We Have Become a Society of Disrespect: Why Parents Need To Accept Their Responsibility

At one time, probably around the years during which you and I were growing up, it was generally considered wrong to defy, mock or disregard authority. We had rules, expectations and consequences which were laid out to teach us what was required. While I think more often than not, we settled down to meet those guidelines, it's possible that the fact they existed made us realize that WE had responsibilities for how we acted.

Juggling, Tricks and Technicalities | Time Management, Part I

I struggle with managing my time. There. I'm coming clean, admitting the struggle is real and that while I absolutely appreciate and value the opportunity to work from home, tasks and prioritizing and hours in the day DO in fact, often get the best of me. (Whew. I said it.) Had I realized that things needed to change? Of course - but seeing it and saying that and actually creating improvement - those are several very different things. It's so easy to become caught up in the details and projects and emails and Stuff That Demands Immediate Attention,  that I just seem to forget the goal for the day was to operate more efficiently, and thus the cycle continues. Until now.

 

I read an article this morning and was inspired by the ability which supposedly lies within me; apparently I'm more capable that I'd thought to take charge and set goals; to define work objectives and wrestle back control of my hours and minutes. I just have to tap into "what lies within" and learn to set limits and boundaries, because if not, there's no external force that can fix this for me. Confident in this new knowledge and wanting to dive right in, I implement new guidelines for the following day, which is Monday. 

Monday morning: I write and send an email detailing a situation which needs resolution ASAP. Immediately after clicking "send", I realize that omitted from the list was an article which must be written today, and so I spend 40 minutes hurriedly Googling for details and essential ingredients. Although not built into the time frame it's necessary.
 
Next, I attack the Great Pile of Paperwork. UGH. This is complex on many levels, but as the Pile poses a growing source of irritation and annoyance, I just leap in and being sorting. The goal of knocking out the mountain of papers wasn't clearly defined time-wise, but it does up end up taking more than four hours.

Update: It's Tuesday at 1:50am and I'm finished. I got all three projects done, along with a few smaller tasks, several which were normal but that I failed to include in my estimate for the day. A couple of others had cropped up suddenly with red flags requiring attention (a continual problem for me as I tend to underestimate the time needed to process). 

Despite the article's advice to take on the toughest part first, I wound up leaving the most difficult two things for last. I'm now curious if tackling the most challenging aspects could have helped productivity? At the time, feeling pretty overwhelmed, I opted to take baby steps instead, and looking back now it seems as if restructuring my process and approach could be a better game plan. We'll see what happens on the next run.

#delmarvausa | community advocate | localist | respect | united we stand

"The Things We Are Losing" | Why We Don’t Know Each Other Any More

We are changing so rapidly; sliding down the slippery slope of progress and applauding our evolution into technology; while at the same time we lose ourselves more each day. Our crazily over-scheduled lives rotate around an online world, reveling in the speed of information and how quickly we can be made happy - whole at the same time any idea of delaying a purchase until it is saved for, earned, or "worked for", appears to be rapidly fading into the past. When you look at life today, it seems we're primarily focused on getting everything right now.

Old Postcards and Vintage Images | Sussex County, Delaware

Postcards featuring areas of Delaware in the southern area of the First State. While Delaware is made up of just three counties -Sussex, Kent and New Castle - each one has many small towns which are distinctly different from one another.

Vintage Delmarva | Fenwick Island, Delaware (Part Two)

The town of Fenwick Island is considered by some to be just a shortcut, a blip on the map as they pass through heading south to the larger resort town of Ocean City. And sure, it's a tiny place, tucked just on the other side of the Mason-Dixon Line bordering Delaware and Maryland. But for many, it's magical, with that vibe of "soaking up the summertime" appreciation for the sand, surf and shore that most of us have within us.