Time, Who got time for that?

Hey girl!

Let’s talk about time and time management. Something I will venture to say most of us probably struggle with, or maybe it’s just me, but I doubt it. While I have come a long way from the fly by the seat of your pants days of undergrad, with full class schedules, part-time job, and clinicals (yes, athletic training is a medical model major and we are required to have clinical hours), I still struggle with my time management!

First off, I think one thing I have really woken up to during the forced time of stillness that is quarantine, is priorities. As a Head AT (Athletic Trainer) at a college-setting that is VERY understaffed, time is something I never felt like I had enough of.

Before March and the U.S. had it’s first spike of Covid-19, I was working anywhere from 60-90 hour weeks. BOY, can you say burnt out? I was stressed, I was tired, and I was missing my husband, my family, and my friends. When sports were cancelled for the rest of the year and we quarantined it was a forced time of stillness and self-reflection. I realized my priorities we soooo off! I was putting my job before everything else.

You don’t have to work a high stress job, with a lot of hours to be burnt out but if your priorities are all out of wack you are going to burn out sooner or later. Now, my priorities look like this: 1. God, 2. Me, 3. Husband, 4. Family/Friends, 5.School, 6. Work. Your priorities may look different than mine and that’s okay! Your priorities are YOUR priorities. Side note- It may be radical that I put myself as a priority before my husband, but me putting myself as a priority before my husband is for my husband. Until I take time for self care and time to pour into myself, I can’t pour into him or our marriage. People may not agree with this, but hey it’s my priority list. Side rant over.

I am currently taking classes to get ready to apply to schools to get a Master’s in Nutrition and Dietetics. One of the classes I am currently taking had a section on stress management and time management, where we had to use Laura Vanderkam’s 168 hours worksheet. I totally recommend it! It helps you plan out your week, one hour of the week at a time. That may not be for everybody, but some serious Type A personalities like me, it’s great! I like to sit down on Sunday’s and try to objectively fill it out when I am not stressed and thinking about 1,000 things at once.

I believe time management, like anything, is something we have to continue to practice to be good at. It takes patience, some self-love, and a lot of grace with yourself! Remember guys to be gentle as we all try to improve. It takes time, and you won’t get it over night! So, as you are running around ticking off all the things on your to do list and make everything work- please, don’t forget to take a deep breath, look around, and remember life is so so good.

#selflove #selfcare #nutrition #fitness #improve #timemanagament #athletictraining #nutritionist #dietitian #grace #love #kindness #lifeisgood #smelltheroses