As a mom of three, I've enjoyed the more relaxing pace of summer without school and school-related activities. However, even with a break, there never seems like enough time in the day to get everything done. Whether there is one item on my to-do list or a dozen, I feel like I'm always falling behind. The older me realizes I have a lot more control over my to-do list and expectations of myself than the younger me, though even after this realization, I still struggle to say "no."
My younger self survived by setting aside time to complete tasks from start to finish. In other words, I was a "chunker"-preferring to do tasks in chunks of time. As a distinct example, I once skipped Thanksgiving with my family so that I could write a final paper in graduate school. I wrote the paper, had it edited, and revised in just over 48 hours. Even if it meant missing a special occasion, if I could make large chunks of time available, I could get any task, large or small completed.
When I became a mother in 2013, there was no way to chunk my time to get anything done except caring for my child. She was not fond of napping. I had to sneak in showers before she woke up for the day if I wanted to look presentable. I suddenly had to find a way to adjust if I was going to complete tasks. I realized I could try to do tasks more quickly, or better yet, at the same time.
In my time of need, I was introduced to the book Total Leadership by Stewart D. Friedman (2014), which examines four life domains-job, home, community, and self. Every person must consider how they define each domain, what activities fit into each domain, and how important each domain is to them. My biggest takeaways from the book were keys to improving my time management:
* For a good use of time, one should select activities that align with more than one domain.
* The best activities align with at least three domains.
The nirvana is activities that align with all four domains-the "four-way" win. I'll be honest, the "four-way" wins are extremely rare. However, the idea of hitting on more than one domain at a time really helped me. I was quick to take a walk with the stroller because that was both time with my daughter and exercise. I realized I could add another domain by inviting a friend-that hit my home, community, and self domains for a triple win! I didn't stop there; I continue to look for these types of activities-My work with NAON hits on job and community since many of my NAON colleagues are also friends. If you attend NAON foundation events at Congress, such as morning Zumba, you are hitting your community, self, and job domains (I count building relationships with colleagues that can help you with future work in the job domain). Finding triple wins is very satisfying!
When I take my focus off finding large chunks of time and looked for activities that align to more than one domain, I feel very productive. I still find it hard to say "no," even after having two more children. However, with the four domains in mind, I now can look at my commitments in a new light. Saying "yes" to the board of my neighborhood little league has given me the ability to try new leadership skills (self) and help our local ball teams thrive (community). I've hit the trifecta with the bonus of coaching my daughters' team (self, community, and home). And I bet you could see this coming ... when there is an injury on the field, I get to add the fourth domain of orthopaedic nurse for the four-way win (self, community, home, and job)!
To be clear, hitting on more than one domain is not multitasking. Multitasking is doing two things at the same time. As nurses, we are great at multitasking-maybe the best all-around multitaskers ever! If we eat lunch, we are always doing something else, too. However, the benefit of getting our wins by aligning activities to more than one domain is that we are present-in that moment doing one thing that serves two purposes. We are filling multiple needs with one deed or said another way, feeding two birds with one scone.
As humans, we will only ever have as much time as we have, and it will infrequently feel like enough. However, we can make choices that create as much meaning as possible with the time we have. As we lead NAON into the future, we need to think about activities that align with more than one domain. After an absolutely awesome Own the Bone presentation at Congress, one thought was "What if orthopaedic nurses owned the bone health of our patients instead of trying to get others to own the bone?" And how do we expand this beyond the professional domain? Well, if we own the bone, we also have the potential benefit to promote our own bone health. My challenge to you this month is to think about increasing the two-, three-, and four-way wins in your life. I urge you to start thinking about activities that align with more than one domain. I'll leave you with this question: "What can you do personally and what can we do as a specialty nursing organization to maximize our efforts?"
Thank you for all you do for yourselves, your homes, your patients, and our communities.
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