By Staff
There are so many things that take our time away from us. The two things that seem to take the majority of my time are my job and cleaning house.
Most people work 40 hours each week and sleep for 35 to 45 hours per week. With only 168 hours in a week work and sleep takes about half of the allotted hours in our lives.
The remaining hours are snatched away often before we realize it has happened.
With showering and general grooming needs, you can lose an hour. After you've gotten yourself ready for the day, there is the commute to school and work. I easily lose 30 to 45 minutes each morning in commute time. By the time I drop my son off at his school and travel through downtown Brewton, my time has been snatched away.
Arriving at my workplace, one of the first things I do is check my e-mail to see if any interesting information has been passed along by readers or officials wanting to get their story in the paper. After sifting through messages encouraging me to purchase Viagra and other medical wonders, I realize I have spent 20 or 30 minutes taking care of that task.
Phone calls need to be made and it is sometimes difficult to reach the proper person on the first try. Just leaving a voice message for someone can take up to five minutes of my time.
As the morning progresses, the time comes to consider lunch plans. The people I work with enjoy having the noon meal together in the office. We seldom have a plan before someone asks, &#8220what's for lunch?” which takes up more time for discussion. That can take 10 minutes for a decision to be reached.
The afternoon tends to get away from me with assignments for interviews and photographs. I enjoy the opportunity to visit area schools and businesses and speaking with our city officials. More time passes, usually without being aware that it has zoomed away in a rush.
When the time has come to leave work, most people have a second job they have to go to - home. Arriving at home requires the rush to put together a meal or at the very least spending some time in the drive-thru line at a local fast-food restaurant. And we can't forget the clean-up after the mea.
We certainly can't leave out homework time. Depending on the assignments, that could take 20 minutes or longer.
Then there's the prep time for the next day. Ironing, washing, drying, hanging, combing, bathing, and the list goes on.
I figure by the time I've ended my day and head to bed for my six hours of sleep, I'm already in a deficit time wise.
I hate time snatchers. They take away time that I could spend tickling my son or playing camping with him. My only hope is that the weekend won't be filled with work duties so that I can use the eight or nine hours I usually spend at the office with my family.
My advice to you, and to myself is to be aware of time snatchers. They exist and they are out to get you. Keep an eye on your time, just like you would your purse. There are things and people out there that are just waiting for you to let your guard down so they can snatch the times of your life away from you.
Slow down and make some time for the important things in your life.
This afternoon, I plan on putting a Spiderman puzzle together with my son. I won't let time be snatched away without my permission today.
Lisa Tindell is a news writer for The Brewton Standard. She can be reached at 867-4876 or by email at lisa.tindell@brewtonstandard.com.