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Mental Health Monday - Simple, Not Easy!

1/26/2015

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Time fitness is more than managing your task efficiently. A person can accomplish a great many tasks in a day’s time and still not manage their time wisely. Since there have been volumes upon volumes written on the subject by men and women, who have dedicated their lives to the study of time management, I wondered what I could possibly contribute in such a short space. Finally, I decided I would share the following illustration to give you a deeper perspective on the subject.

Time Fitness is as simple as a trip to the grocery store.

When comes to grocery shopping, there are two kinds of shoppers. There is the disorganized buyer and the systematic buyer. Of course, there are those that fit somewhere in between the two extremes, but I’ll only attempt to describe the two extremes.

The first one I’ll call Tommy Troubled.  Tommy goes into the kitchen, looks in the refrigerator and doesn’t see anything he like or wants to eat. Time for a trip to the local grocery store. So Tommy jumps into his car and dashes off to the store. Since he’s not sure exactly what he wants, he decides to walk down every aisle. With Tommy’s shopping method, whatever catches his eye and looks good, goes into the basket. 

When Tommy gets to the casher and unloads his cart, he is totally shocked at the price of his shopping spree. UGH.  He then loads everything into the car and heads for home.  On the way home, he thinks of one or two items he forgot, but it’s too late to go back since the frozen items will spoil sitting in the car.

Finally, Tommy arrives home and unloads his groceries. At last something to eat, and he pours himself a large bowl of Sugar Pops only to discover one of the item he most wanted to pick up was milk. Now he is thoroughly angry at himself for not getting the one item he promised to remember to get.  Such is the life of Troubled Tommy.

The next shopper is Johnny Sensible. Johnny planned a trip to the local grocery store Saturday morning. Friday Johnny sat down and planned his menu for the coming week.  Then from that menu, he made a grocery list of things that he would need. Next he when to his kitchen cabinet and the refrigerator to see what he already had on hand. Once he had crossed of the things that he already had, he went to bed and slept like a baby. 

Early Saturday morning Johnny headed out for the store. Johnny also walked down each of the aisles getting the items on his list (even giving in to a few items that he thought would make a special treat for himself). When he arrived at the cashier the only surprise he got were the items that had increased in price since he had last purchased them.

By and large Johnny lives his life under the same kind of strategy and most things go as smoothly as the trips he makes to the grocery store.

You will never stop the unexpected events from elbowing their way into your life, but it doesn’t have to be the way you live your life every day. Be honest with yourself and determine to work on changing the things that would make your life smother. Write down one item to work on and give your attention to it.

Disorganized thinking may be connected to unresolved grief, either recent or long ago. If you think that may be the case give me a call, and let me help you.  Bob Rill 520-237-4343


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Mental Health Monday-Get a Life!

1/19/2015

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“Don’t manage your time; manage your life.” John Maxwell

Life is more than earning a living; it’s about building a life. While everyone needs a formal education it seems to me that we are left to ourselves to figure out how to translate that education into life skills. Ideally, we would be able to model those needed skills from our parents or other close family members, but what if they never figured it out for themselves. 

These articles are written for adults, and we’ve been around the block more times than we care to admit. You should have formulated by now those things that you value most. Not only are these things personal, but they also reflect the stage of life in which each of us finds ourselves. Last week I suggested you commit those values to paper.  If you did that then now is the time to give each one a priority. 

If you can imagine a funnel, that is what we are trying to create with our Time Fitness concept—to create the life we want. The funnel might look something like this:

                                       Category:                   Family

                                       Activity:                     Date Night with my spouse

                                       Daily to do:              Under Friday- Movie

                                       Appointment:             6:30 go to cinema x see Sniper

If you don’t plan, it doesn’t happen. Whether you get your desired results is up to you.





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Mental Health Monday - Time Fitness

1/12/2015

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“The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.”  Ben Stein

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard some version of “2015. Wow! Where did 2014 go? It seemed like such a blur it went by so fast.”  The truth is a simple mathematical equation.  Each of us is given a fresh twenty-four hours at the start of each day.  Just as 2014 consisted of 365 of those 24 hour periods, we must choose what we are going to do with each day in 2015.

You have the freedom to spend it however you like.  Really.  It all comes back to the question, “What do you want your life to look like?”  If you aren’t doing the things that matter to you the most, why not?  If you’re not doing what matters most, then you are being held hostage to the things that hold very little value to you.

What are your core values?  Your daily activities should be reflecting the values you hold dearly. In the words of Hyrum Smith, CEO of Franklin Quest Co. “Doing a better job of managing our time is meaningless unless we are managing it to accomplish those things that are of greatest importance in our lives.”

Time fitness then is not a 12 step program to become more productive in an otherwise pressure packed world where life and schedules seem to get more and more overwhelming.  Rather, it is a contentment knowing that we are making a difference in lives, both those we love and those we care about.  So Time Fitness should bring you a sense of harmony and control that conveys you are genuinely a happy and joyful person.

Want to be in control of your life?   I’m told being in control is one of the most compelling cravings of human nature.  When someone or something else controls your life you can neither be happy or productive.  So then the emphasis of these next few weeks will be as much on contentment as it will be for time management as a means of managing your life and making certain it is a reflection of the values you hold dearly.

I urge you to not let another day slip by without writing down what your core values are.  That is the first step in determining how you will spend your time in the coming year of 2015.


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    Author

    Bob Rill, B.S., Chaplain
    Grief Recovery Specialist

    As a Grief Recovery Specialist and Veteran, he delights in helping individuals move beyond the pain of loss.

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