My Love/Hate Relationship with Time

There are some things in life that I have a sensitive relationship with, and time is one of them. I feel there is so much I want to do, so many ideas, so many places to see, so much to learn and of course, so much work to do, but I also feel there is just not enough time for it all. At the beginning of the day I try my best to carefully list everything I want to accomplish. My expectations are high and my positive attitude makes me feel invincible, but by the afternoon I feel a little defeated because there are not enough check marks on my long list of things to do. I love to be productive, but I also get very distracted and my lists are not realistic. Let's be honest, even if I was the most focused person in the world I would not be able to do everything I thought I could, and I blame it on time. I have a love/hate relationship with time, but a good thing about time is that as it passes by it teaches us valuable lessons if we are willing to learn them. So when Ana and I started talking about our desire for Happily Imperfect to create a new tool that would support women, the topic of time came up very quickly. She shared that she also felt constrained and sometimes frustrated by time. It was nice to know that I was not the only one, actually many women in particular seem to have a constant “battle” against time.  

Time was definitely what we wanted to focus on, but we wanted more than just how to manage time because we are aware that time can’t be managed, all we can control is our reaction to the daily happenings in life. We wanted to go deeper and help women realize why they wanted more time. Why we do something or why we want something is an important part of our decision making process and many times we fall into the trap of doing things just because we feel we have to.  When we clearly understand the “why” behind the “what”, it is easier to be committed and follow through. But the why is not enough. More hours are not simply going to appear in our day once we realize why we want them. There is a set number of those hours, the same everyone gets, and we need to use them wisely. To do so we have to understand where they are going and how we can use them more efficiently so we can have more time for ourselves.  That was our goal with the tool we wanted to create. We dreamed of inviting women to analyze where their time was going, how they could free some hours to enjoy time on their own and help them figure out what they could do with that time. We invited Catalina, a talented designer and friend, to help us bring to life our dream and with her creative designs our kit NICE TO MEET ME-MI TIEMPO became a reality. A beautiful and practical kit, easy to carry everywhere.

I don’t really battle with time anymore. We still have our arguments and I never finish my “to do list” but I have learned to let go a little. I work hard and enjoy being productive, but I also know that I need time for myself and I am trying to make it a priority. It has been a process, I am learning that I don’t have to fight time, I just have to be more realistic, more careful, more aware. There is a way to separate more time for ourselves. It may not look like in the movies where we see women spending hours at a spa and that’s ok. It may look more like 15 minutes of silence doing nothing and not feeling guilty about it. As we dedicate more time to ourselves we are happier, we are more relaxed and we can enjoy more time with our friends, partners, children and coworkers. We feel fuller; therefore we can share more with others. We live through many seasons, so try to enjoy the one you are in right now and don’t let others decide what time on your own looks like. I remember when my children were younger, we had to move several times internationally and their dad would travel a lot, so I was always busy, but I remember every afternoon I would have a coffee and a piece of cake all by myself… Well, kinda. I would tell my children that it was “mami time” and I couldn’t be disturbed unless it was an emergency and I would turn on the tv and they would watch their favorite show. I was still there with them, but in a way it was my time, and it may not seem like a lot, but I still remember how those few minutes as I paused and enjoyed time on my own replenished me. 

Our kit NICE TO MEET ME-MI TIEMPO is now available in Spanish for sale, check it out. We hope you can get it and enjoy making a habit of spending time on your own. Just because you are in a busy season right now doesn’t mean that you have to put your life on hold. We often say at Happily Imperfect that we need to do what we can with what we have. Seasons go by fast, so live them fully, but don’t forget that part of that is dedicating time to yourself to do what you love, to get to know yourself better each day and to cherish the wonderful woman you are.  

Manuelita