Recently, a friend asked if I had a good day. “Yes!” I exclaimed enthusiastically, “I got a little bit of everything done!”.
And if you asked me the same thing today, my answer would be the same, minus the enthusiasm.
Each day, it feels like there are so many tasks pulling me in all sorts of different directions. And it’s hard to prioritize, because they all require me to DO IT RIGHT NOW! From laundry to cleaning the kitchen to work on client projects to getting in tummy time for the baby, they are all important in their own way. And if I let one slide, the work just seems to double. And then there’s sleep. Glorious sleep, which often tends to get pushed aside as I squeeze in some extra work time late at night. Might be why I always fall asleep in my son’s bed at the end of story time…
And so every day I try to plug away at a little bit of each task. Which sometimes leaves me feeling like a superstar multi-tasker and other times like an under-achiever. Working from home with kids underfoot is challenging. I’m always trying to find the balance between time with my family, running my household, and work projects. And there never seems to be enough time.
At a recent get-together of work-from-home women, the organizer strongly urged us to turn off social media and email alerts, and to ignore updates and emails while working. I’m hugely guilty of this, and my new phone and computer have alerts up the wazoo, telling me every little thing that happens on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I feel like Pavlov’s dog lately, feeling my muscles twitch and my brain fire up excitedly every time I hear a little “ding!” emanating from one of my devices. I rush over to my phone, press the home key for a quick sneak peak of whatever amazing update is waiting for me, see the first line of an email, and then agonize over it for the next hour.
So I’m trying to make changes, although it’s happening at a snail-pace. First, I’m trying to remember to turn my phone to airplane mode when I go to sleep. Then when I get up to nurse the baby in the middle of the night, I read books that I’ve downloaded to my phone, instead of surfing through Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. And when I wake up in the morning, I’m not met with a series of alerts about emails and social media updates. Instead, I get my morning started and only turn off airplane mode when I’m ready.
Second, I’m recommitting to the Mari Kondo tidying method and have signed up for Janine Young’s 12-week program. I’m two weeks into the program, but am feeling confident that this will help clear out the clutter in my home and life! And I’m working toward a yard sale next month to really get rid of it all…
And finally, I’m working on small things that help make our house feel more like a home, and also more functional. A tidy kitchen at night so that we have a fresh start in the morning. More candles around the living spaces (some real, some battery-operated), and plants and flowers. More opportunities to breath and relax.
