Heather from Mom 2 Mom Connection wrote for the Carnival of Beauty this week about seeing "the boundaries of time as a blessing in order to keep [her] balanced."
I too have learned to love a timer recently. I use them both at home and at school.
My students got used to me using them in the classroom, but they think it is funny that I also use them at home. I have three in my house--one on my fridge, one by my computer, and one in a central location in my home--and thanks to flylady.net they are all set to 15 minutes.
But, using a timer has been such a blessing for me. Here is why:
--a timer lets me feel successful. It tells me "yea! you did it! you can stop now." otherwise, as a perfectionist, I can't stop till it is perfect.
--it lets me focus completely on my task. I don't have to keep looking at the clock to see how much time has passed. (In class this means, I can say 20 min to finish this and then spend all my energy helping students without worrying about really using 30 or 40 min on the task--allowing me to follow my lesson plans for successfully.)
--it lets me do things I never would do otherwise. I often think things take longer than they really do. But doing it for 15 min is do-able--I am always surprised just how much really can be done in 15 min.
--helps me manage my day. There are times--like today--when I have "15 min days." I have a list of things that need to be done and take 15 min to spend on each task; after 15 min, I switch and do something else.
When I first found flylady, I ignored her advice about a timer. Now, I wish I had not--it is the best thing I have found for manging my time and being productive. Like Heather, my timer and setting time boundaries have truly been a blessing.
The one I use at school is really cool--it is like a stoplight (the pic for this blog). It lets us visually see how much more time we have left. I got it from a company called Learning Resources.
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