Being Asked vs. Being Told

Last night, right after I told my wife that I was going to steak dinner with a friend, she asked a big favor of me.

Earlier, she mentioned that she was going to a play with her friend/boss/co-worker and wouldn't be able to mow the lawn.  It had been a while since I had mowed the lawn... last year, I believe.  It's not hard, it's just awkward and it's not the easiest lawn to mow, which doesn't make it hard, just not easy.

So of course I said I would, but time wise, I wanted to plan to still make dinner with my friend, not really giving me much time to visit with him if I waited until after work to mow the lawn then racing over to the bar.  Or going to the bar, wolfing down dinner and drinks then racing home to mow the lawn before it got dark.  This convoluted mess of time mixed in my head for a couple of hours this morning and I finally came up with a resolve.

Go home at lunch and mow the lawn.

The sun was out, I sweated a little and finished the monster task in under an hour.  I'm sure I missed a few spots (but not as many as would be missed in the dusk-to-dark hour).  Now my mind is free and I can hang out with my friend and enjoy dinner and cocktails without guilt or being rushed.

Which brings me to the subject of this post.  There are many times in the last few years where I've had many distractions that have gotten in the way of things I wanted to do.  Some of those are requests from my spouse that almost always seem to have that timing that conflicts with other things I want to do.  I have no defense for those times I mindlessly surf the web at home and am the least bit productive.  Those times are always followed with a "Yes dear" and the task gets completed sooner than later.

But when conflict presents itself, my mind plays out different scenarios of how I can do both the thing I want and the thing my wife wants.  That, in of itself, is where a good manager of time can avoid conflict and enjoy life.  I am not quite there yet in that Time Manager title, but someday, I hope to be.

It will be a day that I will both enjoy and missing the eventual conflict.