Last night’s dinner included Moroccan style chicken with olives and preserved lemons, a side of white rice, and the cuisine’s traditional salad known as charmoula. I made it all myself and for dessert, I tried out a recipe for honey cookies with orange blossom water.
With my upbringing (my parents ran a few Middle Eastern restaurants) and traditions, you’d think I would love to cook. I don’t.
Some might say that with all the things I have going on, that cooking for me is a distraction. It isn’t.
And getting fulfillment from cooking? Please! **rolls eyes **.
The truth is, I hate to cook but I do it because I have to. A hungry teenager, a screaming toddler, a husband who doesn’t ask for much except that he gets a decent meal once a day, and a couple of more mouths to feed in between would surmount to a full fledged mutiny if there wasn’t a meal on the table at 6 pm every night. And so I pull myself away from everything else and head to the kitchen at about 5:45 pm to do what must be done. I supply because there is demand.
In taking ownership of your life and moving forward in achieving your goals, time becomes of the utmost importance. Actions can be taken, mistakes can be corrected, but an hour gone is an hour gone. You can’t bring it back. And many find that all of a sudden, there just aren’t enough of them in a day to get all that you want done. You want to get your business off the ground, make sure that you are maintaining your Quran memorization, go to the gym, get your daughter to school, eat…and don’t forget sleep.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Enter the “time zone”. This time chart will help you channel your energies into the things that really matter so that you can be an expert in time management.
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To categorize the events in your life according to the time you take to achieve them, you can use this 4 part system.
The first category is not urgent, not important – also known as “Distraction”.
The second category is urgent, but not important – also known as “Delusion”.
The third category is urgent and important – also known as “Demand”.
The fourth category id not urgent but important – also known as “Fulfillment”.
Take a look at your current schedule. If you aren’t sure how your day is going down – take a few days and log it all.
Ask yourself where the activities you’re currently participating in belong in relation to the category.
So, for example, are you really that tired – or is your over sleeping a form of distraction? Is it possible that your constant checking and replying to your emails a form of delusion? Are all your replies that urgent? What would really happen if you checked once a day instead of ten? What are these tasks a substitute for? These are the ones, you really need to call the bluff on.
In terms of demand, this is where my cooking task fits in. What are your must do’s? These are the things that if you didn’t do them, all-chaos-would-break-loose-and-you’ll-be-in-a-pile-of-rubbish type things. Make sure to find a way to do them in the most efficient manner as possible.
Last, comes the fulfillment category. These are the things that aren’t urgent, but important. These are the things that will give you inner contentment and satisfaction, the things that will bring purpose to your life. Reading Quran, buying a gift for your mother, playing with your child, or visiting a sick friend have a place here.
After you’ve analyzed your schedule and fit your tasks into the appropriate areas, this is the process you need to follow in order to maximize your time:
1. Plan to do tasks which are important and urgent first.
2. Fit the urgent, but not important ones in next. But remember, to really analyze the things that fall into this category.
3. Put time aside when you will do the not urgent, but important tasks.
4. Know time wasters and go cold turkey – completely resolve to eliminate them from your schedule.
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By identifying the root cause of that which wastes our time, we can take back our hours and ultimately our productivity. We’ll be able to finish what we start, and rid ourselves of the feelings of being overwhelmed and at a loss for time. We’ll be able to quickly figure out what few actions will give us the most results, and we’ll have more time to be fulfilled.
I know that Tuesdays are a bit hectic, considering all my loyal readers are patiently waiting for an update - so, on the menu tonight is **daff roll please**- hotdogs and fries. And I think there’s some good ice cream in the freezer.
Not the gourmet fare of last night, but as my husband would say, “whatever the blind woman cooks, her children will eat.”
Hey, I got it done, didn’t I?
