Micro-Managing: TIME To Go On Strike!

Cue up The Stones: "T-i-i-i-ime is on my side."
Maybe it is for Mick and his cronies, but that's not the case for me. I never seem to have enough of it. (I know, does anyone, ever?). I am always supposed to be somewhere...10 minutes ago. I always thought that I used my time wisely, but it wasn't until I actually sat down and tried to figure out what's got me playing catch-up with the clock all day long, that the sad truth hit me like some bad epiphany; I don't use my time wisely at all.

I think I know when it started. At work, my job was to get "x" number of things delivered by a certain time. Other than, "When is my next class?" in college, this job was the first time I had to be constantly aware of the time. Moving on to motherhood- time awareness was crucially important to my newborn's appetite and sleep schedule. "He's crying. Is it time for his nap? He must be hungry. When did I feed him last? Let me check, I wrote it down..."  Even now- "She still has a fever. She needs more Motrin. What time did she have it last?".  All reasonable scenarios in which time is an important factor, no? Sure. What time is practice? The appointment? The meeting? The birthday party? Bed???
But when did I, and our society, I'm suspecting- (don't let me be the only one!) -When, did the Genetic Mutation - that morphed me into this time-obsessive micro-managing freak - take place? And, it wasn't exactly successful by the way - I am not adapting well to this new, minute by minute, "digital environment".

I now find myself trying to complete some inane task in the allotted time it takes to say, reheat a cup of coffee. It is a sick yet compelling competition. The microwave: it might as well be a giant stopwatch.
Can I empty the dishwasher in...45 seconds? I put my coffee cup in the microwave, I punch in 4, then 5, then I hit "start" and...GO! If I can do it, I win. (Win what???) If I can't, I failed.
How about if I start this wash, and when it fills up all of the way, jump in and take a shower and be out before the washer fills up again? For the rinse cycle. GO! YES! I can do it!
Or, before bed- let me see if I can use the bathroom, flush, then brushmyteeth, washmyface, andmoisturize...all before the tank fills up again. Ready, Flush, GO!
Am I alright??? There's more....
I'm at the deli: I'm #83 and they're on #78...do I have TIME to run and grab some chicken nuggets, salad dressing and some Chips Ahoy? It could be close; I'd feel better if  there were 6 or more numbers in between ...unless, maybe #79 wants to 'scalp' me his number so I can just be done with it?....Nah, I'm going to GO FOR IT!
Even in the car: "Guys, check it out. It only took us 6 minutes to get to the rink - 6 minutes, pretty good, huh?" Six minutes...six minutes....six minutes, Doug E. Fresh, you're on.... aw - aw - on.....
Another one while at home: I'm on the phone, on hold, listening to how important my call is to them, and I am thinking, "This call is important to me, too - otherwise, I would not be calling - but I REFUSE to sit here like a jackass and do NOTHING in the meantime!!!" Nope, I put the phone on speaker so that I can put it down and fold laundry. Bonus Bonanza!

That's me...getting things done, so I have "extra time". And that's where I'm wrong.

There's no "extra time" at the end of the day. I fool myself into thinking that I'm getting SO much done, when in fact- I'm trying to do more things than I have time for. Really, what's wrong with sitting idle while I wait?
When I was a kid, there was one clock in our kitchen, on the wall by the table. Counting the microwave, the stove, the cordless phone, the coffee maker, the space-saving-under-the-cabinet stereo and, the clock on the wall by the table - there are six in my kitchen alone. SIX "time-tellers"- One room. Think power outage: Once the power comes back on, it's like, "I'm done resetting the clocks...in the kitchen..." (20 minutes later!). Crazy. I'm done. All this "time-saver" stuff, and I'm getting nowhere. I can't do it. I'm tired.
Multi-tasking is totally overrated. One day, one thing at a time from now on.

One final note to the meteorologists out there:
Do you suppose you could focus LESS on the expected snowfall amounts? You know it's a total crap-shoot. Perhaps you could start honing in on exactly WHAT TIME the storm is going to start?
No. Never mind...don't tell me.