I wonder if when I am old and I look back at the title of this post I will remember this as the time that I made that proverbial click... the change that I have been craving in my life. Or will this just be one of those temporary transformations filled with exuberience and excitment that is short-lived. I hope that this is the turning point for me because right now... It really feels great to feel like I"m putting a little order into my choas.
So what does this post exactly mean, you might be saying...
I hit a wall recently with realizing that I really had too much on my plate and I wasn't doing any of it REALLY well. I think that's typically described as the 'chicken-with-her-head-cut-off' theory. Seriously, man. Not a pretty picture to see me running around looking busy but really not getting a whole lot accomplished. Anxiety set in and I could feel myself really not enjoying anything anymore. I'm not that kind of person. Even when I am busy (which I am the majority of time) I do enjoy things in life. Not lately. Overscheduled and underaccomplished.
So. I set about to remedy that Sunday. Making plans. Changing some things. Still making time for me but balancing it with productivity. Let me explain how my schedule has changed.
Here is an example of how my day usually goes:
Wake up at 7am. Get rugrats up and out the door by 8am. Meantime make coffee, start computer, check emails. Kids leave and I am STILL checking the internet and generally 'easing' into my day. Get ready for the gym around 9 or 9:30 (when I meet with my trainer 2 days a week) or head out around 11:00am where by I've probably wasted even MORE time in front of the computer. Get back around 11:00 or 12:00 or possibly as late as 1:00, eat lunch, do more browsing on the internet and then shower. It's probably 2:00 in the afternoon by now and I've piddled in the office a bit without really accomplishing anything. (so I don't sound like a total slacker, I often throw in a load or two of laundry, tidy the kitchen and generally try to pick up the house). Then the kids come home and the taxi service starts for dance lessons or hockey or whatever. I go to the grocery store during that time out to figure out supper and typically buy something quick and easy because I'm short on time to figure out what to make and short on inspiration to make it. Then it's crack the whip on homework, clean up supper and then watch a few shows that I've taped. THEN... that's when I begin working. Finish up that laundry, type invoices in the office, consider the assignments or artwork that I need to create, tidy the scrap area, etc. The pattern of 'easing' into my day means that my nights end up shouldering the bulk of my load. I thought that this means....I"m a night owl so it's okay. But really.. what a time waster I really have become. I have vowed to make the most of my time all day. It means cutting back on computer time (the bulk of what sucks me away from life) and really focusing on being more productive.
So, here is what my schedule is going to consist of:
Get up at 7am... get kids ready, make coffee, turn on computer and check emails. Close inbox by 8 am. Work in our office (*that I just painted, reorganized and removed a lot of 'excess space wasters') and really put focus and time into building up our company from the inside out. Work from 7:30-12:30. Head to the gym. Work out from 1-2:30. Come home, shower. Tidy up and get kids off to their respective activities. Work on art from 5-8 (in between making dinner, which will be done via a menu planned on Sundays). Have each child rotate clean up duties in the kitchen. Get back online from 8-10 and check emails, web browsing, blog reading. Go to bed by 11. This routine will vary with a couple of activities that we have which include a yoga class I'm taking on Mondays and hockey on Wed. But that means art will be pushed back a little later or not done on those days. THis plan means that I can still accomplish the things I want to incorporate into my life. Like this class taught by Torm:
Souvenirs of the Season that I just signed up for. It means that I can focus on my design team duties for Luxe, Paper Trunk and Clear Scraps. It means that I can work on another project that I've been itching to do and also create a book for Jacob of his life for Senior graduation. It means that I don't have to feel guilty about having so many things in my life I want to accomplish but feel too unfocused to actually be productive.
It's like an early new years resolution. It feels really right.
