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I I Tliv C;m:idi;m Sl;ilv.sm;m. Bownumvillc. June 17. 1987 Section Two Schedule Your Own Free Time By Lloyd Scott My seven year old daughter occasionally posts a notice on her bedroom door, announcing Dr. Jenny's office hours for that day. In recent months, she's been a massage therapist, physician and a counsellor. About half a year ago, when she was in the latter incarnation, incarnation, family and friends consulted with her about their various problems. I made an appointment to see her myself. One thing about Jenny is that in her view, everyone-is entitled to their problems. Everyone's problems are important to them and therefore therefore to her. Maybe young children are just naturally like that. Anyway, I told her that I felt really good most of the time but that I was too busy. I seemed to have no time for what I called fun. When she asked if I used an appointment book, I said yes, that I practically practically lived by it. "How come yoii don't have enough fun then?" she asked. "I guess because there never seems to be enough time," I answered lamely. She looked up from her notes and at me closely. With kind concern she said, "Maybe it would be a good idea to schedule some fun by putting it in your appointment book along with your work. That way, you wouldn't have to look around for the time. You'd have an appointment with some fun." Perhaps everyone has always known this but me. However, what I've discover- ' ed is that if I don't schedule some time during mid-week for example, to hang out with my two-year old for an hour or so, I do the natural thing and keep on working. That way, I hardly see him during the week at all, because I'm gone in the morning and he's asleep when I get home in the evening. Everyone I know is busy to the point of craziness. "There's no time," we all complain. This frustration usually means we're not doing enough of what we want to do. So we blame it on, of all things, the shortage of time. It's as though we lived under a regime that issued ration stamps for each individual's allotted time. Out of stamps means out of time. A friend of mine tells me that his own private life is virtually subordinated to his teenage children, driving them to and from karate, ballet and play rehearsals. Between times, he goes slack, sitting numbly, virtually waiting for the next summons to pick up or deliver. Although other times are available to him, as they are for most of us, his difficulty, also common to most of us, lies in reclaiming that time, re-possessing it, in order to use it deliberately for the things he wants to do for himself. . I've always found great satisfaction in scheduling my work time, and hence focusing my energy and my concentration concentration during that time. For example, during sessions with clients I'm privileged to be invited to concentrate my energies, thoughts and associations on shared concerns concerns and shared problemsolving. problemsolving. Blocking off time in that way gives it a special quality, Separating an hour for a specific purpose raises the value of that hour and of what's done in it. Sometimes it seems that the greater one's concentration on what one's doing, the more the time expands. Weekend time is special for most of us, partly because it's unstructured. Simply following following one's mood is a great antidote to steady days or nights or regularly scheduled work hours. But those of us who never seem to have the time to play may need to make an appointment appointment with some fun. It may be the only way to get the break we need to refresh ourselves emotionally and physically, I wonder if scheduling fun would help get workaholics off their treadmill. Lloyd Scott is a Marriage and Family Counsellor in private practice in the Orono Medical Centre and in Oshawa. He welcomes letters from readers. Please feel free to write him in confidence, confidence, c/o The Statesman, Box 190, Bowmanville, Ont. L1C3K9 PC-26N02 26" Console Color Television Microwave Ovens Bonus: FREE DISH- WARE Priced from RQ-JA61 Mini Stereo Cassette Player with lightweight stereo headphones] .SUMMER SPECIAL f $ 29. 95 • Quintrix II CompuFocus Video System • Color Pilot electronic color control • Panabrite/Sharpness/V-hold (auto/manual) controls • Video-sensor • Tone control Valued at $899.95 *298. Only *699 VT-2100 Video 5-YEAR 100% WARRANTY MD-26 Stereo CP-201 I Personal! Stereo |p* AM/FM cassette! player |* matching stereç headphones $ 39. • 25 watts per channel • digital quartz tuning • double cassette deck • 5-band graphic equalizer • belt-drive semi-auto turntable • 4 video heads • HQ + DOC • 10 key direct channel access • 4 program/14 days • full mode display Only 95 $599,95 Only *599. 95 10-YEAR WARRANTY Includes . . . 52 FREE Movie Rentals Rent 1 - Get 1 FREE!