Greetings from the shores of Lake Norman in North Carolina.
We are enjoying a nice summer family vacation. Lake Norman just happens to be one of my favorite places. It’s an amazing lake and the people here are a little more laid back then up north where I come from!
I had initially planned to write each morning during this trip, but ended up deciding against it on our first morning. I woke up and made a big pot of coffee. I planned to sit down and immediately get to work until I looked outside and saw this…
I instantly changed my plans from wanting to work to watching the sunrise. I ended up making this same choice each morning during our trip realizing I can work when I get home.
As each year passes, it seems as if time moves at a faster pace. I realize this isn’t actually happening, but it certainly feels this way. When I was a kid, time moved very slowly. I can still remember watching the clock in school.
“OMG… twenty MORE minutes until school is over!” Each minute felt like an hour.
It’s funny how I never have this same feeling now!
“OMG… 2018 is half over? WTF!” Where entire days feel like minutes.
One of the ways we can slow down time is to… um… slow down. Stop trying to maximize every minute of the day. Stop multi-tasking. Stop over scheduling ourselves. Stop rushing through each activity. Stop driving like maniacs. Shut off our darn phones. Just sit and enjoy a sunrise or a sunset.
Slowing down isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it certainly works. It almost seems as if we can control time by how we live.
Another way we can slow down time is by adding interesting things into our schedules.
Best selling author Laura Vanderkam analyzed the time diaries of hundreds of people and found that people who felt like they had more time had done interesting things. She wrote:
“I found that people who had the most abundant perspective on time–who felt present, relaxed, and in control–were highly likely to have done interesting things on their recorded day. One woman went to salsa dancing lessons. Another subject took the family out to a movie. A big band concert appeared on another log. Not all the Monday adventures were elaborate–it could just be a family walk after dinner–but for the most part, these people had created the conditions for creating memories. Having made memories, they felt they had more time.
I’ve been trying to implement this lesson in my own life. One practical way: I created a list of adventures I’d like to have over the summer, such as solo day trips with each of my four kids. I try to put mini adventures into my days, too: Going somewhere different for lunch, or taking the kids for a post-dinner swim. And–also a key part of asking the question–I’m pausing to note that I did these different things. Why is today different from other days? This is why today is different. Consciously nudging things into memory increases the chances that they stay there.“
Why not create your own list of adventures you’d like to do over the remainder of the summer while you still have time? LOL.
I also love the question: “Why is today different from other days?”
This question gets us to think about how to make each day different. How to NOT repeat the same day over and over again.
One of the reasons I love family vacations is because of the memories they create. We always have funny stories that we end up reminiscing over after each trip.
In the July Cashflownaire Newsletter, which will be released next week, I’ve included an email I received from a good friend highlighting their daily vacation itinerary. I’ve read this email over a dozen times because it includes a schedule anyone can use to create an amazing day.
I’ve also adopted this “amazing day” schedule for myself and my family. 🙂
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