The ramblings, happenings and meanderings of Ratty Golightly.
Hello Friend
Thanks for joining me on a wander of Rat-thoughts. This week I’ve been thinking about time. The speed it passes (the nights are drawing in again!!), how to spend it most wisely and how to find more of it.
Those that know me well might well be celebrating that I have finally decided to ponder this topic for, in some quarters, I am considered a little lax with time. It's no lie that I am often the one running to the bus stop relying on my wonderful friends, L and H, to be the smiling face that greets the smalls as they dismount whilst I run in red faced from stage left. The truth may be the reverse, that I am actually quite good with time. That is in the sense of eeking out every last drop of time available. I do pack a lot into every day.
I realise that one of the reasons that I often seem to dash is that I have a weird affliction of boxing and sectioning time and, in discussing this with others, find I am not alone. For me it's quarter hours. My mind works in 15 minute chunks of the day. If I leave the studio to make a coffee, I have an imaginary pie chart quarter in my head ticking down whilst the coffee brews - this could be used for nipping onto social media, replying to emails, putting on a load of washing, anything but never just putting on the moka pot and watching it boil. Bonkers but true!
Below are five great things to make the most of time. I wonder if you agree? If you have any tips, I'd love to hear them. Email hello@rattygolightly.com or DM on Instagram.
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Read on to discover 5 great ways to spend time, including a great tip from an expert and, of course, the results of this week's social survey.
The Rat’s 5 great ways to spend time…
1) Organise your card drawer.
The panic of almost forgetting a birthday is a complete waste of brow furrowing and is easily prevented with this simple trick.
Buy a Printmaker's Dozen Box. There are five boxes to choose from, each containing 13 cards. The boxes keep the cards tidy for when you need them and each card is blank inside for your own message.
It's a super economical way of buying your cards and you'll always have a greeting to hand whenever the moment arises.
2) Time for Kate
As an almost life-long fan of Kate Bush, I’m so thrilled to hear of her recent record breaking number one single, 37 years after its original release. I fell for Kate when Running Up That Hill was used as the theme tune to an 80s kids show that also featured Burnside from the Bill as a gruesome baddie (if anyone else remembers this please let me know). My love for her grew through tracks like Don’t Give Up and just watching her incredible dance routines on Top of the Pops or via early views of MTV at my snazzy Uncle’s. Kate’s resurgence to the top of the charts is proof that anything is possible in time. Hurrah for Kate and ‘doing it her way’.
To hear a completely thrilling and utterly rare interview with her, click here for her recent phone chat with Emma Barnett on BBC R4 Woman’s Hour.
3) Slow Moments
A dear friend recently took me to see her incredibly rare Bee Orchids. Growing in single stems amongst long grasses and wild flowers, I was struck by how amazing it was that my friend spotted the beautiful blooms. She showed me how slowly she moves when she’s taking one of her seeking walks. It reminded me of what we miss when we hurry. Small children are brilliant at noticing the details around them. Next time you take yourself for an amble about, take a child’s pace and don’t forget to look everywhere - you might just spot something special.
4) Time To Plan
Planning can often seem the antithesis to fun. Good times should be spontaneous right? Off the cuff, stumbled upon. Hmmmm, or so I thought. Now, I’m not one for contriving every element of my life but I have come to learn that a moment's planning can make the journey a little smoother.
Kayte Ferris, if you haven’t discovered her, has a lovely approach to grabbing life’s best bits and recently posted this on her insta page. A fabulous bucket list for the summer. I love the idea of making a can-do list that you can call upon when a moment arises. It could be just the thing to ensure that every sunshiney moment is used spectacularly.
Click here to read Kayte's Summer Bucketlist.
5) Do Something Once
A wise old friend of mine once passed me the golden ticket tip of “do something once”. His explanation was not to move items several times, i.e. creating piles of things in one place only to re-sort them again at a later time”. Hands up who has fallen fowl of this one? Turns out he was right. One of the very-sad-to-admit joys of our new bijou Laundry Room is to be able to sort everyone’s items into piles before they make it upstairs.
Each pile is then delivered to its final destination bypassing the fabric abyss of the master bedroom (which as its name suggests was never intended as a laundry sorting workshop). Hurrah for this tip - although I highly doubt that the author has ever sorted laundry!
The results of this week's social survey:
“Do you wear a watch?”
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Thank you for reading, see you next time.
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