Got Time Management? Let's Start With Keeping Sane

Close to a month ago I put myself in the dunce cap, which I am still in by the way if anyone cares to know, because I was doing so horribly at balancing all the gajillion things I need to do. Well, one of my readers read my rant and has offered up some tips to share with me and the rest of you fab people who pay me some mind (thanks my love doves). I'm so excited, because I'm still a certified "Hot Mess" and could use all the help I can get (preferably a personal assistant, but that's not an option right now). I'm thrilled to introduce you to my first guest blogger EVER, Katia Suero, and her excellent article "Juggling Life".

Juggling Life
by Katia Suero

While scarfing down my lunch (this time, a very healthy salad and a not so healthy creamy chicken chowder), I pulled out my handy dandy notebook and jotted down all of the things I had “pending” for the weekend- YES! For the W.E.E.K.E.N.D! You may say, “but the weekend?” Long gone are the days when the weekends were used to relax, to watch movies, spend time with friends, SLEEP, get your nails did…and so on. The weekends have become (to most of us) the “catch up” series of our lives, where we try to fit in everything we couldn’t do during the week.  We squeeze in the laundry, the food shopping, the cleaning, the tedious bill payments, the rushed hour with our DVR’s, the time when we do our text catching up with mom or dad…yes TEXTING…we can no longer afford to call and hold a conversation as time is too scarce; it escapes from our hands and before we realize it Sunday night is before us and it is time to do it all over again.

I sat back and thought about my dear friend’s blog post about her journey back to wellness. I remembered how much those words resonated with me as I thought of the many challenges, I, she and the rest of us face when making an effort to live healthy lives; to eat the “right” things, to exercise, to simply live well. I can tell she struggles just as much as I do to maintain a balanced life style and if for me it means jotting down my pending businesses during my lunch hour on a Friday afternoon while to her it meant getting up every time after an injury and making sure she squeezed in the time to get moving and to remind herself how important it was to make the time for those fruit smoothies and 1 hour DVD’s.

It is an evident factor that in today’s society, we live in a constant rush to accomplish as much as we can in the shortest amount of time. If you, as I did, sit down and take one moment to think, you will realize your heart beats as if speeding in a race…a race against time. We want to make it all happen for ourselves and for others. We want to feel accomplished. We want to show our kids and spouse’s that YES WE CAN…but how much could we truly make happen in a day’s span that would truly make us feel good at the end of the day? Why, instead of feeling this huge sense of accomplishment, do I feel completely exhausted and without the energy to be able to think by the time my head hits the pillow? We are completely overly exerting ourselves and all we do about it is keep going just like the energizer bunny.  It’s like a vicious cycle we keep feeding and we keep hoping it will blossom into something someday soon. In the meantime, we down the java on the way to work, we carry around our daily planners, berries, nooks, and droids…we power up with energy drinks and we pretend to be unbeatable at the face of delayed LIRRS, PATHS and subway, grab a snickers bar on the way to the afternoon meeting, we try some green tea for sake of health, we overdose on vitamin C and Zinc at the sign of a sneeze…all we can do, to simply keep moving.

I am no expert.  I am another New Yorker trying to make it through the noise of the city that never sleeps. One that has often become one of its zombies. I try to remind myself to stop and breath. I use my writing as my time of meditation, as MY time to slow down and take a moment to look around me as life rapidly flashes before my eyes like lightening.

 I have gathered a few tips that I feel have helped me on some days, not ALWAYS, and want to share with the rest of you hardworking people trying to simply make it before the Friday night crash.


They are as follows:

• Take a moment to BREATH. Truly it works

• Disconnect your brain. As non-ethical as this sounds in the work place, it works wonders for me to think about that date on Saturday night or that take out I have waiting for me in the fridge while the CFO talks about revenue expectations (hehehe)

• If possible, disconnect from the net. We think of it as a tool always, but the web can very much be a source of tension and stress. Step away from the laptop. Practice this by 5 minute increments daily, you will see, it’s not as difficult as it seems.

• Give yourself something to look forward to. A yummy treat at the end of the day, a ½ hour with your favorite reality TV show, a Pinkaberry moment…anything that makes you smile!

These are simple enough, and you may say, “How can they help me balance my day?” BUT: The idea is that you have a moment to recharge, a moment to seize and re-program yourself, and an opportunity to prioritize… and for the sake of keeping your sanity, enjoy some of what the day can bring!

Stay well, smiling, and healthy,

Katia

Katia Suero is a Bilingual Freelance Online Content Writer. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Katia arrived in NYC at the age of 11 and has grown to become an energetic, multifaceted, and motivated professional who considers freelance writing one of her biggest outlets in life. In addition to writing, Katia has spent her professional career working for communities in need of support and help through organizations like The Partnership at DrugFree.org, Tiny Stars, American Red Cross, and others. Among many of her passions, writing and traveling are on the top of her list.

She enjoys staying active by practicing yoga and exercising.  Her inspirations include her family and desire to become an active participant in her community every day. She is strongly involved in spreading knowledge regarding Women’s Issues and Rights and educating the public about Human Trafficking campaigns. She has also used some of her time in between jobs to travel to places like England, Italy, France and The Czech Republic where she taught English and Spanish to children at the elementary level.

Before gaining all of her experience in the world of non-profits, Katia acquired a Master’s Degree from Pace University focusing on Public Administration for Non-Profits and a Bachelor’s Degree on Language Culture and World Trade also from Pace University. 

I'm baaaaaack, missed me? I'm sure you didn't with all this interesting info! I just want to close this off by thanking you all for reading and I hope this inspires you to take the steps necessary to lead a balanced life. Don't be hard on yourself, remember, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wasn't built overnight, so neither will be rebuilding our lives into such a masterpiece. That baby took nine months to bake in the oven boys and girls, so maybe, juuuust maybe, you can try and set yourself up on a monthly goal plan for the next nine months and see what you got in the end! And let's be original, start now, NOT January 2, 2012!

Now that you all are hopefully inspired and on a time management kick, you'll need to read Listen to Your Body, on Fun.Fit.Chic.

Besos, Beijos, Filakia, MUAH!

Lisa xo

Twitter Me

Facebook Love Me

Contact Me: Adventures.of.a.NY.Gypsy@gmail.com 

And last but not least, PLEASE support artists featured on Circle of Art Movement by following the  site, retweeting the articles and checking out some phenomenal talent!