Wasting Time

So I'm stuck in the Atlanta airport overnight on my way home from our Florida training trip. This trip always gives me a chance to get a focused start on the new year. One of the things I'd love to see grow in my own life this year is a focus on time management. It's so easy to end up wasting 30 mins getting caught in the click-bait vortex of news headlines or Facebook friend stories or cat videos or ESPN highlights or checking e-mail one more time or.....

Ok, I'm back from my search for a new smart watch to go with the smart phone that I don't have but just saw that I needed from the ad posted on the side of my friend's Facebook page. That's how it happens right?

One of the things I'm trying to do is be intentional to ask the question regularly, "Is this beneficial to improve what I'm doing as a teacher/coach/dad/husband/leader?" I suppose it's ok to have some wasted time, but I want to do a better job of not getting sucked into the never-ending chase that can happen so easy if you're not careful.

I've tried to practice this tonight and ran across an interesting article on how uncertainty in science can not be totally eliminated and that it should not be looked at in such a negative light. In regard to climate change, it's important to be able to acknowledge the countless number of dynamic, complex, independent variables and the innumerable outcomes each variable can add to each presupposition. I don't claim to understand everything the article discusses, but it was a stimulating read as I get ready to move into energy systems and environment with my middle school science classes.

Here's to more stimulating moments in 2017! And hopefully a safe flight home in the morning...