You... a Slave, or...

Thanks for writing in your thoughts on time. It certainly struck a chord, with a number of you sharing how you've worked with time and how you've been "clocked" by it. When you think about all the ways time enters our lives and vocabulary, it's pretty interesting.

Which time management systems have you used or explored? Sometimes I think I've looked at all of them. First, there were all the paper-based ones, from Filofax to Day-Timer, from Day-Runner to Franklin. Then Franklin/Covey after Stephen R. Covey's seminal book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".

Then, the electronic versions emerged. Sharp's Wizard series was among the earliest (and yes, I had one). Then, the Palm Pilot and all of the follow-on hand-held organizers (later called "PDAs" for "Personal Digital Assistants").

Lots of ways to try to manage time. Some of them helped. I found the electronic ones helpful, since they would actually wake up and let me know I was about to miss something. I have a propensity to get so involved in a task that I lose track of time. I need the wake up call!

Are you a slave to time?

Or have you found ways to work with it?

A friend and mailing list subscriber wrote this in reponse to my last e-mail:

"When I took my trip around the world, it was probably 4 months before I could sit on the beach and do nothing, without feeling like I should at least be reading one of the books I had with me, or writing in my diary, or planning the next day, or something. I clearly remember the day in Turkey-I sat there on the beach and picked up different colored pebbles, and basically did nothing but let time go by. It was nice."

How often do you wind down? Even God did it on the 7th day.

What are you going to change?

Let's go!

Stephen Sven Hultquist

PS The new product is coming along well. I am traveling to Africa as I type this, so e-mails may be a bit sporatic. But be sure to pick up a copy of Open Your Heart with Skiing if you haven't: http://infinitesummit.com/book.html.