How To Make 168 Hours Count

  I was eating lunch with my mom and we were talking about a Rotary meeting she went to as she told me how one of the speakers made the statement, "You have 168 hours in a week..." I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then. We have 168 hours a week which sounds like a lot more than it feels like, except when we are in a boring class or at work of course! So really, how can you not only manage life but also LIVE it in such a short amount of time?

Break it down. If you are like me and can get overwhelmed with deadlines and the mentality of "I only have two weeks before I have to do blah blah blah" break it down to days. Break it down to minutes. Heck, break it down to seconds. I'm a list maker and believe me when I say I make a list for EVERYTHING. You can't walk through my house without finding at least one big "to do" list that I have scribbled down. I even keep a list of things I need to do on my phone's notepad. Write it in lipstick on the bathroom mirror. Whatever floats your boat. 
Keeping a list will not only help you organize your thoughts, but it's revitalizing in the sense that you can literally mark your "to do's" off. Usually I draw 50 lines through mine and a big smiley face beside it to remind myself that it is DONE. If your list consists of things you need to get done this year, props to you. But it's not a bad idea to start small and make a list of things you need to do before work, after work, today, tomorrow, etc.

Work hard, play hard. I'm just going to go ahead and say it because we are all thinking it. Adulting sucks. However, that doesn't mean every single one of your 168 hours has to. There is a particular scripture my mom read to me many many years ago that I think of every single time I'm handed a task, because working your butt off for someone you dislike or don't agree with is tough. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for human masters." Colossians 3:23 Wake up, and from the time your feet hit the floor until they get back in bed, own your life. Own the task you're setting out to do that day. Whether it's being a mom, working at your job, or just cleaning out the guest bedroom.... own it. There's just something extremely satisfying about working hard and being able to play harder. 

"She was a million miles from a million dollars, but you could never spend her wealth." A part of managing your time comes with stress, so rest. There can be a millionaire who worked her whole life to get what she has but let it consume her and has no relationship with her children, spouse, or friends. On the other end of the spectrum, there's a single mom who worked her whole life and 40+ hours a week to have little, but invested what few hours she had left to soak in life with her children and friends. Both might work the same amount of hours each week but what are we doing with the moments when we aren't working? This is hardest for me. At then end of my to do list I want to crawl in bed and go into hibernation.
 My goal this week is stay up an hour later than normal and call my brother and sister-in-law to keep a strong relationship with them. Or wake up an hour earlier to cook my daughter her favorite breakfast. Maybe for you it's coming home from a long day of work and actually looking at your husband instead of past him and cooking him dinner even though you don't feel like it.

So this week let 168 hours be a goal, not a deadline.

-Caroline