Time choices

I had a pretty full feeling day yesterday, but a good one. I tweaked my morning routine a bit to allow for a 7 am grocery store run.

Ironically, while I was getting ready for the day, I listened to this episode of Laura Vanderkam’s Before Breakfast podcast. It was all about using the concept of the “Would you Rather?” game to consider time management choices. Basically, remembering that since time is finite, we have to choose carefully.

If you are doing one thing in any given moment, obviously you are not also doing something else during that same time….so think about which one you would rather do? She said many people approach time decisions in more of a “yes” or “no” fashion: (i.e. Do I want to hit the snooze button right now? Yes. Do I want to see what’s next on my Instagram feed? Why yes, of course I do!)

But if you pose it to yourself in more of a “this or that” manner, taking into account what you are potentially giving up instead, it might change your answer. (Example- “Do I want to hit snooze, or do I want to fit in my run this morning before work? Do I want to scroll on Instagram, or do I want to call my sister in London before she goes to bed?”). Whatever the answer is is up to you and is okay! But it’s good to think about the bigger picture.

I really liked this concept and I think it’s very fitting for me. There are many, many things I like to do. Sometimes, I can get tripped up trying to do ALL the things, all the time. (I’ve talked about this before with my weekend morning routine dilemmas and trying to decide which of my favorite leisure activities to fit in.)

This episode helped remind me that it’s okay to make “swaps”! Time really IS limited. We can do anything, but not everything.

So yesterday, I knew I wanted to fit in a morning grocery run, which would in turn shorten my morning routine time. I ended up deciding that I wanted to keep my journaling and reading time, and unfortunately for you (or not, hahaha), I cut out my little morning blogging window. 😊

Yesterday, I “rather-ed” (this is not a word) get my groceries bought in a quiet, completely empty store and still make it back to start work on time than write a blog post. Choices!

It’s a good thing I allowed some extra time, too, because I had to account for some time standing in this massive paper towel aisle trying to figure out what to buy. I SWEAR they keep changing the paper towel brands and options in this store!!!! The paper towel I think I always bought for eons seems to not be there anymore lately.

There are now a million different choices, brands and all these sales…🤯🤯 I was like, “omg someone please step out from behind the mounds of paper towel and just TELL ME which one is the best, cheapest option that still allows for the select-a-size sheets!!” (I had to bust out my calculator to figure out price per square foot….).

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for finding birthday gifts for my niece and nephew last night. This little task had been kind of looming in my head and I’m glad to have found gifts I think they will like.