It’s weird how growing up really changes you. When I was younger (probably only even a little over a year ago), I was the biggest possible procrastinator ever. I was lethargic, didn’t care about deadlines and always just kept telling myself “later”. But after awhile, I soon learned that the world waits for no one, and if you want something to be done, you have to do it yourself.
I began multi-tasking and started to think in a long-range method of processing information as opposed to the immediate. It was important for me to be able to accomplish everything that I wanted within a day and also have time for myself to relax. I didn’t want to be boggled down by work when I was at home, and I wanted to be able to go on vacations without the worry that I hadn’t completed all of my tasks.
That rigorous planning ahead not only worked well for my longterm tasks, but translated into my everyday chores as well. I’m a huge stickler for timing and the saying “time is money” is a big thing for me. Every single second that you waste is a second that you can’t get back. So if it takes 10 mintes for my water to boil in the morning, I don’t want to be stuck waiting around for it to heat up. The first thing that I do when I wake up is turn on the kettle and then let it do it’s thing while I’m getting ready.
The same thing goes for when I’m eating lunch at work. I often throw my food into the microwave for a couple of minutes while I rush off to the bathroom so that I’m not stuck waiting around in the kitchen for my food to heat up. If I can be spending my time doing something better (and something else that I have to do anyways), then I’ll do it.
I think part of this planning process stemmed from my time spent in the lab working on my undergrad thesis. If you’re familiar with lab work, then you’ll know that there is a lot of wait times in between each process. Sometimes these times can go upwards of a couple of hours. And because there are only so many hours within a day, you have to be productive. You have to plan out what other work that you can do during the waiting period so that you’re not wasting any precious time.
Waiting is a huge pet peeve of mine. I always like to be on the go and moving whenever possible. This way I know (or just feel) that not a single minute is being wasted. One of my biggest pet peeves is waiting in lines. Simply because there’s nothing that I can do about it. When I’m reliant on others to affect the way that I operate, I’m at the mercy of their schedules.
At home and in the comfort of my own home, there are no line ups. I can come and go as I please. Getting food from the fridge at lunch is an easy chore – there’s no one standing in front of me trying to get theirs either (unless it’s P, but then I just ask him to pass me the food since he’s already there).
Downtown is a whole different ball game. Everyone goes to lunch at around the same time, and we all know the good places to hit up. And with only 1 hour to spare, there isn’t much time left to really enjoy your meal if you’re spending the majority of it walking to your favorite food joint and lining up. I bypass this whole lining up and wasting time for food business by pre-ordering my meals on an app called Ritual, where it lets you pay in advance so all you have to do is walk-in for a pickup. Think of it like an Uber – but for food.
The app developers themselves don’t make the food, but help you sync up with some local businesses to offer their wares at your efficiency. Remember here that efficiency is key! Also, it just straight up feels kind of cool to walk into a restaurant and have the employees greet you by your name before handing over your order. You’ll be leaving all of the other customers staring at you wondering how you got that 5-star treatment – little do they know that it’s through the help of an app!
Now that I’ve found a way to be efficient with time when it comes to eating, the only thing left is driving. Someone seriously needs to either install Wi-Fi on the subway trains so that I can respond to e-mails while on the way to work, or create some sort of teleportation device that can bring us from point A to point B in less than a minute. But one can only dream right? Maybe one day…
Lace bralette – H&M (similar here) | Top – Windsor Store | Jacket – Dynamite | Jeans – Urban Outfitters (similar here) | Chucks – Converse All Stars
