It's been a while since this blog was last active, and a lot has happened in this period. A personal loss, a pandemic, the Olympics. Did I mention the pandemic?
Well, we're back to blogging on Shocks and Shoes, and this new phase is being kick started with the Half Marathon by Blogchatter. They've provided lots of prompts, and it was tough choosing just 10 of them!
My first post in the Half Marathon is based on the prompt: "The most memorable book you read this year." My reading this year has been rather slow, but one book I liked is 'Off the Clock' by Laura Vanderkam.
Off the Clock by Laura Vanderkam
"Most of us feel constantly behind, unsure how to escape feeling oppressed by busyness. Unlike other time management gurus, Laura Vanderkam believes that in order to get more done, we must first feel like we have all the time in the world."
To be honest, this portion of the blurb was what caught my attention and gave me the feeling of "This woman knows how I feel!". I have read other time management books like Eat that Frog, Getting Things Done and The Four Hour Work Week, and I expected more practical tips like these books.
However, I wouldn't call Off the Clock a time management book per se; it's more about understanding the concept of time, and how to make the most of the time you have. Remember that quote about how it's not how many years are in your life but how much life is in your years? Yes, this book is pretty much along those lines.
Although this book wasn't exactly what I was expecting from it, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy it. It was actually quite enlightening, and had me thinking about things even after I put the book down. Here are a few ideas the books talks about, and which had an impact on me.
1. Time is elastic.
We always think of time shrinking - don't we always say that days are getting shorter or that the weeks just flew by? Off the Clock talks about thinking of time as stretching depending upon what you put in it. This has similarities with Parkinson's law that states: 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion'. Yet, the book's take is more about how better use of our time somehow makes it feel more abundant.
2. The concept of conscious fun.
We often think of fun as something that should be spontaneous, or at least something that'll be better when it's a 'spur-of-a-moment' thing. Yet, Laura Vanderkam busts this myth for us saying that sometimes we need to plan for fun. With lives so busy that we can't find a spare moment, this actually makes a lot of sense.
3. People are an excellent use of time.
This is such a lovely thought, and one that has really changed the way I think in certain situations. Most time management books tell us to inform our loved ones about our schedules, so no one interrupts our deep work periods. I agree that deep work time is sacred, but a sudden coffee with your spouse or a quick phone call with your cousin should never be considered a 'waste of time'.
4. Find out where your time goes.
At the beginning of the book, Laura Vanderkam talks about the experiences of a few people who logged their time for all their days, over a period of months. She comes back to the data of this exercise multiple times through the book, and it goes to show how important this information is. She suggests tracking your time for a minimum of two weeks and see how you are spending your 24 hours on an average day.
5. Your excuses are just that - excuses.
At times, we're our worst enemy. We come up with the most innovative excuses to waste time or to avoid doing something hard. We may want to believe that these reasons for us not succeeding are valid, but Laura tells us that in a world of over 7 billion people, there is someone out there who is facing the same challenges as you (or worse) and is still accomplishing something.
At the end of the day, I would certainly recommend this book. It's a light, easy read, and flows easily. Some parts of the book do seem repetitive, but I feel it just helps in driving the message home. If you're expecting practical tips like wake up at a certain time every day, this is not the book for you. However, if you're looking for a better understanding of time, or you always feel like you can't enjoy your time or you can't remember where your time went, this book is perfect.
This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.
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