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Time is precious. Working mothers never have enough. When you have time you are often overwhelmed by the opportunity to "get something done" and in turn end up doing nothing.
I'm not a brain surgeon or a cop, so I'm not saving or protecting lives. On the other hand I don't punch a time clock. I have two degrees, a professional job as a journalist and a cubicle with my name on it. One thing I don't have is control over my time. Due to the constant and momentarily changing demands of the television news day I don't schedule lunch, coffee breaks or meetings that don't end in an on-camera interview. I can't even schedule telephone conversations. I simply say "Call me, maybe I'll pick up."
I cannot promise to pick a child up at school or daycare, I cannot attend a parent-teacher conference, or volunteer in the classroom. It's not that I'm not allowed to do it. It simply can't be scheduled into a day full of immediate deadlines (noon, 5 and 6) that could takes you hours away from your office on a moments notice. Given this I never commit to anything because I can't. If I did commit I would inevitably disappoint people on a daily basis.
There are days when I look back and think: "Thank God I didn't pee, I wouldn't have made it on the air." 6:00 comes up at the same time every day. If I had walked a little more slowly, spent one more minute on a telephone call, or sent one more e-mail I might have missed my deadline.
In addition to my day-job I am in the process of having two books published. I need about thirty-two hours in every day to make all of this work. My kids are constantly reminding me about what I leave undone.
Like I said, time is precious. Know where I can get some?
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