Book Highlights: Exploring Time Abundance
This blog has felt long abandoned, and so has my writing. My last post was just over two years ago. In an effort to try to increase my writing and get back into it, as well as encourage me to read more when I have the free moments, my goal is to do a book review of sorts, what I’m calling book highlights, for my non-fiction selections. The hope is that by sharing what I am learning, I can help it stick better for myself, help those who read or find this blog, and practice my craft to improve while enjoying the time doing it. That is a lot of benefit to something that doesn’t require extensive time, which is by chance the topic of the very first book highlight.
Let’s explore my latest read: Laura Vanderkam’s “Big Time.” I’ve read most but not all of Laura’s books over the years and find the reading easy and enjoyable even with all of the topics and tactics she tends to cover within a single book. It is a reminder to take what you can to adopt and leave what doesn’t work, or stand out to you. There were a few of the topics that really resonated with me. The first was “Become the Ringmaster,” followed by “Embrace Your Golden Hours,” and followed by “Think 8,760 Hours, Not 24.”
The Ringmaster chapter had a few highlights for me. The author notes that chaos is really the enemy instead of complexity, nor are they the same thing. I think complexity can be planned for, including with the tools in the book, and especially from my perspective as a project manager in my career. And from that same perspective, I really resonated with the statement that a good Ringmaster has a sense of what is going on in each of the rings, which Laura Vanderkam describes as career, relationships, and self. As a project manager, I have to do that at work, and as a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, etc., I need to have control around that in life as well. And finally, I loved the concept and reminder of securing your net. It is something I don’t do as well in my personal life (back up baby sitters for the workday, anyone?) so it was a reminder to get things in place and remember that not everything goes perfectly as planned all the time.
I had heard Laura Vanderkam on one of her podcasts talking about how “Embrace Your Golden Hours” was her favorite chapter of the book (I hope I am remembering correctly!), and it was definitely one of mine. This is a time I struggle with, after dinner until the collective bedtime for the kids. I always feel like there is more I can be doing, and still enjoy the company of my family. One of the suggestions made in the book is to take advantage of time outside. We started to take family walks before the heat and rain came in, and I think everyone has been enjoying it. The suggestion for “effortful fun” really resonated with me because I have been exploring which crafts I can do and want to do while the TV is on and it isn’t a good time to write; meanwhile I must be present to help with kid care. Do I take up knitting? Cross stitch? Try embroidery again? It’s up to me to decide!
Laura Vanderkam poses the question, “What could you have accomplished over a year?” in the “Think 8,760 hours, No 24” chapter and it really resonated with me. To think of progress over a year instead of what can get accomplished over a day got me thinking about this blog and writing again. It doesn’t have to be everyday. I’ve heard Laura note many times that three times a week is a habit and I love that. So if I can write and edit a few days a week, maybe 2-4 depending on the schedule, that gets me at least a weekly post. As of Memorial Day Weekend, there are 31 weeks left in the year. That is 31 new posts I wouldn't have had without changing my mind set over what is possible. It gets me back into hobbies that I enjoy when I have some alone time in the morning before everyone wakes up.
I’d recommend reading Big Time if any of this was interesting to you, you have an interest in time management, or need a new sense of time abundance in your life. The approach and reminder that there is so much more time than we are sometimes feeling is encouraging, not because I want to get more done, but because I want to be able to savor the experiences I am having and not feel compelled to be on my phone during downtime.