Hi, thanks for stopping by! As we get close to the end of the year, I’ve been looking back on some of the things I’ve learned over the past twelve months. If you’ve read any of my blogs, you’ll know there’s a lot. (And if you haven’t, you should definitely check out my blogs!) I’m sure I have a lot more learning ahead of me. My mom says you never really stop learning life lessons, even as an adult. Still, this has been a pretty big year for me, growing up wise. Not to complain, but this year has been tough. My teachers expect more. My parents expect more. Everyone seems to expect more. But achieving those expectations isn’t as easy as snapping your fingers.
Which brings me to one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this year: it’s easy to waste time, especially when there are things you’d rather be doing. But when you use your time wisely, you’ll hopefully create enough time to do everything you need and want—like the fun stuff.
Here’s what happened…
There’s plenty more where that came from
As I mentioned in a recent blog, school is a lot harder this year. Unlike when I was younger, I’ve got more homework, more quizzes, more tests, and harder piano pieces to practice. And because I’m on the track team, I have less time to do all these things.
Now I don’t know about you, but when I get home from a long day at school, I need a few minutes to relax. The first part of my post-school relaxation routine usually involves a snack. My mother always worries that my big snacks will ruin my dinner. It usually doesn’t. (Sorry, Mom! School lunches aren’t always the best.)
Anyway, the unwinding part of my relaxation routine is much more enjoyable than the homework and other “to-do” parts of my day. So much so that sometimes I get caught up in calling my friends, whatever game that I’m playing, or some other more enjoyable activity. In other words, whatever doesn’t involve work. Except, suddenly, I realize that a big chunk of time has gone by. My mom calls this lost time phenomenon “procrastination.” I’m sad to say that this procrastination thing happens more than I’d like.
When my first quarter report card revealed some not so-great-grades, my parents instituted a new approach to cut down on my relaxation routine. It wasn’t all that pleasant an adjustment.
One of these days is none of these days
To be perfectly honest, the new “no procrastination” rule stunk. It really cut into my relaxation routine. Even though they meant well, it felt like my parents were being bossy about how I spent my time. When my parents pointed out that I wasn’t finishing my work before my bedtime—which they claimed was already late enough (wrong!)—they told me something was going to have to change. I couldn’t deny that I wasn’t finishing my work on time.
Going to bed later seemed like the easiest solution. Even if it meant I may have been a little tired the next day. As for missing several days of piano practice in a week, well, that was a no-no in my mom’s book; my piano teacher definitely agreed with her. My parents claimed that if I finished all my to-dos, I would be free to do whatever I wanted until bedtime. No nagging about how I spent my time.
In theory, this sounded fair. But it wasn’t that easy to put into effect.
On my first day home, I ate my snack with as few distractions as possible. I’ll admit, I did take my time making a healthy smoothie with yogurt, peanut butter, and bananas. Then, I got straight to my homework. Without all that time to relax right after school, my mind wandered as I settled down. I wondered what my friends who weren’t on the track team were up to. Did they finish their homework? Then, I thought about what I’d wear to school the next day. When I caught my mind wandering, I did my best to refocus; I had a social studies test in two days.
“Noodle, get to work!” I told myself. I was now my own nag.
I worked diligently for a long stretch. Before I knew it, it was dinner time. Happy for the break, I dilly-dallied a little during dinner. I’ve been known to take a pause in between the main course and the fruit/dessert portion. It’s important to relax and digest! But with my test looming, I opted to cut the mid-dinner break short. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem sitting through a meal when we’re at a restaurant or at someone’s house. I just like to have my relaxation routine when I’m at home.
My new minimal procrastination dinner wasn’t as enjoyable as before, but at least it didn’t chew up the clock (pun intended).
Vegging out
The first few days of my new—and much shorter—relaxation routine wasn’t all that pleasant. It took a lot of getting used to not to procrastinate. In fact, a few days after I’d taken my test and was just working on regular homework, sadly, some of my old habits started creeping back in. I was slipping back into my old relaxation routine. Also slipping? My homework start time. So did the amount of time it took for me to eat dinner.
My mom sat me down one night after everyone else had finished dinner and left the table.
“Noodle, I don’t want to take away the joy you have from relaxing. But, you have to be more diligent in getting your to-dos done. Think about when you’re older. Let’s say you’re in college. I won’t be there to remind you to study, clean up your room, or do the dishes. You’re going to have to be responsible for a lot more as you get older. Trust me, having good habits now will help you out later on.” I nodded at my mom. Yes, she was mostly right, but I’m still a kid now!
“I know, Mom. But I need some downtime. I can’t just get right to work. I need to get warmed up to the idea of focusing,” I said. “That’s why I need my breaks.”
“That’s fair, but have you noticed that you often lose track of time? I know you work hard when you are focused. The most important thing for you is to just get started. Maybe we can revise your ‘to do’ checklist so you feel like you’re accomplishing things?” My mom looked at me for a reaction. I scrunched my nose.
“Yes, but what about my having breaks? I really need time to just relax.” My mom thought for a moment before she nodded and waved her finger like she’d had a great idea.
“What if we tried a timer? It’s helped a lot in getting you home on time from your friend’s house.” Darn my mom for reusing some of her favorite “time management” tricks! “What if we agreed to a timer for your after-school activities? Then we’ll see whether anything needs adjustment once you get a better handle on things.” I shrugged. It was worth a shot.
“Deal.” We shook hands to make the plan official. A timer-assisted relaxation routine was better than none at all.
Call it a day
OK, fine. It turns out that with my checklist and timer, I became more focused and less of a procrastinator. I’m not going to lie. I will never love using a timer.
Sometimes, when I forget to turn it on, I often go back to my old ways. But I’m getting better. Yesterday, I realized I’d forgotten to turn on my timer almost exactly when the real timer would’ve gone off. Progress!
I’ve realized that change takes time. But when you start seeing positive results from those changes, it certainly helps make those changes stick.
And guess what? My grades have been steadily improving in the classes I had been having a tough time in. Even my piano teacher has remarked that my lessons have gotten better. Double bonus!
Still, I can’t wait for winter break…and a timer break. I’m going to do nothing but relax the whole time. Unless my mom makes me clean my room. Then, I’ll offer to set a timer and tell her, “I’ll see what I can get done in five minutes.” Ha ha. (Yeah, I know that’s not going to work either.)
Until next time, be your best you.
Do you have any stories about learning an important lesson from an experience? Please share with them me in the comments section!
