Dear Readers,

First, I want to wish you a wonderful New Year 2025. Second, I have to extend my sincerest apologies for my extended absence from this blog over the past two months. As someone who values consistency in life, stepping away from it was not a decision I made lightly.

Life, as it often does, presents some challenges that require our full attention. My mother, who is elderly and has been dealing with health issues, became a primary focus during this time. Caring for a loved one is both an honor and a responsibility, but many times, it brings with it a heavy emotional and physical toll. Additionally, other professional commitments with strict deadlines also demanded most of my scarce remaining time, leaving me little room to devote to writing.

While this recent period has been challenging, it also served as a reminder of the importance of taking care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Like many of you, perhaps, I have juggled the pressures of professional responsibilities alongside the ups and downs of my personal life, and I know how overwhelming that balancing act can feel.

Fortunately, over the years, I have learned to use a few tools and practices that have helped me stay grounded, organized, and present amid the recent chaos. In the spirit of sharing and supporting others who might be facing similar challenges, I want to highlight a few resources that were particularly helpful to me:

Organizational Tools

To stay organized and manage multiple responsibilities, I relied heavily on the OmniFocus application, which integrates seamlessly with the productivity methodology known as Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen. This method follows five essential steps: capture, organize, do, review, and process. OmniFocus facilitates each step, offering tools to capture all tasks or ideas in a central location, process and organize them into actionable projects, assign deadlines, and schedule them in platforms like Google Calendar. The app’s flexibility allows connections with other tools like Dropbox for storing related files and email platforms for delegating tasks or collaborating. Its perspectives feature (for example, Personal and Professional Life) provides a clear view of daily or weekly plans, helping me prioritize what matters most. For example, I use it to block time for personal goals like meditation and exercise alongside responsibilities with my family.

In addition to OmniFocus, I utilize built-in distraction-blocking features across my Apple devices. These tools prevent interruptions from calls or notifications, creating a focused environment for writing and creative tasks or when you want to spend some personal, uninterrupted time with a loved one.

I’m also currently in the final stages of my doctoral dissertation, a process that requires significant time and focus to polish my research and refine all the supporting materials. To manage the extensive academic work involved, I rely on tools like Mendeley for centralizing research, annotating documents, and generating bibliographies. Additionally, apps like R Discovery and Perplexity have been invaluable for finding reliable academic papers. Together, these tools streamline the process of reviewing and citing literature, ensuring efficiency in my workflow. Their time-saving and organizational capabilities have been essential as I navigate this critical phase of my dissertation on instructional technology.

Exercise and Wellness

Maintaining a consistent exercise and wellness routine has been a cornerstone of managing stress and staying balanced during challenging times. Meditation has become an essential part of my daily routine, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. The app Insight Timer offers a wide variety of FREE guided meditations, helping me focus, relax, and recharge. This small but consistent practice has had a profound impact on my mental clarity and emotional well-being, making it an indispensable part of my day. I love the meditation timer to help you with music and sound during your non-guided meditations. 

Exercise is equally important, and I aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily. Apple Fitness+ has been a game-changer because of its seamless integration with my Apple Watch, Apple TV, and other devices. The app offers exercise routines for all fitness levels, from beginners to advanced users, making it incredibly versatile. I also appreciate the inclusion of meditation routines, which complement my physical activity and help me maintain a holistic approach to wellness. Some days, I meditate with the Insight Timer app; other days, I meditate with the guided meditations in Apple Fitness+. Additionally, it’s been wonderful to share this experience with my teenage son, who is currently eager to exercise and build muscle. Despite the significant age gap, we’ve been able to share challenges and compare data through the app. Engaging in workouts together, motivating each other, and pushing ourselves to stay active has been incredibly rewarding. This shared activity not only helps us achieve our fitness goals but also strengthens our bond as we encourage one another to keep working out.

The Apple Health app ties everything together. It tracks my exercise and meditation goals, monitors my sleep, and connects with my annual health checkup provider to streamline data sharing. With the ability to download and share health data directly with my doctors, this app provides a comprehensive view of my wellness journey, helping me stay on top of my physical and mental health. This feature has been especially helpful for me, as I typically schedule my face-to-face doctor visits once a year in Mexico City and follow up with those doctors through Zoom meetings for the rest of the year. Sharing data such as test results, daily workouts, and other health metrics makes telemedicine consultations far more efficient and cost-effective. Additionally, I’ve been using Zoom for therapy sessions with a specialist in Mexico, which has provided a safe space to discuss the challenges I’ve been facing and receive professional feedback and support. This approach has been particularly meaningful because it allows me to work with someone who not only speaks my language but also understands my cultural context, helping to create a deeper and more effective connection.

The Best Tool Was Not an App

More than anything, spending quality time with my family became a source of strength and joy during the past two months. Activities like cooking holiday dishes (such as Venezuelan hallacas and pan de jamón) together, taking walks, or simply enjoying a good movie allowed us to stay connected and recharge as a unit. But this time also brought with it a deeper reflection on the fragility of life and the concept of time. 

Seeing my mother in the hospital was a stark reminder of how quickly everything can change. It forced me to confront the ephemeral nature of time and how easily we can take it for granted. I recalled an idea I once heard at a conference, where the speaker shared a profound perspective on “time perception” that stayed with me. The presenter explained that understanding time as a finite resource (particularly in the context of moments shared with loved ones) can dramatically shift how we view our present. What struck me the most was their suggestion to quantify the time we have left with the people who matter most. For instance, think about how many more Thanksgivings or Christmass you might spend with an aging parent. If the countdown number is six or five (or even fewer), it brings a sense of urgency to savor those moments. Similarly, when I think of my children, one in middle school and the other in high school, I realize how few summers we might have left together before they leave for college or start their own lives. How many family movie nights? How many dinners around the table? How many board game battles with my son, strategizing how to conquer the world over a tabletop map?

When you start to see those numbers in single digits, everything changes. It reframes your priorities and deepens your appreciation for the time you have. It also made me think about the stories friends and family have shared with me over the years. All the regrets about not spending enough time with their children because they were too busy with work, late nights at the office, or constant business trips. Similarly, I have seen the sadness in friends who wished their parents had been more present when they were growing up and remember their childhood as a series of missed opportunities for connection. But I also understand that balancing the demands of professional goals with the need to nurture family relationships is no small feat. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day rush of chasing deadlines, meeting expectations, and striving for accomplishments.

I also understand that what truly matters at the end of the day could be different for each of us, but his recent reflection period pushed me to slow down and prioritize the people I care about most. It wasn’t about grand gestures or extravagant parties. It was about being present in the little moments, the joy of sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, laughing over a favorite movie, the shared excitement of a board game, where strategies and jokes collide in the most delightful chaos, or the simple act of walking together and talking about everything and “nothing at all” and just listening attentively. These simple moments are the ones that truly matter and are much more powerful than an app or a ChatBot powered by AI. Our family and friends are the ones who fill the spaces in our hearts and create the memories we’ll cherish long after the deadlines, to-do lists, and business accomplishments are forgotten.

As I’ve reaffirmed recently, time is both fugitive and precious, hence the Latin phrase Tempus fugit (et numquam revertitur) – Time flies (and never returns), and it’s up to us to make the most of it with the people who make our lives meaningful. The tools and practices shared in this post helped me navigate this demanding period while prioritizing what truly mattered to me. I hope that by sharing my experience, I can offer some ideas for anyone else trying to balance the demands of work, life, and self-care.

As I return to writing in this blog, I am excited to share new insights and services we will offer this new year. Stay tuned for the upcoming posts next week, and thank you for your understanding, patience, and continued support.

Keep teaching with passion!!! (but don’t forget to care for yourself and your loved ones).

If you want to read more about the idea of time as a finite resource, as presented in this post, I recommend teh following:

• The Tail End by Tim Urban: https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html 
• The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware: https://bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying/