How I ‘stopped’ time

Have you ever felt that you never have enough time? That you wanted to do more, and yet time is never enough? Or you wanted a moment to last forever and yet, it just happens, time runs out like sand in an hourglass.

That has happened to me numerous times at work, considering that I already have a 14-hour workday. I get things done like clockwork... and it still is not enough.

Given the rarity of time, I learned to focus my energy and to streamline my activities. And I am proud to say that, okay, I may not have stopped time, but it does seem that I have stretched it out a bit with more efficiency.

ANC anchor Coco Alcuaz once asked me about my schedule, and I enumerated to him how my day turns out. 3 a.m. — Wake up 4 a.m. — ABS-CBN 5 to 8 a.m. — Umagang Kay Ganda 8:30 to 10 a.m. — Workout 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Coverage for Lingkod Kapamilya, write stories and columns 4 p.m. — Radyo Patrol Balita 5 to 6 p.m. — Newscast Top Story 8:30 p.m. — Sleep “So efficient,” said Coco. Efficiency in time is the only way to go if you want or have to accomplish many things. That’s why we make a schedule and ideally stick to it. And interesting enough, now that I am doing more, I even have time to smell the flowers, so to speak.

Aside from keeping a schedule, I picked a few pointers from the book Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts on how to eliminate wasting time.

The book suggests that you can squeeze in 15 minutes of exercise time in your busy schedule by being more efficient in time management. Here are a few pointers from the book and I incorporated a few of my own.

1. Keep Facebook and Twitter time short and sweet. Limit it to two short sessions a day; 15-minute sessions on Facebook add up to seven hours a month.

2. Say no. I had problems saying no before. Thanks to my Bell’s Palsy, I learned to listen to my body, and plan my life accordingly so as not to suffer from a system overload. Excesses must go and focus all efforts. Hence, I say no to dinner invitations because I know my limits. It sucks when people do not understand my schedule giving me a certain look like I’m the biggest killjoy in the world. But you just have to know your priorities and know the things that you can and can’t do.

3. Plan your peaks. Save your biggest tasks on the time of the day when you have the most energy. You will accomplish more that way. In my case, my peak — where my energy is at its highest — is morning until 12 noon. Afternoons, I need my power nap (in the crew cab) and a quick shower then I’m good for the second half of my workday: DZMM Radyo Patrol Alas-4 newscast, then on to my 5 p.m. newscast in Top Story. (Exercise extends my “battery life.”)

4. Do one thing at a time. A multi-tasker attempting to do it one thing at a time is what I am. Doing many things at one time makes you accomplish nothing. Focus adds to efficiency.

5. Be in the present. Aside from efficiency, focusing on being in the present allows you to savor the moment and linger. Time flies out of the window and everything becomes a fleeting memory if you multi-task.

6. Don’t be too O.C. (orderly or clean). Being overly masinop, it takes away precious time for rest when I get home from work, and for bonding with family. Aim for adequate.

7. Be decisive. (Buzzer sounds.) Yes, I’m guilty as charged! I take eternity comparing items when I shop, trying to get the best deal or whatever. But the author of the book suggests that you set a 45-minute limit to make comparisons and make a purchase. Then move on.

8. Buy time. I don’t cook. And I have so many reasons or excuses why I don’t. And the preparation and cleaning up afterwards take up “time.” So I buy food from the café in ABS-CBN and heat it later on. Also, instead of doing the laundry ourselves, we bring our stuff to the laundromat. The convenience is worth the extra pesos spent.

9. Calendar it. I find it useful to plan out my activities during the day and visualize my route to do my errands. Do not overbook your schedule to allow you breathing space. During lull moments, settle down and just be, and avoid the compulsion of doing something. Let this be your precious time with yourself.

10. Use an egg timer. Not only for cooking, the timer I learned is quite helpful in many things like sports, and in keeping track of time when surfing the web or playing with the phone. I use my phone’s timer whenever I feel that I need to catch some mid-day zzz’s. I doze off when I’m sleepy and I try not to fight it because you become counter-productive if you don’t. A 20-minute afternoon nap is enough to charge your batteries for two hours!

11. Touch things once. Deal with whatever once because piling up paperwork and items on your desk creates distractions and adds up to inefficiency. Get rid of excesses. If you don’t need it, get it out of sight. Revisiting tasks take time.

12. Make a call. Sometimes it takes 15 text messages to accomplish something you can do in a 40-second call. Between the unli-text and unli-call plans, get the latter. Tip: When the text exchange is getting complicated, make a phone call instead. Of all the advice I got on saving time, this works best for me.

13. Put things in place. Donita Rose taught me to organize all my toiletries in a small organizer which you can grab and go. I’ve done this to my other things as well, from my gym clothes to my wardrobe for out-of-town coverages. It saves me the time from rummaging through my closet. Also, I converted my car into a closet and everything’s there when I need it.

14. Record the shows on television that you wish to watch. It will save you time lost watching lengthy commercials. Or check out the movies in the Internet, thus allowing you to incorporate your viewing time to your routine.

15. Love what you do, and do what you love as it makes every second of your day worthwhile.

(E-mail me at nagmamahalateb2@yahoo.com.)