I have a variation of that on a t-shirt: “So Many Books, So Little Time”. Actually, now that I think about that, I actually have two different t-shirts that say the same thing. I need to find one that has the title of this post and get one for every day of the week.
I know I’m not alone in having too much to do and too little time to do it, right? And that just takes into account the normal, everyday things. Then we have the unexpected things that pop up and disrupt our already over-full schedules. The list is different for each of us, and the way we cope will also differ. But I imagine some of the strategies used could be applied in different situations.
One of my aims this year was more writing and family time, along with a new, better day-job. The day-job made the other two things possible, because it is a (usually) set schedule, so I can make plans ahead of time for the other things that need my attention. Yay! The family time actually, and unexpectedly, not only became more possible, but necessary with some things that have happened in the past five months or so. That isn’t a complaint–I’m actually very, very happy to have spent so much more time this year than I anticipated with family I don’t see often enough.
And I have managed more writing time this year, which is also a good thing. But I would like more still.
That means other things must be bumped from my schedule.
I can’t cross off cleaning; I’ve never been a neat-freak, so my cleaning is always ‘as necessary’ or when company is coming. It’s not something that relaxes me, or lets my brain work on other things like some of my other writer friends. Given the opportunity, I would quit it altogether and hire someone. Alas, not yet.
Everyone in the house requires clean clothing, so the laundry cannot be removed from my list either. At least I only have laundry for myself and my husband–my kids do their own. And while the laundry is in, I am always doing something else (like writing this blog post).
The family also requires that I feed them regularly. I do not, however, cook every day. When I cook, I make enough for several days. Plus, now that both boys work full-time and on varying shifts, there aren’t always four of us here for supper (including me, some work weeks), so when I cook, the leftovers might last longer than several days and several days’ work lunches.
And I haven’t even mentioned reading, which is both necessary to me as a life-long reader and as a writer.
So I guess I’m looking for ideas. What time-saving ideas have you all found to give you more space on your schedule for things you want to do versus the things you have to do? And how do you manage not to beat yourself up for not managing to get everything done? That is a whole other post, but not for today. There is laundry that needs finished, supper waiting, and more pages to write!