Advice

I uncross my legs, then re-cross them, and shift back in my chair. I can’t help but glare out the window. My mind is racing as I mentally track the list of things I have to complete by the end of the week, and it’s already Wednesday.
The voice of my friend grabs my attention and I look back at her embarrassed for my daydreaming.

“So,” she says, “How is your week going?” her voice is so soft and kind that I feel horrible at what I am about to say, but I cannot lie.

“Ugh, I can’t wait for it to be over,” I complain, “I have so much work and so little time, I just want to be done so I can enjoy myself.”

Unfortunately this conversation between the two of us is not out of the ordinary. Often I find myself venting to Barb, who always reassures me that everything would be fine. Today, however, her response was different.

“I know there is a lot going on right now, but you know it is nothing you can’t handle, I just don’t want to see you wish all your days away.”

I paused for a moment, digging though my memory to our last conversation. Yes, it was the day before my huge history paper was due. Then it hit me, I’d repeated the same phrase last time. “I just can’t wait for it to be over.” I never realized before just how much I use that phrase. I had no idea how much energy I had put into wishing my days away. I should have realized it sooner; I have wasted so much time! Suddenly the day seems longer, and Friday is worlds away.
“This is not a perfect fix, as I’m sure you know, but rather turning the focus from wanting things to be over, to enjoying the process of doing them. You need to put worth on your time, because it is valuable.”

Never once have I put so much thought into how much time I spent wishing my days would disappear. Once the day was gone, and my seemingly all important task completed, something else would replace it. This vicious circle is what I am working on stopping, but in the mean time I should not be ungrateful for my life.

Once I applied her advice I had more energy to focus on my tasks and felt more fulfilled when I finished. The importance is to know the difference between wanting to finish something, and wanting the time in which you need to do it to vanish. Now when I am stressed, which is still often, I accept the timeframe and try not to belittle the value of my time.