Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Thoughts For a Tuesday!

Recently Sister Julie Beck, General Relief Society President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited Central California. A General RS president of the church had not visited this area of the church for more than 50 years.

During some training meetings where Sister Beck spoke, she shared the following point that I wanted to also record on my blog. She talked about how she manages her day and uses her time. She shared with the audience the following:

"Sister Beck said she learned how to prioritize her time as a wife and mother while observing her father-in-law, a steel worker who at various times in his career worked the day, evening or night shift. She said she realized she was working all three shifts simultaneously, and she had to prioritize the demands on her so she could provide the service her family most needed."

"The most valuable time of the day for a family," Sister Beck said, "is the afternoon/evening shift."

"Be at the top of your game on swing shift," she said. "People are hungry, people are teachable. You feed them; that's when you serve them the most. Plan for swing shift, and then work the rest of your day around that."

The swing shift from what I know is the 3:00-12:00 PM shift of the day. For me that's one of the hardest times of the day. This is the time of day when all of my family is coming home from school and work. They have homework and piano practicing. They are hungry and cranky. They want to have playtime and my time. They need to do their chores and help get dinner on the table. There are evening activities and meetings. There are showers and baths. This is such a critical time in any family. I personally find that my children and my husband need me the most during the swing shift. I also find that I am not always as on top of my game as I should be.

Sister Beck's advice is helping to rethink my day and prioritize my day and all that I want to accomplish. This advice is helping me to make sure that the other things in life don't take over this time of day so that I can be available to all that needs to happen on the "third shift."

1 comment:

2pattyesque said...

I had not heard it called a "shift" but I have always felt that although I'm a mom all day long, my real work was from the time school let out until everyone was in bed and I've really tried to be home for all that.