If you know me...

then you know I'm a stickler for time.

Anything regarding time, I want to max it out.

I have a sixth sense of predicting the time. I give a silent affirmation when I'm right.

I'm all about getting the best out of every minute of every day. Multitask is what it's about.

T once asked me if I had a goal for everything. I confess, I answered yes. To me, then what's the purpose?

This works for me. I know it doesn't work for most. I'm the daughter of a self-confessed 'I'm always late and I could careless' person.  That doesn't work for me.  I must have gotten it from my aunt. 3 spare minutes, I'm squirming. 5 spare minutes I finding a book or something to do. 10 spare minutes I'm hyperventilating.

On other hand, I set my alarm for 5:30 AM. I wake up at 5:27 AM, every morning. I give a silent affirmation.

I knew this AM that I needed to jump out of bed, dress, drive down 29 and be on the treadmill at exactly 5:50 AM. I give a silent affirmation.

50 minutes later, I was drenched in sweat and had watched a movie. I had a 15 minute transition time to shower, dress, put makeup on (barf) and be in Blizzard. I give a silent affirmation.

7 AM at school crossing things off my to-do list. I give a silent affirmation.

9:30 AM-I have a stopwatch going on Billy Bob, the Smartboard. I'm timing/training my kids to improve the last 'lame' transition we have in our day--getting math homework ripped out of the workbook and into the homework folder complete with our name. We didn't make it. We start over. We did the math. If we can go from a 5 minute to a 1 minute transition then we will gain 20 minutes of instructional time a week.  It's all about approach. They thought it was an awesome challenge. At the end of the minute, all 44 arms were up in the air. I give a silent affirmation.  My motto this year has been to minimize transition, maximize instructional time.

1:30 PM- My class is halted for a minute. A student is being picked up early because his family is locked out and he needs to climb through the doggie door. You win some, you lose some.

4:15 PM-Every child has a classroom task. Takes about 1 minute. Room 23B looks priceless. I'm already thinking that I have a 45 minute transition time to unpack my gym bag, repack it, unpack my lunchbox, repack my lunchbox, bake cookies, wash dishes, put clothes away, and check email.

5:00 PM-I give a silent affirmation.

And, this is how my day rolls. Before I fall asleep, I run through each section of my day and what I want to accomplish. As an athlete, you know that visualization is the ultimate preparation.

Some days I may want to accomplish relaxing, while most other days it's a to-do list. Productivity is hidden behind them all.

Moral of the Story: For me, there's a purpose for every minute of my day that I've been given. From completing tasks, challenging myself, or refreshing myself...there is a purpose.