March 6, 2018.  What a happy day for me.  Today is the day I return to wearing a watch.  Maybe it doesn’t sound that magnificent to you but, to me, it symbolizes a victory over my time management issues.  It also symbolizes how creative coaching solutions can mean so much to those who struggle.

Flashback to 2000, I was 35 years old and constantly late to EVERYTHING.  I told my therapist I was so ashamed of not being able to get anywhere or do anything on-time.  I would wake up early and get ready early.  Then, I would look at my watch, my lovely moon phase watch, and say, “I have plenty of time” and promptly start another task – which of course made me late!

“Sounds like looking at your watch is actually making you late,” my therapist said.  I was dumbstruck.  Was she actually suggesting that the device responsible for keeping me on time was really at the root of making me late? I would like to say I received this question in the spirit of the curiosity with which it was intended.  I did not.  Instead, I questioned my therapist’s qualifications and state of mind.

Her question nagged at me.  What if she was right? What if I didn’t look at my watch? That’s crazy.  No, what if I still got up early, still got ready early, and then didn’t look at my watch?  What would happen?  Well, it turned out I was so enamored with my watch I couldn’t not look at it!  So, I took it off and put it in the bathroom drawer.

The first weeks were a bit rough but, I stopped trying to do that “one more thing” before I left.  And, I started to be on time.  And, I began to feel responsible.

Four months ago I was cleaning out that bathroom drawer and found the watch.  It took a new battery, a new movement, and a few months at the Citizen factory to get it running again but, I think it was worth it.  I was brave enough to set it aside and get my time management processes securely in place.  Now, I am brave enough to put it back on and see how I do.  I’ll let you know.

(Yes, that is a picture of my watch.)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.