Friday, January 20, 2012

Friday 5 - A Stitch In Time

Having myself a quiet Friday off work, so I thought I'd do a Friday 5 here. Time, time, time is on my side. Yes. It is.  If you have some time, please play along in comments or on your own blog or even in your moleskin journal.

1.What was your first wristwatch like? I would really like to be able to answer this, but I have no memory of my first wristwatch! I don't even remember how old I was when I began wearing a watch. I guess I never really wore one entirely regularly and now, with my phone almost always on me, I no longer wear one as a rule.  Remember Swatches though?  haha! I did rock one of those :)


2.What lately seems to have been a thief of time?
Sleep. I go through periods of time, like now, where I wish I could somehow just skip it. Other times, sleep is a great treat. Lately, not so much. Just let me carry on with other things and sleep at some later date.
 
3.What were yesterday’s quietest five minutes like?
I probably talked to myself through them. If not right out loud, then certainly internally. Shut up, laura, shut up!

4.In what way have you lately been saving time? This week was a nice change of pace for my morning commute. My youngest son had finals this week and had to be to school 30 minutes earlier than usual. That meant I could begin my commute 30 minutes earlier. And even though the travel time was the same, I didn't feel as rushed, of course. I got to work early all week and it felt somehow like I was saving time...but I guess I was really just saving stress. Next week, back to the same old mad dash.

5.We are often charged hourly rates for labor, but we never get to reciprocate in kind when promised completion times don’t match actual completion. If you could bill people for the time you spend waiting, what would be a reasonable amount? Hm...if I could bill people for time I spent waiting, I would be a rich woman, no matter what I charged! I wouldn't need to be greedy about it at all. I should set myself a little base amount of, say, $8.50 an hour. That is CA minimum wage. I wonder how much extra I could bring in over the course of each month? I'm guessing enough that I could at least go out for a nice meal a couple of times a month...where I'd make more money waiting!

I hope you didn't find this a waste of your precious time. Have a great weekend you guys...and come back tomorrow to check out my HATS in the Saturday Scavenger Shots!

5 comments:

secret agent woman said...

I had the all black Swatch - I really liked that watch. So simple. But I haven't worn a watch since August of 2003, when I started my own private practice. Incidentally, you'd make no money off me because I am almost absurdly punctual. If you tell me to be at your house at 7, I often have to drive around a few minutes not to be early. If you make an appointment with me for 1:30, I am opening the door to the waiting room to get you at precisely 1:30.

silly rabbit said...

My first watch came from Disneyland. It was a Mickey Mouse watch that was wrapped around the base of a MM statue. I still have both. I am now on my 3rd MM watch.

My time with the man now seems "stolen" since he began the graveyard shift again. The time we are together is too, too short.

Yesterday's quietest 5 minutes were like most of my day... just me and Roxy watching old TV shows.

I hate to drive by myself here in the city. So I save time by saving up all my trips until I must go somewhere and then do everything in one trip.

I hate to be kept waiting, though I never gripe to who keeps me waiting. I fidget a lot. The man has a natural zen thing going when he waits. I think of myself as being an unskilled waiter... so I'm going with minimum wage too.

laura b. said...

Secret: I can see where it would not be the done thing to wear a watch (and possibly glancing at it) during a session.
I think punctuality is a lovely trait that not enough people possess!

Silly: It must be hard having to eek out time with the man. Stupid work.
I think saving up your trips to make at once is a great idea, no matter what your motivation...it is a time saver!
An unskilled waiter! haha! That is a good way to look at it :)

secret agent woman said...

I think most therapists wear watches, actually - I glance at a clock instead. But losing the watch was more an symbolic act of liberation from my old work.

laura b. said...

Secret: I can appreciate a good symbolic act of liberation. It must have felt great opening your own practice!