Model, Laura

This one isn’t so new, but its another one of those gems of wisdom that somehow still elude us.

Use your time wisely.

Simple, I know, but its mostly the most simplest of things that tend to bite us in the ass when we don’t take care. In the Army, we called it “Paying attention to the little things”. What exactly does using your time wisely mean and how do you do it? Well, I’ll tell ya. I don’t really know. Its different from person to person and you have to be the one to chose what you do.

During my periods of downtime, I try to pick up on my To-Do List and shave it down a little. This happened this weekend when plans didn’t come to fruition. Truthfully, on Saturday, I had to miss a shoot due to weather. That bummed me out. I got some take-out and watched a movie. The next day plans again fell through, but instead of moping around, I shook it off and did some tutorials, studied some Business Financial Management chapters in a book I’m reading, and finished up my online Traffic School course from a speeding ticket I got a few months back. So the first day’s use of time…POOR. Second day’s use of time…WISE. I was flexible on the second day and took a bad situation and make something profitable out of it. I got KNOWLEDGE. You’ll never make a better investment than what you can by investing into yourself.

Laura, From back in 2008

So who’s unemployed right now? Who’s laid-off at the moment? If you’ve got time on your hands for an indefinite period of time or just for the day, make some positive use of it. Exercise. Write the next chapter in your book. Call up a friend that you haven’t talked to in a while. Send me some money through my Paypal Donation Button. Who care’s what you do…just do something that results in a positive.

We used to have something called Hip-Pocket Training when I was serving. I hope you are being safe this Memorial Day, by the way. Hip-Pocket Training was a concept designed to take advantage of unexpected downtime for soldiers. NCO’s, (the Sergeants) would have on-hand a special training planned for just such occasions, i.e., after a long road march to a destination, we arrive but our rides back home have not. The first thing we’d do was to ensure our coordinates were correct and then we’d radio in a situation report. The response is that the truck due at our rendezvous has an engine problem and a replacement can’t be allocated for my mission for two hours. Now you’ve got mad soldiers on your hands who are cold, hungry, and tired. They don’t want excuses. They want food and a hot shower. A good NCO will occupy their time with some easy training on Land Navigation techniques or risk mutiny. I used to do this same thing with my kids on long car rides. They’d get tired of sitting in the back seat for so long, so I’d quiz them on Bible history. Next thing they know, they’re pulling into Grandma’s driveway.

The only difference now is that YOU have to take responsibility for YOUR OWN Hip-Pocket Training. Learn a new language, computer program, or beneficial skill. Get out of your comfort zone, if you can. Stretch yourself a little by leaving your same old routines alone for a while. And while I’m at it, in addition to using your time wisely, pick your friends more wisely. Prioritize your family more wisely. Make your decisions more wisely. Spend your money more wisely. And take care for what you eat with more wisdom. Utilize your time to make a better YOU. Think about all the times you’ve complained that you don’t have time to lose weight…read that book…or visit relatives in retirement homes. Now you’ve got the time. What are you going to do with it?