Time management...the myth...

I know everyone thinks their grandchildren are the cutest children alive...but mine really are. You will agree if you keep reading, because I'm going to tell you a story about "Goldilocks," and after the story I'll post a picture so you can see for yourself!

Goldilocks and I were sitting at my table talking about nonsensical things with her mother (who is pretty cute herself.) Goldilocks is two, and she's figuring lots of things out...like who I really am.

It's not possible that I'm her Daddy's mother because her mother is also his mother...(not to say her mother is bossy or ever tells her daddy what to do...I'm sure it's just that in her mind, mothers live with their children.) Anyway, after a little banter back and forth about that, I asked...

"How old are you anyway?"

Goldilocks: "One."

Her mother: "You're two now, remember?"

Goldilocks: "Oh, yeah...I six!"

Me: "I think you're two."

Goldilocks: "No, I six."

Me: "I thought you were two."

Goldilocks: "I six," then pointing to her mother..."You forty."

We all laughed, but I'm pretty sure her mother was just being a good sport. Me, too, for that matter. Need I say, I am not old enough to have a son married to a forty-year-old girl!

Now, every story should have a point, right? Here's the point. I've spent lots of time preparing for a presentation I'm doing for city employees on "time management." (Sounds like the management is experiencing a bit of frustration with some of their employees, doesn't it?) Here's the thing...time management is a myth. You cannot manage time. I read a great book called "Time Traps" by Todd Duncan that delves deeply into this subject. What can you really manage?

You can manage the tasks and things you do with your time. Time is both unchanging and fixed. So don't frustrate yourself trying to manage it. Smile a lot...even let yourself laugh...enjoy the time you've been given. Spend it wisely...don't wish away your life. Enjoy your twenties...because before you know it, you'll be forty!

A book without pictures is sometimes boring, so here's a picture of me making good use of my time in the hammock with Goldilocks!