Make Friends with Time

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future’

‘Fly Like An Eagle,’  The Steve Miller Band

                                                                                       

Coming into my third week working from home, Steve Miller’s 1976 take on Time doesn’t sound so true for me as it did before. I’m not chasing Time all day and anyway, there seems to be more of it around now. I’m also noticing a drop in my levels of anxiety.

Before Covid, my concept of Time was steel boxes on a conveyor belt ‘9.30 Urgent!’ 10.30 ’Urgent!’, etc.  Working from home, I’m starting to get a grip on Time and mould it to a shape I can get my mind around, task by task. Gone is the frantic skimming of documents to make sense of the next conference call. Coming gradually is a growing sense of wellbeing.

In short, Time is beginning to feel less like an enemy and more like a friend. I would even go as far to say that we are collaborating. With Time on my side, there’s more space in my head to step back and think.

Something else I’m trying out…instead of stacking meetings back-to-back, I’m leaving gaps to allow for overruns. If a meeting turns out to need less Time, then I have it to spare. Time isn’t slipping away if I treat it with some respect. There will be benefits. After all, we’re friends now.

One other thing, I’ve upgraded the personal organiser on my phone to ‘Super Personal’ status. It’s my inner sanctum, the place where everything happening which is close to my heart …at home, work or in social… is ring fenced and highly visible. The data fields, the colour coding, the sort criteria were all planned by me. I enter everything and nothing can be entered remotely. l see everything on one page and often do. It’s a very satisfying picture of my personal relationship with Time.