After catching up with friends, and taking care of the many odds and ends upon my return (tomato canning, lemonade making, deep-house cleaning, sewing, house painting, wall repair, stove repair, flat tire, etc.), here I am, re-emerging with alone time (for the first time in 3 months), and an urge to write again. Sorry for the long absence!
The kids went back to class and as with every back-to-school, I am set with a set of new school-year resolutions (along with most parents of school aged kids). I am ready for a new beginning, full of hope. I again hope for a better, more organized year with more time for human relations and more me time (the latter in the hope to be more zen as I often worry about the memory that my boys will have of me later in life...stressed out, too busy, ?). I hope to hug and cuddle my kids and husband more. I hope to have friends and neighbors over more often, and more spontaneously (my perfectionism too often keeps me from doing so). I hope to get closer to my dad. I hope to call my mother-in-law more often. I hope to give myself a facial once a week. To sum it all, I need to make more time or rather, I need to stop wasting time.
My household is very organized, and by both cutting off TV and simplifying our lifestyles, we have greatly expanded our leisure time, but I still find myself sometimes wasting away by either procrastinating or aimlessly surfing the net (the latter usually being a product of the former).
And since it is well known that e-mail and the web are the bane of the procrastinator's existence, I plan on spending less time on them. Not so easy when you write a weekly blog, but doable. I already deleted my Facebook account. I am happy with my social life and felt that FB did not do anything for me at this point in my life, and it ate into our precious time. I also vouch to only check my emails twice a day and keep an empty in-box (better for the mind, better for the environment...not unnecessarily cluttering up a running server somewhere). I have even contemplated the idea of sticking to short email replies and adding: “Sent from my iPhone” or “Sent from the road” to my email signature ;). From what I learned in an article, I also need to make a list of computer tasks and block time for it, just as I need to make a list of tasks away from the computer so that I don't get tempted to jump back into it. By breaking down a large project into the set of smaller tasks required to complete it, I should also be able to take care of my propensity to procrastinate.
If all goes well and I follow my resolutions carefully, I should be one zen, entertaining and cuddly mom by next year ;), and hopefully with even one less wrinkle (from the weekly facial).
What's your time waster?
