I used to get annoyed when people would say “where did the time go?” I mean time is fixed. In reality, it doesn’t speed up or slow down. Admittedly when I was 7 and waiting for my March Birthday in February, that month would drag out. Now of course that I have passed the half-century mark, I’m not as anxious to see those days fly by. Once you have a kid, it seems time takes on a whole new form. Mornings can go smoothly if you have a routine where everyone complies. That of course rarely happens. If you are a parent who works outside the home, you have a hard out so you have to clear out the house. If you are a stay at home parent or you work from home, it can be easy to watch time compress in the morning while you are trying to hit deadlines.
I have always worked with lists of things to get done. I like having a pre-loaded item on these lists too that I can easily scratch off in the morning. Getting up and drinking coffee are a couple of favorites. Unfortunately, as I get older I’m finding things showing up that aren’t on my list. For example, today I received a phone call from an organization I apparently wanted more information from. They have my name and phone number and I honestly don’t recall contacting them. Certain calls you can scratch off as just fishing for money or info. This one though, there is a possibility I reached out to them. I just can’t remember.
Now in case you are wondering, no I do not drink. Not anymore anyway. So it wasn’t a good night gone awry. I did lose some memory after giving birth. I have the ability to remember the names of kids I went to school with 40+ years ago but if you ask me the name of that woman I see regularly at the gym or maybe the parent who I volunteer with, well there is a 50/50 shot I will remember his/her name. I’ve decided that those people who asked “where the time went” were really onto something. As you age, apparently there are hours and days that go missing. When you have a child that is compounded. If you are caring for an older parent or relative, you never seem to have enough for them. Franklin/Covey did not explain where these rocks go. I should be following them. I should be able to catch up somehow. Apparently not. Clearly, those years I was chiding those who were asking the question were actual soothsayers who saw my future before I did.
I know I really don’t need another app or Google in my brain. That to me is just making things harder, not easier. I know it won’t help me remember why I called that organization that was following up and it won’t help me remember the name of some fellow frazzled parent. Honestly, there are days that I wonder how we ended up in this information overload.
So I go back to my lists. If I follow them, I’ll get what I need to be done. I must stop getting distracted.