(To be said in a Hollywood movie trailer dramatic voice) Once in a decade, there comes a piece of software that can change your life...
Ever wonder where the day went? (Or even worse, where the year went?) You get to the end of the day and although you feel like you've been crazy-busy, you don't seem any nearer to achieving your goals than you were at the start?
This was happening to me. A lot. And with a number of immoveable deadlines I felt the need to find out where my time was going.
Yesterday I was talking on the phone with Todd (soon to be officially confirmed as my manager, with particular responsibility for sponsorship), and he put me onto WorkTimer, a cute little Mac tool from Norway that he uses to track his time. 'So I can tell you we've been on this phone call for 56 minutes,' he said. (56 minutes?! Well, we did have a lot to discuss.)
I duly downloaded (it's free), so I can tell you that it is now 12 minutes since I started writing this blog.
At the end of the day, or the week, you can copy and paste the individual time items into a spreadsheet, and find out just where your time went.
I thought I'd left time-reporting behind when I left management consultancy, but I guess it does have its uses, even if these days I don't get to charge anybody for my time. It may at least stop me indulging my email-addiction under the happy illusion that I am working.
After all, as Carl Sandburg said, 'Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.'
I see Gersh has got an app called 3Athlete as well. Must check that one out for tracking my marathon training.
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Three amazing stories from the ocean: compare and contrast...
1. Drifting fishermen survive on rain, raw fish and Bible-reading - given up for dead after a two-week fishing trip turned into nine months at sea
2. Dom Mee's kite-boat crosses the Atlantic unsupported - i.e. unsupported by any personnel on board. Little Murka washes up in Ireland 11 months after Dom was nearly lost at sea in a violent hurricane
3. OAR Northwest arrive in Cornwall, winners of the rowing race across the North Atlantic - especially good news for me, as I'll be sourcing my oars for the Pacific from the same company, Sawyers Oars and Paddles, that supplied them. After breaking all four oars on the Atlantic, I'm not taking any chances.
One boat with people but no propulsion, one boat with propulsion but no people, and one boat with a full complement of people AND propulsion. There are many different ways to cross an ocean...
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The last 3 mornings I have got up at 5.30am, blearily staggered to the Mojo-Mobile and driven to San Mateo Park to join between 5 and 20 other women to run, skip, jog, jump, lunge, crunch, squat and sweat our way to fitness. It's tough and I ache all over, but strangely, I'm enjoying it.
It seemed like I'd used up my entire allowance of willpower and determination in getting myself across the Atlantic this year. I just couldn't find the motivation to train, and the pounds were piling on. The BootCamp has been my salvation.
The exercises are varied and every day is different, so I almost forget I'm doing training. An added bonus is the drive up the I-280 just as the sun is rising and the mist is crawling across the forested mountains on either side.
It gets the day off to the right kind of start - once I've had that one-hour workout in the morning, it seems a shame to spoil it all by eating the wrong foods, so it's like a virtuous double-whammy: exercise PLUS better diet.
Best of all, it's fun to train with other women. We're a varied bunch of all shapes and sizes, but we can take it at our own pace so everybody gets a good workout. The camaraderie and mutual support are really helping this prodigal rower get back on track. It's a physical and psychological restart, a reboot.
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My Mini Cooper - on loan from a very kind friend. Who just happens to be British - not that you'd ever have guessed...
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