No, the title isn’t in reference to the Ke$ha song (although, I do enjoy dancing to that when putting on my makeup) – today I’m going to talk about timers!
I love timers! I especially love timers now that I have an Alexa (the Amazon Echo Dot that I talked about a few months ago). Timers are everything right now and not just for cooking – although I do use Alexa to help with that too.
So, you might be wondering how I use timers….read on and let me know what you use timers for.
First, I use timers when I’m writing. I usually do one or two sprints of 25 minutes each. That seems to be my sweet spot both for writing new words and editing old words. In one hour I’ve been able to get down 2,000 words or more! I’m editing right now so sometimes I don’t set a timer, especially if I have free time and just want to work until I reach the end of a chapter or a section but timers can still be helpful if I don’t have as much time in my day and want to play beat the clock.
Which brings me to the second time I use timers during my day. To clean or do the dishes. We live in New York City and don’t have a dishwasher – I know, I can hear your collective groans from here – so there are always dishes to do by hand and it’s not one of my favorite tasks of the day so I love to set a 15 minute timer and see how many I can get done in that time. Music also helps (but that’s true for me with almost every task).
The third way I use timers is for my son. My seven year old loves to play Roblox, Minecraft, and Portal 2; he also loves YouTube – but we try to limit him throughout the day and also we have to leave the house for school, errands, or other fun things so timers help keep him accountable for his own time. We also set one during the day after he gets home from school for homework so he knows he has to stop what he’s doing and do math, spelling, or reading. For the most part, it helps.
And finally, I use timers when I have any task that I’m dreading. I hate calling places to book appointments (except Disney World to book a vacation package – I would do that every day if I could) but making dentist or doctor appointments, dealing with any kind of service people (gas/electric/cable/etc) I just dread it so I set a timer, get out all my fear and anxiety – usually on paper, but sometimes I just talk it out, then the timer goes off in 5 or 10 minutes and I make the call. Some people won’t need this, but it really does help me. Calling my Mom or Best Friend – nope, I’ll pick up the phone just fine but calling unknown people – ugh! Can anyone else relate, or am I just a freak?
Do you use timers during your day? Do they help you or cause more worry and anxiety? When are they most effective for you and your family? I would love to know so hit me up in the comments below!
Write On!
Jennifer
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