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Dear Reader,
If you have a question, send it my way and I'll give it a try.
From my Email Bag:
"Suzanne, If I can manage my time and concentrate when I need to, I will have the keys to the universe. But it's the time management--I am always surprised by the tasks that get forgotten or underestimated. Any recommendations for printed guides to better time management? Thank you."--Mike Grambo
(Suzanne responds:)
Dear Mike,
Thanks for your email. It's arrived at a very interesting time, because I'm in the middle of a two week time management experiment. I don't know how it happened, but a couple of weeks ago I realized I was feeling stressed and exhausted every day. There weren't enough hours in my day to get everything done, and on top of that I was forgetting some tasks. I didn't experience any real disasters, because eventually I'd remember, but just in the nick of time. I pride myself in being a detailed person, so it was a low blow to my confidence.
At first I told myself, "If you'd just quit wasting time Suzanne, and get these tasks done quicker, you wouldn't have a problem." But when I reviewed my schedule I didn't find any wasted time. So what's a girl to do? I decided to give up. Instead of trying to move faster, I decided to slow down. My solution didn't seem logical, but the approach that I'd been taking certainly wasn't working. And the joy I normally feel from my work had disappeared.
I didn't draft a Suzanne Slow Down Plan. Instead, now every morning, when I get up the first thing I do is reaffirm to myself that I'm traveling in the slow lane today. When I feel stressed, instead of digging in faster and deeper, I get up from my desk and take a break. I walk around the block, blow bubbles, look at pictures of my grandchildren, whatever feels good at the moment.
I'm one week into my experiment, and to my surprise slowing down hasn't hurt my productivity, instead it has actually increased it. The joy has returned to my work and I feel more creative.
So, that's my time management story. I have no idea if anything I've shared will be of value to you--everyone has to figure out what's best for themselves--but at least you got a little break when you took the time to read my story.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Warm regards from a slow-going Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com
KIDSBUZZ: This week brings new authors and longtime favorites, all wonderful teen books to enjoy (and possibly win) from: Katherine Gilbert Murdock, Front and Center; Mitali Perkins, Secret Keeper; Tanya Lee Stone, Almost Astronauts; and Mary Pearson, The Miles Between. Go to: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz
* This month's Penguin Classics book is The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley. To comment on the book and enter the Penguin Classics Drawing, go to: http://tinyurl.com/SeptClassics
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