Living the dream

When I worked as a reporter right after college, my editor used to tell me the faster I completed my stories, the sooner I was done for the day. He didn’t really care when I was in the office, out in the field or quite frankly at home or at my other job, as long as I got my stories in by deadline.

His words flash in my brain brighter now than they ever did back then. For the first time in my life, all the hours in the day

belong to me. At times, freedom can be overwhelming. I just finished Steven Pressfield’s: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, filled with golden nuggets of inspiration and advice. The first part of the book focuses on human Resistance to freedom.

Self-mastery calls in the subject of time management. Over the years I have read books, listened to cd’s, attended seminars, taken and even taught classes about time management. It’s still a concept that my brain has trouble wrangling into submission.

Perhaps it was all those years as a restaurant manager, I could have an entire To Do list for the day, but as soon as I walked through that restaurant door my time was no longer mine. The health inspector shows up and the walk-in cooler’s not holding temp, the restaurant manager calls in sick and there’s a guest complaint that went directly to the CEO waiting in my In Box. Good luck getting anything on the To Do list done.

So when I stare at a “Chunk Your Time” spread sheet of all the hours in the day that I acquired somewhere along the way, I end up just setting it back down…blank. Some days I may start working at 7 am and others like tonight I may still be working at midnight. A couple of nights I’ve stayed up writing until the 4 am. I can’t plan that inspiration is going to strike late and hold me for that many hours.

Instead, I start with identifying all the non-negotiables in my life and work my days out from there. This concept was introduced to me by the president of my former company just before I got promoted to Area Manager last year. We sat down with a bottle of sparkling wine and had one of those obligatory corporate conversations.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he started the conversation.

Solidly situated in my 30’s, I giggled at the question generally posed to single-digit humans and high schoolers.

He wasn’t kidding.

“I always wanted to be a high school history teacher,” he said.

Interesting…

I really wanted the promotion. I wanted to move forward in my current career. I told him above all I wanted to have balance in my life…and live healthy and do yoga. That’s when he pulled out the non-negotiables speech.

“Do yoga. It’s one of your non-negotiables,” he said trying to sound supportive. I’m pretty sure his 6-foot-plus towering frame had never attempted a down dog in its life. For him, his non-negotiables were his kids’ school and sporting events and church on Sunday.

I’ve always known what I want to be when I grow up. I just spent years doing something else I am good at. After I abandoned the writing-career direction upon leaving The Leader Newspaper, I’ve always had a pen close at hand. I’ve dabbled with some Chef bios and was always the make-it-sound-not-too-bitchy e-mail aficionado for my managers. I did some freelance work in Chicago and have wine boxes filled with journals and poetry that date back to age 10. But until now I never dedicated any real time to developing the craft into something more since all those years ago.

Funny thing, turns out writing is one of my non-negotiables.

I am figuring out my daily, weekly and monthly schedules and adjusting as I get further down the path. Right now its pretty simple, put in as much of time and energy as possible. It’s not a science or a grid. It’s navigating unfamiliar territory with all the ovarian fortitude I can muster. Slaying the Resistance dragons through action and organization and doing what has to be done.

I owe both my former bosses a thank you today. Tucker, you were so right! Now that my time literally translates to money, I am much more efficient with it. Plus myself, my voice and my writing style have had time to mature. That 24-year-old kid only lives in the memory of my journals now.

And Rick, I am living the dream now that I know what I want to be when I grow up. Sometimes its just gotta come full circle.