“It’s one of the characteristics of a leader that s/he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people s/he’s leading to realize whatever s/he’s dreaming.” -- Benjamin Zander

A woman who's been very influential in my life this past year sent me a link to this video recently.  I was so moved by the passionate talk, I just had to share it with you.  It's infectious... and made me want to jump back into "making a dent in the universe".  About Benjamin copied directly from the TED page: "Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it -- and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections.   A leading interpreter of Mahler and Beethoven, Benjamin Zander is known for his charisma and unyielding energy -- and for his brilliant pre-concert talks".

Worth the 20 minutes.
~Arry

I find myself fighting for time - constantly.  Who isn't though, right?

• Quality time with my husband
• Time to work (Arry Table) 
• Time to work (Logic20/20)
• Time with my mother/brother
  
• Time to see my girlfriends
• Time to see my friends
• Time to sleep
• Time to reply to the pile of email that grows day by day... I still don't have it down.  More email comes in that I can possibly read and respond to - it's just crazy!  Oh, this pile should also include phone calls/voicemails, ...
  
• Oh... me time (beautification, thinking, hobbies, blogging, drawing, painting, vegging, ...)
  
• Oh.... and time just to do chores and run errands.

I'm sure everyone's in a similar boat - constantly fighting for time.  We (me and husband) don't have children yet, so I can only imagine that it'll become more and more challenging.  And obviously, all of this has made life feel like it is bursting at the seams --- with things popping out in every direction.  I hear all kinds of suggestions on how to manage this all better: block off time on your calendar for email, use a tool or scheduling, use rules on your mailbox, work faster, prioritize, focus, ... yadda yadda yadda.

NOW - How's this for interesting?  I've sequestered myself off for 100 hours.  Yes, you heard me right.  ONE HUNDRED HOURS to do what I have to do with no unsolicited interruptions.  100 hours!  Yes, I've got my phone on me.  Yes, I'm checking facebook.  Yes, I'm sending emails.  (But only when I want to).  Yes, I'm sleeping, eating, seeing a friend here and there.  Yes, I'm in contact with my amazing supportive husband.  I am currently in hour 45 of 100.  Yes, It's Sunday - and yes, I'm working on a Sunday.  Here's what I've done so far since 12:01AM PST Saturday, July 28:

• Slept (6 hours)
  
• Ate a fish sandwich with tartar sauce
  
• Listened to 6 chapters from the biography of Steve Jobs (and took notes)
• Caught the last 2 hours to a movie + ate a cookie
  
• Spent several hours thinking about how I would improve my Cash Flow for Arry Table + my product line!
  
• Spent 20 minutes talking 1:1 with my husband
  
• Walked to/from restaurant.  Ate an amazing bowl of sizzling hot ramen with extra spicy oil, seaweed salad (no meat)
• Had a tequila shot with a friend
  
• Slept (6 hours)
  
• Had dimsum with a couple of friends that I hadn't seen in years
  
• Spent 5 hours doing design research for Arry Table (oh myyyyy gosh my feet hurt from all that running around)
  
• Spent another 20 minutes talking 1:1 with my husband
  
• Spent another 4 hours responding to work email (Logic20/20) for my day job, planning out my schedule for the next 8 days managing all of my meeting invites, deleting unnecessary email, writing up a statement of work for a project, and organizing data on all of the projects I'm overseeing at Microsoft.
• Walked to the grocery store and got a bunch of fresh cut up fruit, a big bowl of custom made salad (no dressing, spinach, beets, chickpeas, grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers), and a vegan soba salad. (I'm doing the seafood-etarian thing now - I feel so much happier.)

And here I AM - updating you while eating my delicious salad!!!!!!!  :D  So happy to have a "pot" of 100 hours to get things done.  I'll let you know if this 100 hours thing actually works as I am about 50% through.  Yay.  My POV on fighting for time is that you really just have to make it happen.  Time is the only resource we cannot make more of, refund, undo, reverse, ...  and one that seems to slip away too quickly.
----------- updated on 8/31/2012 at 02:14AM on the second 50 hours:
100 hours is overkill.  It's inhumane.  Not human.  Go with 48 hours if you need to.  I worked the last 25 hours straight because the clock was going - and I should have known better.  I burnt myself out that week - when I returned back to the real world after those 100 hours were complete, I was so burnt, it took me a good 2 weeks (probably more) to recover.  Not good.  Yes, and I'm currently working at 2AM in the morning...  You'd think I'd learn.  I am motivated right now to power through so that I can spend the next 3 days doing nothing but being with my husband for his long birthday weekend away at the beach together.  Leaving the laptop at home when we leave tomorrow.

xo,
Arry