Apr 27th, 2009
Time Lost Due to Poor Planning is Gone Forever
My niece’s eighth birthday party was today. It was fun but also a perfect example of ways to waste time.
The party was at a local ice skating rink at lunch. My job was to take my mother to the party at “around lunch”. I asked several times when that would be and never got much of an answer until 8:30 this morning, when my mother said we needed to be there at 9:30.
“Are you sure? Because if we have to be there at 9:30, I have to shower now, and once I do that, I can’t do any work on the truck or go for a run like I was planning to,” I told my mother. I was instructed to shower now.
Turns out we didn’t need to be there until 11 am. That’s an hour and a half of daylight during a day off which I lost forever–time I was planning on using to change the oil in my truck and do a run in, but ended up putting off.
My sister, brother-in-law, and niece left first, my mother and I next. I had my mother call my sister as we found a large unopened container of napkins and wanted to make sure that they didn’t need it or anything else. My sister said she had everything.
Yet when we got to the party, the birthday cake was missing. It had been left at home, twelve miles away. I was nominated to retrieve it.
At the end of the day, due to poor planning, I lost two and a half daylight hours and drove 24 extra miles. None of those minutes nor that gasoline is recoupable–ever.
I can’t tell you the number of hours I’ve lost due to poor planning. 5 minutes of extra planning can definitely save several hours of frustration.
Add to that being stressed and tired during those times. It’s really important to have a plan to save oneself from all the hassles and stress and frustrations of having to rush around. Spend a few minutes each morning planning your days and you’ll be more productive.
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