EMM: What Matters Most

The first Monday has you make a list of those things that matter most to you.

1. Family
2. Pets
3. Friends
4. Faith
5. Health
6. Happiness
7. Career

Then it has you create a list of how you spend you time each week.

1. sleep-8 hours/day
2. work (during school-year)-25 hours/week
3. strollerstrides-1 hour/week
4. church (not working)-1 hour/week
5. time with Paul & Sophie together-1 hour/day
6. household chores (just a guess)-2 hours/day
7. TV-4 hours/day (probably a little less since I don't watch commercials)

Then it wants you to rearrange your schedule and eliminate optional activities so you can spend more time on What Matters. So here is my list of ways I can "create" more time for the important stuff.

• Obviously, watch less television. I just need to be "choosier" about what I Tivo.
• I can watch the shows while doing other things, like cooking, cleaning or computer.
• Make sure my time at work is being utilized efficiently. This may require getting help with Sophie since I seem to get so much less done when she is in the office with me. Or maybe there is some stuff I can do from home during her nap time.
• Clean a little at a time. This is something I try to do. I don't feel too bad letting Sophie play in the kitchen while I spend a few minutes cleaning the microwave, toaster and dishwasher. But having to set aside a few hours to do all the cleaning is another story. There's a lot I can do in those few spare moments when Sophie doesn't need my complete attention.

The last action is "Don't Waste Time." Well, duh, does anyone really set out to waste time on purpose?!? My take on this is to utilize your time you don't control better. My nook can come in handy for this since it makes it so easy to read while you are waiting for your oil to be changed. I could also find ideas for little activities to do with Sophie while we wait in line at the post office or for a meeting to start. I can also use any down time like that to just think of more ways to achieve that happiness that is on my What Matters Most list, or maybe spend a few minutes on my faith.

I'm going to try to track my time this week and see how I really use it. Should be interesting!