Like many of you, I often feel that I don't have enough time for the things I want to do. My responsibilities wreak havoc on my time and the things I really want to do get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. My children are getting older and need me more for homework, chores, a shoulder to cry on and a ride to where ever it is they need to go, but the side effect is that I have to use a schedule and calendar more to manage what precious time I have. Happily, I think I'm making some headway in this arena.
In previous posts on this subject, you probably heard me whine and complain about how I can't manage my life and find time to write, too. Not the case today! I had about a dozen things needing my attention before noon today, writing included, and they all got done. Why? Because I was willing to schedule my time. I'm talking writing it on the calendar, setting alarms on my phone and making my family the number one priority.
None of us likes feeling like we're letting our loved ones down, me least of all. So the needs of my kids came first today. Preschool snacks were prepared, field trip lunches were made and rides to school were in order to allow my oldest a wee bit more time to work on that paper. My family taken care of, I turned my attention on what I needed. Today, I needed to go to the temple. For those of you who may not know what that is, think of it as focused meditation time combined with spiritual nourishment and an opportunity to make commitments with God. I hadn't been in a long time, so today I needed to carve out that time for my own health. My iPod blinked at me and I knew it was time to get there, no excuses. It was open when I got there, but only for cleaning. So what did I do? I helped cleaned the temple. :)
That done, I headed back to pick up my daughter from preschool with some time to spare. Enough time, in fact, to stop at Starbuck's for hot chocolate and a bagel and work on an article I'm writing for a magazine. I looked over my notes, settled in for a solid 25 minutes of writing and still got to the preschool on time. And then, to wrap it all up, we spent the next 45 minutes at the dentist.
Home at last, eating lunch with my preschooler, I'm happy to say that it's been a beautiful morning. Busy, but beautiful!
Nice. I've decided that I have to find moments in my life. Moments to write, moments to walk, etc. And I think its paying off. I even took a quiet moment at work today to write my blog post. How's that for multi-tasking. (And gratefully I was done before the principal walked in.)
ReplyDeleteWow, there must have been somekind of time warp. I'm trying to picture getting all of that done before lunch. I know that I've had days like that but not lately. Good for you for prioritizing properly.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read the article.
I love my calendar. It keeps me sane. You are so right about not just scheduling the have-to-do's, but getting the want-to-do's in there too. Good job Arlene!
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