Some people seem to have more than twenty-four hours in a day with the many things they are able to accomplish. For example, my neighbor prepares her kids for school, drives them to school on her way to work, picks them up before going home, cook dinner, teaches voice lessons in the evenings, and now I learned she is training for a triathlon while organizing her sister’s wedding who’s abroad. Wow! How is she able to do all these? My daily routine is composed of going to and from the office, and I barely have the energy to cook dinner. Is something terribly wrong with me?

Over coffee, I just had to ask her, and I soon deduced that the key to accomplishing a lot of things is to manage my time wisely. We each plotted our daily activities and I find out that I spend a lot of time doing nothing, or at least, nothing productive.

My neighbor barely has idle time on her hands, but she makes sure that she has certain rest times during the day. She also told me that she doesn’t procrastinate – if there is something to be done, she does it immediately so that the chores don’t pile up. She’s also shied away from certain things, like gaming, watching entertainment shows and the like, but she said that it’s a small sacrifice to make compared to all that she’s accomplished.

In the end, it’s all about making the choice. So now I know better than to spend my time whining. Instead, I will start hitting the gym, something I should have done last week.

Credit: Michelle meiklejohn