After a day of running around like a headless chicken, I finally make the bold decision to stop what I am doing and return to the blog I’ve been promising/threatening to deliver since April.
Time has literally flown- not so much as a rolling flow of a river, but more like a supersonic jet and, in a blink, another few months have gone by and the list of things that I “should get to but really don’t have the time” continues to grow.
Our household may appear to be running smoothly but I can assure you the to do list is shocking. I haven’t had a working oven or grill for almost a year. The vacuum is broken and my husband is wearing a very old pair and unfashionable glasses, as his new ones were broken by a set of chubby and grubby fingers, the new ones secured in place by sad piece of tape. I haven’t brushed my hair in a while, I have a missing tooth filling and a bulging disc in my neck and approximately 12 piles of loosely classified “stuff” strategically placed in corners of the house as to showcase the other “clean” parts of the house. I need another few hours in the day to get to the hair brushing and blog writing. I need more time.
Having no time is common complaint and I am sure that everyone who still listens to me (all two of them) is sick and tired of hearing me say that same thing over and over again and not really doing anything about it.
Some advice I’ve been given over the last few months which has been valuable in one way or another:
“You have to make time”
“You do too much” (at this point, I feel guilty because I can’t control how much I have to do- I am obviously either doing something inefficiently or thinking about things wrongly).
” I know how you feel. I was in the same position and I managed to do it, but it was hard”
” Get rid of 50% of your possessions” ( I am really really tempted by this one)
” Upturn your desk and leave”
“Get a cleaner, I’ve got one, almost everyone I know has one- even the ones who don’t work”
“Make the time. No one else will” (this is one I tell myself a lot, I know it to be true, but I don’t know how to do it)
Balancing this life with three young children, a full time job, keeping up a house and a modicum of social/enriching activity is really really f*cking hard for me at the moment and I am not sure If I’ll every have the luxury of writing this blog about anything other than how little time I’ve got to write it. Besides, how boring is my constant complaining!? It’s hardly riveting stuff.
So, I did a quick internet search and oddly found so many sites about how to make time go faster (really?) but only a few about how to “make time” . One was from Saga and aimed at getting older folk into online banking and using NHS direct and the other is a gem of a list from Wiki.
Here you go- in case you, too, are finding it hard to make time, here’s some sage advice from the Wiki crew:
How to Make Time by Prioritizing and Scheduling: 6 Steps
(courtesy of Wiki How)
# 1 Identify your priorities. Select four or five things that you absolutely must do or are important to you. This may include work, school, a significant other, your family, anything that you feel you should devote a good amount of time to.
# 2 -Write out every hour of the day on a piece of paper starting with the hour you wake up. If you wake up at 6:30 a.m., start with 6:00 a.m. Then make a list going to 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., etc. until you’re back to the beginning. You’ve just made a schedule
# 3- Determine what you need the most. A lot of people feel that their job is the most important – we have to earn money after all – so getting to work on time and leaving on time would be a high priority. Block out this time on your schedule
#4 –Determine the other priorities, ranking the most important to the least important. Place these in your schedule where they fit.
# 5 Identify when you should go to sleep. Adults should get 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Teenagers should get about 8-10 hours of sleep, often in the form of a nap and 6-7 hours sleep. Children should get about 8-9 hours of sleep and a 1-2 hour nap.
#6 Get into a regular sleeping rhythm, waking up at the same time in the morning and going to bed at the same time each night. This should coincide with your morning and evening priorities. Weekends should be no different than weekdays. Wake up at the same time all the time.
If you have any other resources or tips that you’d like to share, please do- and be kind!
I’ve gotta go. I need to make a list and get to bed within a hour to get my sleep in. That hair brushing and blog writing will have to wait another day…
Ma Fratelli.
Ma Fratelli- These years 