It’s about time… one more time! – SCN Encourager, 6/3/2013
Zipping through our days has turned “overwhelm” into a noun.
in an Encourager last week, I commented about our “crazy calendars” and provided a couple of links that were helpful to me.
Zowie! Did this Encourager ever ignite a response!
I don’t believe it was because of I wrote. (That’d be the day…) And I don’t think it was because of anything contained in the two links.
I believe we’re all just overwhelmed and we couldn’t hold back our chorus of “amens!”
Rambly-scrambly schedules are not something foreign to us. Or as contemporary leadership coaches write in their columns, “we’re all fighting ‘the overwhelm.’”
No wonder I’ve had to throw in the towel in the battle of busy schedules, calendars, and to-do lists. How could I win? I didn’t even know overwhelm was now a noun.
But I do feel good knowing that I’m far from alone in feeling more exhausted than usual. I guess what they say about “misery…” is true.
Some of your responses made me laugh and reminded me of Madeline Kahn’s “I’m Tired” bit in the movie Blazing Saddles. I always get a kick out of this condensed version. Maybe we should adopt it as the unofficial alma mater for school communicators. (We’re too tired for a fight song.)
Here’s one thing I learned this weekend after thinking about our busy lives and calendars some more.
In one of Michael Hyatt’s leadership podcasts he describes his own frustrations with busy-ness, disruptions, and calendar control.
He said that the battle we all have with our personal schedules and calendars is not something we will ever be in the position to win. Time is not a “win or lose” proposition.
Our “time” is something we all have to keep learning how to MANAGE better.
From adjusting our attitudes… to adapting new habits… to learning new tools… to re-thinking our expectations… and, oh yeah… to embracing the whole “monitoring our progess” thing – there’s much we can do to be better time managers.
Hyatt’s advice is to be a time manager, not a time winner or loser. And frequent use of “baby steps” and “trail and error” are a-okay. Avoid adding to your overwhelm, in other words. (Hey! I’ve used it a noun. 21st Century here I come!)
Hyatt’s right, you know. But I can’t help being kind of stubborn about it.
I’ve been fighting the unwinnable “time and calendar” war for so long – my “running around from here to there” shoes are the only comfortable ones I have!
Tom Page, SCN
