How do you tackle life?

23 August 2011

Do you ever feel like you are on a treadmill.....
and if you stop running for a second...
you'll shoot off the back and never catch up again?

Kinda reminds me of the time I WAS on my treadmill and noticed dust on the bar at the front...
so leaned over to wipe it with my sleeve....
and quickly realised my feet were rapidly disappearing behind me...
and within seconds I face planted and was shot off the back onto the floor.
Now THAT'S embarrassing!
(And I'm quite sure I'm among a whole club of people who have done the same..)

anyway.....as I was saying...

I feel swamped a lot of the time...
instead of just knuckling down and achieving.....
I spend my time flitting from one idea to the next....
meanwhile thinking of the million other things I should also be doing.

I want to scrapbook..... I've got stories...photos....and ideas...
I want to stitch.....I have patterns....fabric....and awesome intentions...
I want to garden.....its a mess....I want to prune....plant.....and get it tidy....
Organise....I want to clean out some more cupboards.....take some unused things to the Op shop
Decorate.....I want to splash more paint....frame more photos...
Photograph.....I want to get my camera out more....play....have fun....
Bake.... I've been enjoying my kitchen....
Walk....exercise...get my butt back in the gym...
Blog for me....record our story..
Crochet....finish off the bag in progress....attempt some other patterns I've been dreaming of...

So how do we balance all of this....
Obviously work takes up a chunk of the week....
and so does cleaning...washing and shopping for food...

but its the leisure time I need to balance....
I've thought about scheduling time on the calendar
 ....allowing a prearranged block of time to turn my attention guilt free to these activities...
but that's easier said than done...
life never fits exactly to plan...
there are always things that crop up.

So I guess Ill just plod along as I do....
creating lists...trying to jam in as many things as I possibly can into every spare spot of time I have.

I would love your thoughts...how do you manage your leisure time?

edited to add:
This post had been in my drafts folder for a week.....
I wrote it last week prior to Brionys birthday when I was feeling particularly swamped...
Its amazing what a difference a week can make...
I still feel the same I guess....but on Sunday Ian and I spent a day in the garden....its all pruned...weeded...and tidy now....and that feels good.
Now on to some other things that I want done.

9 comments

  1. I could have written this word for word! When I was working (outside the home) I plodded along with the motto "small squares" a quilt block here, a crochet granny square, a page of art journalling at a time... This worked well, until I realised my workin progress was out of control :o

    Now Ive left work (work from home) I pick and choose and whatever makes me happy on that given day I will do... The work in progress are still many, but I.do on occasion finish something (or at least now see more progress ;) GL trying to find the balance!!!

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  2. It is a balancing act. I just do what makes me happy at the time. Sometimes I just tell the family that I need ME TIME and they let me go off into my creative space! Now the weather is warming up I try to get all the washing and housework done early in the day but after 9am I just try to go with the flow but once the kids are in bed .. creative space here I come!!! lol

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  3. Oh I too could have written this post (esp because I have also done a face-plant off my treadmill in similar circumstances!!!)
    I am in the post holiday funk that comes with the return of every trip we take. I NEED to do so much and have so little energy. I do appear to have a lot of energy for whinging about it but ;-)
    Thanks for this great post Mardi.

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  4. Anonymous12:54 pm

    ouch Mardi ;0 you made me laugh though ! hmm is it wrong to laugh at someone else's fumbles?? oops ;)
    my list is probably as big as you except i can't crotchet or knit (it's on my to do list to learn though)and i don't work at the moment but still feel like i am running! I end up taking up my time on volunteer things at my girls school and also studying, plus renovating, I am forever chasing my tail Sigh AND pinterest is a bad place to visit because it wastes sooo much time SIGH .. have a nice week . I am looking forward to thrifty Thursday i have found a few nice items this week ;) yah me

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  5. Mardi, you honestly achieve more in a day than anyone I know, I think you underestimate yourself. I try to model myself on you and achieve even a 1/4 of what you do. I think what you are doing is amazing - just like you!! xx

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  6. Great post Mardi...and glad that the day of gardening put you in a better place :)
    I don't work on Fridays, so allow myself to do whatever I want...be it scrapping, sewing, whatever....guilt free. I usually choose to machine sew. I have a half hour block each morning (between putting one child on the bus, and waking the other two for school) so try to do some hand stitching then ...it's amazing how relaxing it is between the school and work chaos. Other than that, it's just little blocks of time here and there, but I take what I can get!
    Good luck finding a bit more balance...it's a never-ending battle!

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  7. I know how you feel! I have cut back my craft commitments significantly, but I still feel like I'm always running and sometimes my to-do list overwhelms me. With work, building a house, looking after a five year old, trying to squeeze in a couple of trips to the gym and keeping my house clean, I seriously have to schedule my free time these days. It's sad, because I'd love to have unscheduled time to just do what took my fancy. But then I would not get everything done that needs it.

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  8. I hear you Mardi! I think we all have those weeks where everything seems overwhelming. Great to hear that you're feeling more on top of things this week! It's tricky finding that balance sometimes!

    Sheree xx

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  9. Hooray for tackling the garden! One job at a time will do the trick.

    Don't you wonder how some people can be "bored" when there's always so much that you want to do yourself?

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