Where does the time go?
Time management has always been a struggle for me and having four children, two dogs and a husband to take care of has not made it any easier. I start each day with a list of things I would like to accomplish and MOST days I believe it is a reasonable list. But at the end of the night when I am tired and want to go to bed this is what my list usual looks like, scribbles and all.
Child #4 loves to make "circles."
Yes those are Stars next to the items that I thought were priorities, NO those items did not get done yesterday. How does this happen? And what is the solution?
Today is a perfect example of what happens. I had a long list of things to do and I decided to start with my living room. I was going to just pickup the floor but decided I needed to mop, and while I was at it I was going to rearrange, so a half hour later 1/2 of my living room floor was clean
And then I heard that little "ping" on my phone that meant I had a text.
An hour later, I was doing this...
instead of dealing with this....
Time just got away from me, and it happens all the time.
Today it really was something silly and I should have stayed focused but many days I am interrupted by things out of my control, dirty diapers, hungry children, or a little girl who wants some one on one time with mommy because her big brothers are all at school. This is where I really struggle. There are things that need to be done, I have to make dinner and make sure everyone has clean clothes. I have to make sure we are on time for school drop off and pick up every day. We need groceries in the house. Every parent knows what I am talking about, but often I feel like we get so caught up in what needs to be done that we don't leave time to enjoy what we are working so hard for. Getting my to do list done might mean missing out on some really great time with my family or some time to myself that I really need. I think many of us need to really look at our lists and rethink what is really important. So what if I didn't get to all four loads of laundry that I thought i needed to wash today. There are clean clothes for tomorrow and I got to spend some great quality time with my baby girl this morning when she asked me to come play with her.
I was discussing this with a friend of mine this morning and she gave me some great advice. She suggested that instead of obsessing over what we didn't finish yesterday or worrying about how we are going to finish everything tomorrow, maybe we need to just live in the moment. When we are trying to get something accomplished we need to give it our full attention and not go off on tangents, but when its time to play we need to find a way to let go of all our worries and be present. Before I know it, in a couple years, #4 will be in school too and we will be busier than ever, so today I am going to refocus my priorities and make sure my family gets a place on my list.
And for those of you that are worried...I did finish the living room before the kids got home, but the laundry is another story!
I would love to hear your comments on today's post. How do you create a balance? How do you manage your time? If you have a google account you can comment below, or feel free to comment on my facebook page www.facebook.com/heatherswholenewlife
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