1 thing at a time

I read a lot of books, really a lot. The thrift shop has a subscription with me. I sometimes wonder on which beautiful bookshelves my old books are gathering dust in the meantime. Or on which toilets they lie.

I have read hundreds of pounds on time management. I have always had a thing about time. I wanted to grasp it, bend it, make good friends with it so that it would send me a present now and then.

After all those books and all the trials and tribulations, I know that it cannot be managed, it moves forward on its own, no matter what you try. Even thorough strength training will never make you strong enough to make it stand still, even if only for a moment. Feel free to give it a try. And be sure to send me pictures.

What you can manage, though, is how you use that time.

And how you free up time for things you want to fill your time with.

Like only doing one thing at a time. Multitasking slows things down, according to scientists. In fact, multitasking is an illusion.

So when you breathe, breathe.

Voilà.

But besides breathing…

just 1 thing at a time.

From beginning to end.

And only then the next thing.

I write this while making coffee and a biscuit is dangling anxiously between my lips, making it difficult to tell my son we have to leave soon and in the meantime looking for my key because I didn’t put it in the fixed spot again.

Another time saver, those fixed spots. That’s maybe one for the next article.

Now I just focus on my son. Or maybe on finding that key first.