By Mary Garrigan Journal staff | Posted: Sunday, March 25, 2012 6:00 am
Article from rapidcityjournal.com
Barry Sullivan admits that managing his busy daily schedule requires three things: a good calendar, a strong support system and less sleep than he’d like.
Sullivan, 32, is a helicopter pilot with the South Dakota Army Air National Guard with three young children at home and a wife who has been deployed to Kuwait since last May. SDNG Staff Sgt. Jennifer Sullivan is expected to return from duty in May.
The kids, Camden, 7, and 6-year-olds Dane and Vada, are a blended family who not only share a caretaking dad, but also his love of sports. Their after-school activities include jujitsu, wrestling, soccer, T-ball, coach-pitch baseball, swimming lessons and, for Vada, dance on Monday nights. Sullivan also coaches two Canyon Lake Little League ball teams this spring and is one of eight assistant baseball coaches for his dad, Jim Sullivan, at Rapid City Stevens High School.
As if all that wasn’t enough to keep Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sullivan busy, he is also a part-time reserve officer with the Sturgis Police Department and a National Guard member who spends one weekend each month and two weeks each summer on active duty.
Oh, and they have a dog, too.
Balancing all of that either makes Sullivan a textbook case of good time management principles or a perfect example of an overscheduled person with too many things on his plate, says Rapid City time management expert Diana Christopher.
Christopher teaches an annual time management seminar at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and says busy people like Sullivan often tend to be “super time managers” who already utilize the three most important tools of time management: goal setting, prioritizing and planning/scheduling.
“They are people who tend to value their time so much that they want more of it,” she said.
Since you can’t make more time, the only way to do that is to not waste any of it, Christopher said.
Sullivan has been a Guardsman for 12 years, the last four full time, and credits his military training with the structure and scheduling that allows him to stay on track each day. But so does the support system provided by his parents, Jim and Bev Sullivan, who help out with scheduling conflicts and child care, as well as the children’s other parents, with whom he and Jennifer share custody.
His job has a certain amount of scheduling flexibility, but since it involves supporting law enforcement missions throughout the state, he also spends some weeks based out of Sioux Falls.
“I would say having a plan and a solid support structure are the two things that keep me sane. It’s the only thing that even makes this feasible,” he said. “I’ve always been organized person, but this schedule requires me to take it to a higher level than I’ve ever needed to use before.”
Sullivan relies heavily on his Outlook calendar and its computer prompts to remind him of appointments, lessons and kid activities, but less organized people should recognize that successful time management has a lot in common with successful weight loss, says Christopher.
“Time management is very psychological,” she said.
Christopher suggests that gaining control of your time, just like getting control of the scale, requires a willingness to face personal weaknesses and make changes.
Procrastination, overuse of technology, including Internet surfing and too much television — or even mindless shopping — have to be addressed as the time wasters they are, Christopher said.
The average American watches 28 hours of television each week. “TV and the Internet are two of the biggest time wasters,” she said.
“We cut the cable. We don’t have cable television, because we don’t have time for it,” Sullivan said. The household rule is no video games during the week at all. Television time and computer use are largely reserved for weekends. Like most working parents, weekends for Sullivan are spent catching up on laundry, grocery shopping and other household tasks.
“We all kind of recover and catch up on the weekend,” Sullivan said.
During the work week, his days begin at 5 a.m. with a wake-up alarm. The kids get up at 5:30 a.m., get themselves ready for school and eat a breakfast of cereal before Sullivan drops them off at the YMCA’s before-school Sunrisers program, which buses them to Meadowbrook Elementary School.
“We try to get out of the house by 6:30,” he said.
He’s at work at the Army National Guard facility at Rapid City Regional Airport by 7 a.m. and, twice a week, picks the kids up from their after-school YMCA program in time for 4:15 p.m. jujitsu classes. By 5:30 p.m., they’re at home for a simple, but usually home-cooked meal, and homework time before heading over to McKeague Field for Stevens baseball practice. The kids throw balls around or explore for bugs while their dad, a former Post 22 player, helps out between 5:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. when his schedule allows. They are home by 8 p.m., finish homework, read a book and are in bed most nights by 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m.
“The kids know what they’re supposed to do,” Sullivan said. “All kids want a system. Kids are good with structure. Without the chaos, I think they thrive.”
Christopher recommends that Americans consider setting priorities in their work and home lives, especially when it comes to children’s activities.
Setting daily, weekly or monthly priorities is easier if you first set goals that look five to 10 years into the future. Her own daughter recently did that by choosing to give up ballet and focus on tennis, instead.
Sullivan’s head doesn’t hit the pillow until nearly midnight each day, after a nightly phone call with Jennifer.
“That’s the only time now that I get to talk to my wife, so I get a phone call every night from her in Kuwait at 11 p.m.,” he said.
Less than six hours later, he gets up and does it all over again. He simply laughs when asked about getting eight hours of sleep nightly. His wife is the one who is making the true sacrifices, he says.
“I may have a busy schedule, but … she spends every night sleeping in a tent with 60 other females, thousands of miles away from her family. She is my hero, and she gives me the drive to get through every day,” Sullivan said.
Busy people must schedule sufficient time to do three things for their health: eating; sleeping and exercising, Christopher warns. “Without enough time scheduled to take care of themselves, they are going to face problems with weight management or stress management,” she said.
Because in the end, Christopher says, it’s important to keep in mind that the best time managers of all may be the “90-year-old who is healthy and happy. They are proof that they’ve spent their time wisely.”
Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com
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Article from rapidcityjournal.com