Haven’t you just dreamed of a chance to have Eternity in the palm of your hand?  I’ve done it, and I’ve done it for 3 weeks now.  Of course, if it’s a finite 3 weeks than obviously it isn’t the forever Utopian-Heaven that one thinks of as “Eternity”.  My “Eternity” is the new iPhone/iTouch application Eternity Time Log.

Practical Utopia

I am forever looking for ways to achieve Utopia.  You know, the Utopia that comes from the greek word for “not” and “place”.  Yes, dear friends, Utopia, in fact, means noplace.  As such can only be achieved in the mind.  So let’s get practical.  We have a lot of crap to do that makes me feel less than Utopian in my mind.  I like to find ways of achieving my ideal with the least amount of effort.  I have found the number of hours in my day to be insufficient for accomplishing all the things I want to do, have to do, and am forced to do (taxes).   Thus I find myself on the quest of “time management”.  Oh, BORING! But practical. One great little find on my trek through the “labyrinth of life” is this little iPhone app, Eternity Time Log. 

What does it do?  

It simply logs your time by activity.  You create the labels, and start the timer.  When you switch to another category, it stops the timer on the old activity and starts the activity for the new one.  I keep my activity log going 24/7.  

Simple Behavior Modification

Have you ever wondered if you’re getting the recommended amount of sleep?  Did I live up to my exercise goals?  How many hours of TV do I actually watch?  All these questions had an effortless answer in the first week.  Some of my activities changed just in the conscious act of having to label it before I did it. Instant behavior modification without having to snap myself with a rubberband, not get to talk to my sister until a task was done, complete a very distasteful task as punishment if I missed a deadline or any of the other myriad of things I have tried in the past.  

In the first 24 hours I saw a difference in how I spent my time.  It became difficult to sit down and “zone out” in front of the TV when you have label it in Eternity.  I would see the list of activities, and find something else I that would be a better use of my time.  

Exercise accountability went off the chart – 22 days of exercise in 24 days where before I had never exercised regularly, and I do mean NEVER! But that’s another topic all together.

The Mirror:

I have an activity called “What Next?” for the time I spend sitting in my office wondering what I should do next.  When I saw that time piling up in the log, I worked out a more efficient to do list to make “What Next?” less prevalent.  I mean, who wants to see that on your report at the end of the week?  

Warning: Friends May Think You’re Crazy

My friends are a bit annoyed when I tell them that they are now an activity in my time log.  They ask, “Am I on the clock?” with a smirk of sarcasm.  And one friend said, “Well, you can just lie.”  My response, “Lie to myself?  What’s the point of that?  I’ll know I’m lying!  That would ruin my beautiful log!”  And in fact, I don’t lie to Eternity.  It’s become quite sacred.  In the end results don’t lie, so why do it in the process? I want to know.  It’s brutal at times, but when you look in the mirror you know who is looking back at you.  There is no lying to the mirror.  There is power in that reflection.

Week 1

Trends began to emerge.  Take dinner for instance.  I never realized how much time it takes me to prepare dinner.  It’s a stunning amount for food prep, eating and clean up.  It usually runs about an hour and a half.  My children were asking my husband the other morning why I wasn’t helping to make breakfast and my husband answered saying, “She makes plenty of meals.”  SCORE! I immediately agreed and explained just how much time I spent on dinner and food prep.  Sound irritating? Well maybe, but for me, I was able to offer in concrete terms what my culinary ability was contributing.

Another week 1 difference, I could no longer end my day without my 30 minutes of exercise.  It was a goal I made with myself, and now I couldn’t bear to look in the mirror of Eternity and see myself lacking.  At the least I would get on the treadmill (tread to no where).  I got out of bed 2 times in order to keep my streak going.  It became a game and I didn’t want to break the streak.  Insane.  My sister was amazed.  My friends don’t understand.  They think it will pass.  It won’t.  I’m still going and make exceptions only for migraines or illness.  It can be 10:30 pm (my latest tread to no where to date) and I will just have to drag myself through it, but I see it on Eternity.  It gives me great satisfaction to keep this contract with myself.

Week 2

Realization came of using Eternity Time Log as the fabulous tool for strategic planning.  As someone who is self employed with no boss, time had become a bit irrelevant.  As long as things got done by the deadline, it didn’t seem to matter when or how long I spent on the project.  ”It will get done, Someday” had crept into my thinking.  

Accountability Court of Characters:

Now at the end of the week, I can play “Accountability Manager/Countess” and decide if Lisa, as “Creative Director/Lady of the Labyrinth”, got enough work done to achieve my goals.  Then monthly I can play “CEO” (or Queen as I prefer and my highest potential) and see if the vision and long range goals of my finite life are being achieved by the daily activities.  Yes, in fact, my mid life crisis is right on schedule.  Oh, and I see my goal to speak Spanish one day needs some serious work.  I then send the order down the ranks and this week will look for a time block to start building the vocabulary.

Week 3

Realization dawned that my inner Princess had gotten control of all of our new found productivity and had to make up for the fun she missed.  Time blocks went to her in huge measure.  In the prior 2 weeks of fanatical time logging, she had none and came back with a vengeance.  The CEO/Queen and Manager/Countess agreed that time must be allotted to her in a reasonable amount and she agreed to stop sabotaging the whole process.  After all, her idea of fun takes money, and money is best acquired by the practical side of life, NOT Utopia.

More on the Practical side of Utopia:

I am toying with the idea of making it an absolute must purchase for all of my clients before they embark on financial coaching.  Now of course they too could reset the timers and lie about their choices, but you’ll be looking into a funhouse mirror with a distorted image.  I’ve done denial.  I’m just not there anymore.

48 Minutes

I’m off as this post has taken me exactly 48 minutes to write, and it’ll be an hour by the time I get the proofing, editing and fonts fixed.  I still don’t have screenshots of the app or a link, but I’m still learning how to post a blog in the first place.  Actually, forget it.  It’s not worth the time. It’s good enough for what this rant is.

Alter Call:

The only thing you can never get back is your time.  It’s your most precious asset, a LIMITED asset with unknown quantity. Make it count, and become the Queen of your own life!  #mce_temp_url#

Lisa

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