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I love to get recommendations for good books from friends. I mean, why waste time reading something that isn’t any good? So, from time to time, I like to recommend stuff I’ve read to save you the hassle of looking for a good book.
My favorite genres are historical fiction and mysteries. But since I’ve declared a pilgrimage for the year to define my life’s trajectory in a more, well, defined way, I’m particularly interested in books that aid that goal. Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews fits the bill perfectly. This isn’t a scheduling or time management book, though it certainly covers those subjects as well. It’s more of a “what do you want to be when you grow up and how do you get there” book. No formulas or cookie-cutter approach. Lots of practical advice and encouragement. Bingo!
I love the analogy that she begins with. If you were trying to catch a plane to Switzerland, why would you jump on a plane to Siberia just because it is more convenient? Boy, I can relate. I can’t count the number of times I have taken a shortcut only to have to backtrack or make serious course revisions to get back to where I wanted to be…if I can get there at all. Which is exactly why I’m making some changes in my life now. I don’t want to take a road just because it offers fewer obstacles. I want to be on the right path to live the life I want, even if I have to be inconvenienced a few times in the process. And I want to teach my kids that philosophy, too.
For time management, she uses the “Dave Ramsey” approach of envelopes, but with time instead of money. Time is even more limited than money, because you can’t make more. If you want to do something new or different, you have to take the time from something else. That made me take a good look at what I do and why. How are some good activities obstructing my desire to travel, for instance? Well, they take up time I could be using to plan a trip. They often take money I could be saving for a trip. And they definitely take the energy I need to dream about a trip.
I think Amy and I are a lot alike. Too many of the stories she uses are right out of my head. She talks about being a future-oriented person. Always thinking about what comes next instead of accomplishing something today. That is so me. I have a heavy duty to-do list, but I get caught up in the muck of daily chores instead of using it to plan a few steps to accomplish a bigger goal. She challenges her readers to look at what they want their finished product (life) to be and break that down into smaller projects.
Amy finishes the book with a great project on defining the roles you perform, such as wife, mother, etc. Then, you define what kind of wife, mother, or whatever you want to be. Finally, she walks you through adding activities that help accomplish the goals for each of these roles. She provides a grid to help visually place these activities. Then, she shows you how to create a schedule from that. Perfectly simple.
Love, LOVE Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews and you will too. Buy her book today!
Georganne
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