Monday, October 10, 2011

ketchup day

Back in the days of my crimped hair and my obsession with slap bracelets, I had a teacher that every couple weeks would have a ginormous cut out of a bottle of ketchup stuck to the chalkboard.  When you saw that you knew it was "catch-up" day and we got to spend the whole day catching up on projects, reading and assignments.  I was most definitely the only kid in my class that got so much joy from this day, because this meant the type A in me wouldn't have to lay in bed at night worrying about that shoe box diorama I was going to have to whip up or the reading assignment due by next week.  I am all about the crossing things off the to do list.

Oh, how I'd love one of those days now.  I guess that's the fun in being all grown up that the list keeps on going and instead of construction paper covered shoe boxes you have your family, your work, a floor that always needs sweeping and a phone call that always needs returning.  I can't complain at all, I love what I do and try very hard to do it with a grateful heart.  We also don't have kiddos, so I really can't complain anyway.  I just need to work on my balancing act and somehow learn to convince myself it's okay that I went to bed without it all complete. 

I also need to find the balance with technology....anyone with me?  Between the blog that I sadly neglected for over a week, the blog reader that is about ready to overflow and the twitter and pinterest account that haven't seen the light of day in weeks.  I love them all but just can't keep up.

The Nester has a 31 day challenge link up going on and it has been so wonderful.  I have kept up with a few of those, one in particular, Clean Mama.  She's got a great system that I'm loving with some great tips.  I'm all for a little guidance there and she's speaking my clean house love language.

So, I'm curious how do find the balance between "real" world and the "blog" world?  I'd love to hear your tips or thoughts.  Or even some of the other 31 day challenges from The Nester that we must check out.

4 comments:

Payton said...

It's hard to get everything done, and you are so right that the list just keeps growing. Check one thing off and two more need to be added. I'm lucky and can do the blog (and blog reading) a little bit throughout the day in between housework and playing with Payton. Having kids helps, and a willingness to let go of things that may not get done for a while. If you find a silver bullet, please pass it on! I'll have to check out those sites you linked.
Love,
Christy (Payton's mom)

Happiness Is... said...

I feel like things like blogging are a hobby - when they start to feel like a burden or work, may be time to let them go (i.e. if your kid is enrolled in 34 sports, likely they'd give one up). NOT to say quitting is the answer, just that it's supposed to be fun - and whenever I start to feel bad about not reading/writing enough, I remind myself it's just for fun/joy. Nothing will happen if I don't write a post - not obligated to anyone but myself!

Payton said...

PS. That should have read "having NO kids". Having kids would not help with free time and the to-do list! Ha!

Anna Elder said...

i know how you feel. being a kid was so easy. even though we thought it was so hard then. i totally miss kindergarten. it's really hard to juggle all the things we chose to do in our lives. i feel super lucky that i work from home because it allows me more free time in the day to run errands and get things done around the house, work out, etc. However, sometimes I work for 10 hours straight, usually forgetting to eat. so, i do try to balance things. i typically make myself break up errands into 1-2 a day (if needed) and stretch them out through the week so i won't feel stressed. i mentally prepare for things and if anything throws off my plans it ruins my whole day so i'm really picky about having things in order and knowing what's going to happen next. i grocery shop once or twice a week. clean the house once a week, etc. as for "extra curricular" i try to blog a week in advance. i'll make a few blog posts at a time, schedule them and then edit if needed before they post. i try to do my reading and commenting in the morning before lunch. having a husband helps too because you can delegate some of the chores to him (mowing!). anyway…after finishing my book to you…i hope you find the balance you're wanting in your life. sometimes it takes letting go of things (like pintrest) that aren't really that important.