Time is a limited resource and there are only 24 hours in each day. No matter how I work things out, it feels like I never have enough of it. I know that sounds cliché and it is, but it’s still what I am struggling with in the here and now.
I tend to want to write about things that I think (key word, here) I have somewhat figured out. It’s easier to do that, right? And it might not be the best thing in the world to try to build a blog based on regular and consistent cluelessness. We all have areas in which we excel and areas in which we are still weak, but we all have something unique to offer the world.
Anyway, I digress. The point I was trying to make is that I am struggling with time management. A lot. Some days I feel like I am grasping my fingertips around the concrete that will lead the way out of my disorganized fog. But most days I just feel like I am in the fog.
I’ve heard that people shouldn’t try to focus on too many priorities at once because then all those priorities suffer. That makes sense, but I still feel like I can’t keep up with any single priority consistently… unless one of my other few priorities suffer.
For example, I just put both my toddler and baby down for a nap. To have them sleeping at the same time in the day is a rare treat so I immediately thought about what I wanted to do with the few precious moments I will have. And here is the list that came to my mind to get done:
- Write blog post
- Exercise (25-35 minutes would be ideal)
- Order a few Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews
- Go through the huge stack of papers sitting in the study and begin filing or tossing
- Clean the kitchen from lunch
- Research mattresses and check for Cyber Monday deals (my husband and I have been wanting to get a new mattress for about four years now)
- Clear off the dining room table, which has been full of odds and ends for weeks now–everything from socks to candles to old batteries (sad, I know)
- Call and schedule the pool gate installation
- Start cutting vegetables for dinner
- Take a nap! (I’m always tired but lately my daughter hasn’t been sleeping great again and I’m up multiple times a night with her, which is making me more exhausted than usual)
Let’s face it, a nap will never happen at this rate, but neither will half the things on that list. Not today anyway.
So how to I choose what gets done today and what doesn’t? Clearly, the first thing I chose to do was write this blog post. I’ve been writing for exactly twenty minutes now–which means I need to wrap up–but my daughter is already moving a little in her crib. She will be up any minute and I have gotten exactly one thing done from my list. ONE THING.
Obviously, not all of those things have to happen right now and today. The problem is, I’ll have new things to add to the list tomorrow and the next day. And if I don’t get some of those items done today and tomorrow and the next day, they will just continue to pile up. And what about the ones that need to happen every day (or should be), like exercise and cleaning the kitchen and blogging? How do I make sure those happen every day without fail while still finding the time to do the other things that are just a part of life–like cooking and occasionally bathing the dogs, and vacuuming, and doing laundry, and going to the grocery store, and on and on?
I would really love to hear some tips and tricks from others out there because I’m drowning here a little bit and I want to do better. I know that life is busy for everyone and that some people manage to take care of their top priorities consistently. I need to hear from them. I need to learn from them.
I’ll continue thoughts on this topic tomorrow but for now I’m going to try and cross off one or two more items on that list before my beautiful cherubs awake.
