The Watch That Saves My Life Every Day

I love, love, LOVE this watch!! I recommend it to any and all of my clients who have issues with time management, ADD or being easily distracted.

I do believe it has saved my house from burning down countless times, as well as helps me parent my easily distracted kid.

The reason this watch is so different from any other watch is the "Countdown Timer" feature. (A feature that is, alas, not on the men's version of this watch!)

The countdown timer works simply: just press the upper right button once and it will set an alarm to go off in one minute. Press it twice and it will go off in three minutes. Press it thrice (LOVE saying thrice!), and it will go off in 5 minutes. You can press it up to seven times in a row to get an alarm up to 30 minutes in the future. (You can also set one alarm each day for a certain time: say you need to take a pill at noon each day.)

This little feature saves me from burning down the house when I leave the stove to go get the mail. I set my watch for one or three minutes, and if I get distracted by a neighbor, weeds or simply a squirrel (SQUIRREL!!) it starts beeping on cue and I remember to go back inside. I don't even have to look at the watch–I simply press the button and count how many times I press it.

It helps me parent because when I am being implored to let someone stay at the park "Just a few more minutes!" I can set my watch to 3 or 5 minutes and when it goes off, well, that's it. Can't argue with a watch like you can with your mom! (Well, OK you can argue, but it's a wee bit easier to say, OK, time's up!"

I know it's not the most stylish of watches. It harkens to 1978 very loudly. (Which was when, by the way, I bought a different digital watch with a seconds timer so I could time the prints and film I was developing in the darkroom. Oh, yeah, that dates me....)

The silver is a bit dressier and is the one I graduated to after I first bought the black plastic one. The gold one just looks a little too brassy for me, but it might work for someone. I wear mine every day and the finish does not seem to tarnish or wear off. They are also "Water Resistant."

All can be found cheaply online at Amazon (around $15) and I've seen them every so often at K-Mart or CVS for up to $25.00. Even the top price is well worth it in my estimation.

Casio Women's LA11WB-1 Daily Alarm Digital Watch

I receive no compensation from Casio or any other entity for my recommendation for this watch, nor do I sell this watch. Occasionally I give this watch to a client!

Rebel Without a Clock

Well, it was just so fortunate to find an image of a James Dean clock! Talk about synchronicity!

I'd like to take some time to talk about time...

For years, I was a rebel without a "Clock" or watch. Or really, without a routine. Clocks, watches, routines, all that stuff was just 'the 'man' keepin' me down." I'll show them. (I'm not sure who "them" is. Uh, who them are? Wow, that's a tricky one.)

I did feel that I was "rebelling" against something by not having routines. That I somehow was exerting my independence and freedom by doing this. Right...

Exerting my freedom to be always late for things...

Exerting my independence to make others wait for me...

Exerting my freedom and independence never to have enough time to do what I really wanted to do. Gee that's ironic. My rebellion against constructed time was keeping me from doing things?

Now, please remember, I am not perfect now. But I have changed some of my ways, my attitudes and my way of seeing things. My perceptions of time and routine. It's unfortunate that the word routine sounds so, well, routine. Like mundane.

A routine life does not sound like an exciting one.

But that's the thing. Life does not have to be routine or mundane. There are mundane things in life that need to be taken care of. And once they are....then let the excitement commence!

(And you can always interject some excitement even into the mundane, right? Try grocery shopping in a prom dress or watering the lawn in a ballet tutu. And of course you can always vacuum au natural--just keep the curtains closed or you might find getting thrown in the pokey part of your new routine!)

So, what are the mundane things in life?

Well, the usual suspects that keep us going: food and shelter. Grocery shopping, food preparation and keeping the housework up. (Keeping the housework up is not quite as important as feeding yourself, let's just get that straight. Food is first.)

Yes, you need to support your fun stuff by building a firm foundation. If you are fed, you have energy to do laundry. If you have clean clothes, you can get dressed and go to work to earn money to feed yourself. If you can earn money you can afford that roof over your head and the food in your tummy. Yes, it's quite the connected circle.

Now while I try, I know I can't solve all organizing issues in one blog. I just want to get you moving in a direction. Even if it's just to change your perception of something.

Let's take meal planning.

I have found that if some external structure is imposed on me, I do very well at meal planning and grocery shopping. If some scheduled activity lands me near the grocery store, then that's my day to do grocery shopping. When my DD was a just a toddler, the library held story-time on Wednesdays. Lovely, since the grocery store was just down the block. Wednesday became my grocery day. I cursed the library when they stopped story-time for the summer. (Damn those under-funded public institutions!) Yes, we did still manage to eat in the summer, but I had to look for another time structure.

Fast forward to when DD is in ballet class, held even closer to the grocery store, and she is now old enough to be left at class. Woo-hoo, a whole 45 minutes to run and do the grocery shopping! (Or nap in the car if really needed...)

What this structure does is remind me that, yes, I should do the meal planning the day or evening before, or at least while I am eating breakfast that morning. I sit with my giant family calendar and check our activities for each day that week and gauge my potential for crankiness each evening. (Should I have a frozen Amy's pizza at the ready or will I have the strength for a full-on stir-fry?) At my fingertips I have my grocery list ready as I mentally (or physically) check my pantry for the needed items. I use the "All Out Of" notepad from Knock Knock, which includes a section for vegetarian items. This is a great magnetic notepad I stick on the fridge. DH can check off things as he runs out (Yeah, it happens once in awhile. The theory is nice.) and I can too.

The wonderful thing about shopping once a week is that I am not tempted to shop more often and therefore waste more time and spend more money. If I know that I am shopping on Monday and we run out of peanut butter on Friday, then, heck, we just try and make it through the weekend without peanut butter, use up something else that is probably about to go bad in the fridge and spend that time doing something more fun. Like napping.

Summer always presents a problem since the lovely structure and routine of the school year is delightfully out of whack. I'm realizing (I am determined to not let summers get the best of me) that I need to re-evaluate the routine every week or every-other week.

Just a little forethought.

A little.

If I don't do a little forethought a week or two at a time, I have to think all the more each and every day and every hour of that silly day. But if the important stuff is planned and on the calendar, then I don't have too think so often. And that's the whole point. Not having to think so much about the mundane things. And having time (and brain power) to think about the fun or creative stuff.

Or take a nap.

That'll show them.

Watch for future blogs about the importance of getting enough sleep. :)