For all of my obsession with time, and all my clock watching, I waste time in copious amounts. It is amazing how I can get sucked in by a simple game of minesweeper or lightly peruse YouTube. Soon an hour slips away, lost forever in the nether regions of cyber-space. I sometimes wonder that I have gotten as much work done as I have.

I tend to work in spurts, producing some very good articles on some days, and then on other days floundering about like a, well, like a fish out of water. (Sometimes a cliche will express ones meaning quite clearly.)

This problem has plagued me for years. And continues to do so. It really boils down to poor organization and lack of sufficient self-discipline. I have tried all kinds of things to organize my time, “One Minute Manager”, calendars, desk calendars, computer reminders. The only thing that has been remotely effective is getting married to a woman who is not shy about reminding me that I have forgotten this or that.

In spite of 35 years of failure to be perfect in this quest for self-organization. I realize that the constant attempt has kept me somewhat productive. I guess the attempts should continue. In this vein I am trying out a new system that harkens back to my Navy days, when every officer was issued a “wheel book”. I am going to begin the day with a blank index card and write down everything I plan to do that day. At the end of the day, I will assess my success or failure. No doubt many items will fall into the next day.

It is interesting that my 12 year old daughter and I have been having conversations about this very subject, prompted by herself and not me. She tells me that she never gets done everything that she sets her mind to for the day. I did not tell her that this is the very nature of human existence. Better to let her struggle, and in the process perhaps get at least part way to the place she wants to go.