Time is an interesting concept. You can look at two eight year old boys and say, "You will read for one hour." For one, it could be torture, for the other, a vacation of epic proportions. They say that time flies when you're having fun. I believe time flies when you just don't want it to. Don't believe me?
Sometimes work is less than enjoyable. We have all been there. Difficult customers, bad weather, horrible boss, whatever the case. The work drags on. However, sometimes the work is hard, but long. You might love your job, it's still work. It's still hard. Maybe your boss is getting onto you to finish multiple projects on a tight timeline. Even when the work is terrible, you seem to run out of time. You have too much to do and not enough time to do it. We've all had a day or two when the we sit down and say, "I'll just watch one episode." What happens? Three hours later you realize you haven't done what you need to do. Why? Because you need just a little time to relax and a lot of time to work. I'm a stickler for time. I think we all can be in certain situations. Ever gone to the doctor and wait in the waiting room for an hour. By the time you see the doctor you don't even care what they have to say because they took an hour of your life. You want to punch them regardless of diagnosis. Why? You just had your time wasted. You think about all the things you could have had done if you weren't stuck in that room for an hour. You make an appointment. You set a time. The doctor doesn't seem to care whether your appointment was at nine or three. They still get paid. Well, I don't believe all the doctors are heartless creatures, but it sure feels like that. And we have all been there and know that feeling of some jerk taking your time despite the fact that you followed the rules, made the appointment, and showed up on time-or early if you're like me. It's frustrating to have someone take your time like that. Now we enter into a setting where the majority of Americans are home. Kids are doing schoolwork for a few hours here and there. Parents are juggling life. And somehow there are other aspects of life that are still trying to go on. In this time of isolation, I have had people that are still being quite rude with my time. I think I have a theory. Let's pretend that I am a millionaire. If I say, "Hey, let's go grab some dinner together," and we have done this in the past, and we always split the check. You agree to grab dinner, knowing you're paying for your own. I choose the restaurant and simply give you an address. You throw it in the GPS and show up. The restaurant is a five star, high end restaurant and nobody is getting out of there for under $100. For me, it's nothing. I toss a couple of bills on the table and enjoy the cuisine. But if you only have $350 in your account and won't get paid for a couple of days, you might get a little frustrated. Maybe if I had told you, you would have planned better or not gone clothes shopping. Who knows. Either way, it would have been respectful of me to let you know where we were going or what to expect before you show up and are forced to pay a hefty some for a night out. Let's swap out money for time. If I have hours to kill, no obligations or commitments I might not always think about if you are running around like crazy. What does that look like? It's just like the doctor. If you leave your work for a doctor's appointment stating it should only take an hour and a half, including your drive time, and you haven't even seen the doctor when that time frame passes, now you're showing up for work late. You're worrying over whether or not you'll get reamed out or put on probation. Stress comes. Anger comes. If I set an appointment for my clients, I usually get ready a few minutes before their arrival. I make sure the door is open and the floor is swept. When their appointment time arrives, they should be ready to warm up or even begin their workout if their early. Now what happens when they show up late? I have two ways to handle this situation. The first way is to say, "Well, your appointment was from 3-4. You showed up at 3:10, but we still need to end at 4." That is the appropriate business attack. I kept my appointment, now you keep yours. Only problem is, I usually feel bad for my clients and don't want to cheat them out of the time they have paid for and still give them the hour. I know, it's a horrible practice. It doesn't happen often. But this should translate into all of life. If you plan on calling a friend each week on Wednesday at 2pm, you better be on your phone at that time with that person. If you know that your friends or family have someplace to be by a certain time, you need to be willing to end whatever it is you're doing. They did their part and told you. You do your part and respect it. What happens when you don't respect those people and their time? Stress. Anxiety. Anger. Hurt. The person being disrespected has to make a choice. They can either speak up and let you know that you have overstayed your welcome (in whatever capacity that is). Or they will clam up and stew over how you have disrespected their time. I find it a bit presumptuous of people to assume they don't have to respect people's time. I don't understand the mentality behind it. But what it comes down to in the end is this- They obviously value their own schedule over yours. It makes sense. We're selfish human beings. So if they cannot respect your time, you must respect it yourself. You must choose the first option and speak up. You don't have to be rude, but you must be clear. There is a schedule to keep. It's simple. Some of you may fall on my side of this. You're a stickler for time. Others will say, "Who cares?" If you are the latter, I mean this from my heart, you're being rude. Take a second and think about how you handle yourselves. Do better.
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May 2023
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