nisearticles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nisearticles) wrote2005-02-02 04:42 pm
nisearticles) wrote2005-02-02 04:42 pm
[Marlin Democrat] column -- So much to do. So little time.
So much to do. So little time.
Nise's Notes
By Denise Schoppe
The Marlin Democrat
February 02, 2005
Ever feel like you just can't keep up? That the to do list is too long to ever dream of completing it. As you finish one task, three more are added.
I talked to a friend the other night who is on total burnout. She's not had any decent length of time to relax in over two years. She's at her wits end, and is ready to just crack under the pressure of getting everything done. My usually bubbly friend, is stressed to the point of near depression. She can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but she's not sure that it isn't really a train.
Sometimes I think that with the creation of such advanced technology, we've done ourselves a disservice. Gone are the days of going on vacation to a place where you can fully relax and leave "the real world" behind for an extended period of time. Gone are the days when Sunday is truely a day of rest. Gone are the days when you did everything you could in the daylight hours, and then settled in to take time for yourself at night.
Today, with the invention of cell phones and the internet, work comes along on vacation. Sunday is the only day that you might be able to go grocery shopping or wash the laundry. At night, you flip a switch and just keep on working.
We're running ourselves ragged trying to keep up with all that is required of us day in and day out. These technological gadgets and gizmos that were meant to simplify our lives have only simplified the tasks, making it theoretically possible to do more things in one day.
Not that the ability to do more in a short period of time is a bad thing. It can indeed be the blessing it was intended to be. But unless someone comes to the point that they put their foot down and say enough is enough, we simply try to kill ourselves getting it all done. Through the power of technology, we think we can do a long list of things. Others expect us to do a long list of things.
Every Sunday night the following words come out of my mouth: "I need another day."
I jam my weekends full of this and that. It seems that time management is more imperative on Saturday and Sunday than any other day of the week. Every Saturday morning I get up with a check list of things I'd like to get done over the weekend. Every Sunday night, I'll have done good to get a fourth of it done. There never seems to be enough time to get it all done.
Now, doesn't that go against the original purpose of technology? The simplification of so many things was meant to give us all more time to relax. Instead its made it possible to just keep on keeping on.
In so many cases, sleep is being sacrificed. Time with loved ones is being passed up. Many are surviving on a diet of fast food. Exercise is out of the question.
Isn't it time to slow down, if only a little bit? Instead of trying to do the jobs of eight people, focus on doing one thing at a time. None of us are Superman, and its not fair to expect that of anyone. Take a moment to take a fresh breath of air, and come to realize that if item number 7 on the to do list isn't completed the whole world is not going to explode.
There's so much more to life than working all the time. That fact needs to be rediscovered.
Nise's Notes
By Denise Schoppe
The Marlin Democrat
February 02, 2005
Ever feel like you just can't keep up? That the to do list is too long to ever dream of completing it. As you finish one task, three more are added.
I talked to a friend the other night who is on total burnout. She's not had any decent length of time to relax in over two years. She's at her wits end, and is ready to just crack under the pressure of getting everything done. My usually bubbly friend, is stressed to the point of near depression. She can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but she's not sure that it isn't really a train.
Sometimes I think that with the creation of such advanced technology, we've done ourselves a disservice. Gone are the days of going on vacation to a place where you can fully relax and leave "the real world" behind for an extended period of time. Gone are the days when Sunday is truely a day of rest. Gone are the days when you did everything you could in the daylight hours, and then settled in to take time for yourself at night.
Today, with the invention of cell phones and the internet, work comes along on vacation. Sunday is the only day that you might be able to go grocery shopping or wash the laundry. At night, you flip a switch and just keep on working.
We're running ourselves ragged trying to keep up with all that is required of us day in and day out. These technological gadgets and gizmos that were meant to simplify our lives have only simplified the tasks, making it theoretically possible to do more things in one day.
Not that the ability to do more in a short period of time is a bad thing. It can indeed be the blessing it was intended to be. But unless someone comes to the point that they put their foot down and say enough is enough, we simply try to kill ourselves getting it all done. Through the power of technology, we think we can do a long list of things. Others expect us to do a long list of things.
Every Sunday night the following words come out of my mouth: "I need another day."
I jam my weekends full of this and that. It seems that time management is more imperative on Saturday and Sunday than any other day of the week. Every Saturday morning I get up with a check list of things I'd like to get done over the weekend. Every Sunday night, I'll have done good to get a fourth of it done. There never seems to be enough time to get it all done.
Now, doesn't that go against the original purpose of technology? The simplification of so many things was meant to give us all more time to relax. Instead its made it possible to just keep on keeping on.
In so many cases, sleep is being sacrificed. Time with loved ones is being passed up. Many are surviving on a diet of fast food. Exercise is out of the question.
Isn't it time to slow down, if only a little bit? Instead of trying to do the jobs of eight people, focus on doing one thing at a time. None of us are Superman, and its not fair to expect that of anyone. Take a moment to take a fresh breath of air, and come to realize that if item number 7 on the to do list isn't completed the whole world is not going to explode.
There's so much more to life than working all the time. That fact needs to be rediscovered.