Time being a scarce commodity - turns out to be blessing, how?

It’s been a while since I blogged, and by that I mean it’s been two weeks, but it still feels like a long time. Life’s been a bit busy with the toddler - and we have some growing up to do to fit into the parent role fully. What do I mean by that? Before my daughter, I would work late into the evenings just because I could; I would binge-watch Netflix if I wanted, even on a weeknight, or read books one after another, and our house was so silent, clean, and tidy. And I had time to myself - lots of it, so much so that I didn’t know what to do with it. And after her, time has become a commodity to manage.

I was telling my team today that expense pressures are actually good because suddenly priorities become very clear - and decision-making becomes easier. People are more collaborative because we all share the same constraint. There is less time for office gossip as we have got work to do. Similarly, after her, I have become more productive, believe it or not. Now binge-watching has been reduced to just one or two hours a week, and that too because I want that mind-numbing feeling. If I read a book now, I really savour it and don’t just finish it.

Before, I had so much time that my mind would slip into binge-watching without me even realising it - you know. And not that the binge-watching is gone; I sleep better, and I am more awake and alert. I am smarter about wrapping things up at work, because I know I have to spend time with her when I come home.

I think I have worked more on my draft manuscript after we got her than before - go figure, eh?

Now, there are times when I miss the quietness or the time to myself where there is no little one around all the time taking up all your attention. But it is fading, and slowly I will forget what it was like to have that life, and this new life will become normal. That’s what I am talking about. Then, when she leaves for college, I will have to transition from that to having all that time.

Growing into it is a muscle that I am building over time. At first, the fact that she was here all the time still amazed me. But now that thought does not cross my mind. I would still plan to carve out two or three hours to myself and get annoyed if that was interrupted. And now I am learning how to work with interruptions. I am learning how to go with the flow. The capacity to keep doing mind-numbing things like reading books over and over again, or putting blocks from one bucket to another has become normal. As she grows, so do we, and something tells me this cycle will continue.

Initially, I would ask Adam - we willingly wanted this life. And now I am living the life, so the question doesn’t arise, if that makes any sense. All this to say that constraints are really good - when the resources are scarce, you use them efficiently. And for us as parents, we have some growing to do from being a couple to being a family.

Are there any other scenarios that have made you more efficient?