Do you feel pulled in too many directions?

Do you ever feel like you’re being pulled in so many different directions that you’re afraid one day you’ll snap at someone or simply break?

In some ways this makes us like rubber bands, which, just like us, come in various sizes and colors. Rubber bands work well to hold items together until… they stretch so they no longer bind the items together OR they break.

Let’s explore how your time is both similar and different to rubber bands.

Similar because the days, hours, weeks, etc. form a structure that holds our society together. Different people have a variety of ways of using their time.

The challenge comes when you try to stretch your hours and minutes. Since you can’t change the fact that there is a limit to your time – 24 hours per day – you end up “stretching” your “time rubber band” in less than productive ways.

Here are some common scenarios:

• You go to bed late in order to finish a project but you get up at your usual time. Your fatigue decreases your ability to concentrate in an important meeting that day. You miss a crucial piece of information that impacts the whole team.
• You’re texting one person while chatting with another. You text incorrect information which sets off a chain reaction of unnecessary actions.
• You hit the snooze button multiple times. Because you’re running late, you drive too quickly and get pulled over for speeding. Now you are even later, and you have a ticket to pay.
• You commit to another project even though your schedule is completely full. Tasks start falling through the cracks in several projects as you struggle to keep on top of everything.

What can you do to keep your “time rubber band” in better shape?

1. ALLOCATE YOUR TIME. Don’t get scared by this one! Whether you like to precisely plan your time OR you like to “go-with-the-flow,” the important activity here is managing your time in a way that works for you.
   • Create a time map. If you search “create a time map,” you’ll find many options, including apps, forms, and more.
   • Implement time blocking. A time map shows how you currently utilize your time. The resulting information can be used to create a schedule in which you designate certain blocks of time for specific types of activities.
   • Use estimation and addition. Seven hours of sleep plus nine hours of work (eight in the office and one for your commute) equals 16 hours of your day. With the remaining eight hours, you spend two hours in morning and evening tasks (grooming, eating, etc.), one hour in personal administrative tasks (bill paying, household repairs, etc.), and two hours with specific commitments (coaching soccer, time with family and friends, etc.). Now you have three hours remaining in a day. Sounds like a lot, but what about if you oversleep, have to work longer, or the soccer game is an hour away?
2. MONITOR YOUR COMMITMENTS. If you keep adding commitments without subtracting others, you will end up in a state of schedule and task-overwhelm.
3. PRACTICE GOOD SELF-CARE. Proper sleep, nutrition, hydration, and relaxation.

These are important practices any time. However, when something unexpected happens, such as a medical condition (newly diagnosed or previously detected, yet changed in some way or one that’s changed), these strategies become crucial.

Here are some examples:

Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD). A recent terrifying event has resulted in high anxiety and nightmares, which really impacts your ability to get restful sleep. Lack of sleep means that it takes longer to finish tasks, which only increases your anxiety. You’re seeing a therapist and exploring medication options. Until you discover the best way to manage your symptoms, you want to find ways to complete tasks more efficiently.

A first step might be to prioritize your to-do’s so that you can reduce the number you need to work on. You could seek holistic ways to decrease your anxiety during the day, such as using essential oils or getting acupuncture. This may help increase your focus. A shift in thinking from “perfection” to “completion” might also aid in working effectively.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Your RA has been well managed with medication for a long time. Now you’re feeling the symptoms on a consistent basis. The pain and stiffness in your joints make it challenging to type, fix meals, do laundry, and more. Until you and your medical team discover a new option to manage the aching and swelling, you’d like to choose the most important to-do’s to work on.

Start by delegating, deferring, and deleting as many tasks as possible. Prioritize the remaining ones by deadline or necessity activities for daily living. Compare any incoming activities against the the previously mentioned criteria; don’t just add them to your task list.

Migraines. What started as a couple of headaches per month has progressed to multiple migraines per week. After trying the most common remedies, your doctor has determined that you have treatment-resistant migraines. This means you’re going to see more doctors and try new medications, some of which require insurance pre-authorization. Yet the time required for this increase in appointments is impacted by the need to sleep off migraines when they start.

Begin a log of what happens immediately prior to the start of each migraine. If there is a pattern of what triggers one, you may be able to schedule appointments and testing at times that you’re least likely to experience a migraine. Additionally, alert friends or groups you regularly interact with that you may have to miss obligations if a migraine starts prior to a meeting. This helps you save time and effort because if one begins before a meeting gets under way, it’s easy to call, text, or email that you have a migraine you need to sleep off. Since the other person (or group) are aware of this possibility, no further explanation will be necessary.

Since you can be elastic in how you spend your time, but you can’t change how time is “counted,” what do you need to change so that you don’t break your “time rubber band”?

Let me know below.