How would my book of hours look like?

Time management is often presented as a tool to be able to do all the things you have to do in a given time. More often than not it is what your board or boss demands of you. You have to organize your time.The stress is on time.

I think the stress should be on your.

If you have to work for someone else to be able to pay your bills, it is still your life, and your time. Even when someone buys that amount of hours to fill it with their tasks, it is still you doing it. To organize your time in that setting is to make sure you are stewarding that time as wisely as anything else somebody has paid you to look after. I have met many woman who feel entangled in the demands of others, without realizing that they themselves are responsible of spending their time or standing up for themselves if it is impossible to do what is demanded.

Then of course you may be so lucky to be paid to do something that you know will make the world a better place. The investment you make is a part of your life, you  are the one to decide if that investment is going to give a positive return or not. Of course that  goes for voluntary work to, you do not give that for free. Nothing can buy your time back, be sure to spend it as wise as possible, not grudgingly and sparingly, but where it will be of best use to the cause you are giving it to. I have met many women entangled in the snares of volunteering. No matter what needs you are surrounded with you are the one to decide how much time to give. If you are into volunteering for getting praise from others you are in for taking on more than you can manage. I do think we are all to do as much as possible to create a better world together. I also believe that no one should think themselves above any honest task.

Just remember God knows that he gave each day and night 24 hours. He created you with the need of food and sleep. The tasks he gives you will fill your life, but not more than that.

Even so the most important place for time management and organizing your time is when you have nothing to do.
First of all because that never is true, there is always someone you could do something for, even if you  are not able to think of what you can do for yourself.

Second because it still is not true. If it is your life, it is your time, no matter how little money, acknowledgement or recognition the use of that time gives you. Perhaps you will never again be given time that you can manage to fill you life to the fullest of what makes life valuable to you. Perhaps now, with no external demand on your time, is the time for you to take time for reflection and re-assessing your true values. No matter what, it won’t happen if you stay in bed. It won’t happen if you just keep busy either.

Even when you feel your life to be a mess with neither tail nor end. Even if the horizon you see for your life is stretching endlessly into the same grey cloud, the best tool you can apply is structure. If only to get up in the morning and get dressed. Take regular meals and regular walks. Go to bed at night. If you ever had the opportunity to try it on a child for a week, you know how it works wonders. If you try it on yourself, you could even discover that there is just the right amount of hours in your day. To organize your life, is not really about your things, it is about you time, your life.

In November I take part in the NaBloPoMo,  in the BlogHer network. I post every day on “The Untangling Tens” what women do when life gets tangled. These are the ten tools that worked for those I have asked, what are yours?

All pictures in this blog are taken by me, Solveig Mjolsnes. This is the astronomical clock in the Cathedral in Lund, Sweden