesters, my hubby gets a bigger slice of the pie (maybe not always romantic, but together time at least). It's the other slices that concern me--all those time-wasting wedges. Great idea, Margie.

[Margie Lawson]

Mary -

GET WELL! I hope you do address the RATING SCALE with your husband. You could tell him you're working on taking charge of enhancing your mood and just want to try it between now and Christmas. :-)))

Thanks for posting on Myra's blog.

Best..........Margie
www.MargieLawson.com

[Margie Lawson]

Julie --

Pie does sound yummy. :-)))

December is crammed with lots of events that cut into our time. The challenge is to make the little moments with your lovey husband seem super special.

Hugs...........Margie

[Margie Lawson]

Ah - A TIMER QUESTION!

Walgreen's has a 90 minute timer for about $4. I have several: computer desk, computer bag, car, and exercise bike. And -- I use them all. :-)))

Great little gifties for your writing friends!

Hugs............Margie

[Margie Lawson]

Carla -

KUDOS to you on the slice of your TIME PIE labeled husband. I'm trusting that you two make some of your time together truly meaningful.

Ah - You found some time-waster slices. Always good information. :-)))

Thank you for chiming in!

Best............Margie

[Terry]

What an interesting post! Thank you, I'll have to follow up on this one.

[Janet Dean]

Hi Margie!

Having taken your Self-Defeating Behaviors class, I know all about dividing up that pie. I learned a lot, but even with that timer on my desk, I still spend too much time on e-mail. If you're looking for novelty timers, I got my apple model at Cracker Barrel.

With my husband retired, we're together a lot, but we're usually doing our own thing. Our best time to connect is during dinner and on our walks--two purposes in one slice of pie. :-)

[Abby Gaines]

Margie, do you use a timer that counts up, so you can see how much time you're spending on something, or just one that counts down, so you can set it for 10 mins and say "now I'm going to do emails for 10 minutes" etc?
thanks
Abby