Do you ever have those days when you give yourself just enough time to not be late?
I arrived at my open house on the weekend with exactly 30 seconds to spare. Don't get me wrong, I'm usually the girl who arrives 15 minutes early to every appointment and sit in my car or drive around the block to pass the time.
My girlfiends and I decided to do a Saturday morning hike and I gave myself 3 hours from the moment I left my home until my open house at 2. We finished our rapid paced hike in the pouring rain, jumped in the car (sopping wet), and sped home while we cursed the slow moving vehicles in front of us. My friend appreciated the urgency of the situation and risked running out of gas for me. No we did not have 5 minutes to spare!
When I arrive at my condo I had exactly 7 minutes to get in there, get changed, wipe the dirt off my legs and arms, blow dry my bangs and put makeup on. I literally run through my home to make sure I have everything. I drive to my office (conveniently located a block away on the same one way street), printed off some information and drove to the open that's 5 minutes away if you hit every green light on Pandora.
My heart is pounding, I've started to sweat a little and I'm driving way too fast. "Why do I do this to myself?" The sad thing is the stress was totally avoidable. More time or better planning could have solved everything!
Although sometimes I don't get the luxury of planning. There are days, where I can't create enough time to get everything done. Unexpected to-do items come out of nowhere. There have been days when every minute is planned but then clients I have not heard from in weeks need to see a house that afternoon. I’m in the car driving to appointments while there are 5 urgent emails that need attention. I’m trying to coordinate signatures, offers, inspections and finish a report for a presentation that evening. I often find myself running, I mean sprinting, through the office. Why waste time walking to and from the printer?
I write to do lists every time I have a spare second so I don't miss anything. Every item is in a list, prioritized, chronological, mapped out. I could write a whole blog on the lists I write. I’ll add that to my “Topics to blog about” list. I’m a Virgo, can you tell?
Lesson learned. Always over estimate the amount of time you need to hike. Especially when you’re going to Mt. Work because you know you’ll want to stop at the Big Barn Market for a sandwich or some sort of nougaty treat.
