Finding the Balance!
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| the spirea plants look completely dead but close inspection has revealed the new growth ... both plants are covered in tiny (about 2mm long) leaf buds, so a lot of growing still to do but it is looking promising |
The list of things that I can stop doing is short and easy to sort out. I've been following the online nutrition classes since the beginning of lockdown in 2020 and in that time I have gained a good understanding of how nutrition choices affects me and have made the necessary changes. There are probably still more changes I could make but at the moment my focus is more on the exercise side of things and I am happy that I eat healthily for more than 80% of the time, so for the time being I am going to stop attending the nutrition classes. The sessions are now recorded so if I want to backtrack on that decision I can watch the recordings at a more suitable time. I've also decided to stop the daily Italian lessons on the Duolingo app. I've got to the stage where it's now progressing too quickly and to be honest has become a bit of a chore. I've had a long hard think about why I am doing it and have reached the conclusion that it's no longer the need it used to be. I've now learned enough that if I do ever travel to Italy I'll be able to order food and drink in a restaurant, ask for directions, and also probably hold a fairly basic conversation. If an Italian conversation group does ever become available locally I can always rethink.
On to the things I want to do. I won't bore you by listing everything separately but this covers all the social activities, hobbies, personal training and exercise, and home cooking. I have plenty of time to fit in everything I want to do but need to be more disciplined about the things that need to be done daily, i.e. daily exercise and daily piano practice. Ideally they both need to be done as early as possible in the day but I've been letting that slip lately, too often leaving them until the evening when I've been too tired to do them properly. I do much better at both if I start the day with them, exercise first and then piano, so my focus will be on organising my days properly to allow this to happen. One of my focus words for the year is 'consistency' and that definitely applies to these two activities!
Finally, the things I have to do ... this covers household chores, shopping, admin tasks, meal planning etc. These are the things I always seem to be playing catch up with and which are most likely to get me down if they are not done. I've created a rough monthly timetable to see when my known regular commitments are and to see where I can allocate time slots to all the other chores while still leaving myself three days completely free. My free days are currently Saturdays (I'm not worried that my piano lesson is currently on Saturday afternoons), Sundays, and Thursdays and I can see where there is time each week to fit in the meal planning, shopping, and admin on one of the other days in the week. The problem area is the household chores! Not all of it as I'm okay with the washing up and keeping the kitchen clean and tidy, laundry, and general tidying up and keeping things organised, but it's more the cleaning side of things I struggle with so ... it's time to think about getting a cleaner again. I need to sit down and have a look at the budget and see if this is something I can afford to do and I'll try to get that done this week.
Today is a social day with personal training at 10 am and then the U3A canasta group this afternoon, and possibly a Zoom meeting with friends this evening although I haven't received an invite for it yet so maybe I have the day wrong. It's also bed changing day so there'll be a load to wash and dry and the bed to remake.
Those categories look good for organising your time better and I'm like you in that I am a morning person. so a good idea to start your day well. Housework is a chore no doubt about it, I hope your budget will stretch to you having a cleaner which will take a lot of pressure off you for sure.
ReplyDeleteI still have to finish checking the finances but will be phoning round to arrange for the cleaning companies to quote. I've cancelled some subscriptions I should really have stopped ages ago so I should be able to afford it. I don't know how much prices will have risen since 2019 which is the last time I had a cleaner so I'm hoping it's not a huge price increase! xx
DeleteI try and get house things done by 11am, that get's me started, then I have an hour of nicer things to do, and then it's the afternoon and evening of me time, doing crafting, reading and any groups. Other than Tuesday when I go to BSL sign group, it works for me, weekends are different, I try not to have any housework for 2 days.
ReplyDeleteYour days sound perfect. You have a good balance with plenty of 'me' time. I'm aiming for something similar but have to tweak for morning commitments. xx
DeleteIt's a struggle to find balance, isn't it? But, it sounds like you've made a good start! I really like the categories you've come up with and it's clear that you've given it some serious thought. I really like your plan to have three completely free days and not using those days to catch up on things like cleaning! I do hope that the budget will stretch to include a cleaner. :) Also hope that the headaches and other health issues will be less of an issue in the future.
ReplyDeleteYes it is a bit of a struggle but I'm getting there for how I want things to be now. I'm fairly sure I will be able to afford a cleaner but it does depend on how much prices have risen since the last time I had one. I've had the health issues all my life and find that, when things aren't good, it's the cleaning I get behind with and that's why I want a cleaner. xx
DeleteTime management is probably one of the biggest topic categories at the library or bookshop next to relationships. I have been reviewing my time management skills over the last few months as it use to be one of my strengths. BUT like so many other things that got muddled in the last 2 1/2 years of the pandemic, it has been tough sorting it out again. I still have a sense of missing out for the last few years. For me a few of the domestic challenges, like changing sheets, towels & the subsequent laundry of such, have to be done on the weekends because of the discount cost of electricity (hydro); washer & dryers use a lot of hydro. Part of reworking my schedule has been the fun of using colour markers & assigning tasks to others (lol). Sounds like you have already sorted your schedule for now with room to change, if wanted or needed. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm getting there with everything. I hear what you are saying about the feeling of missing out and that's what I'm trying to remedy by sorting out my routine ... to give myself space to have the experiences I feel I missed out on. Love the idea of coloured markers etc. ... may have to copy that! xx
DeleteLike you I have struggled on keeping up with household chores. However last year I timetabled them on a weekly/monthly/annual basis. I also tend to get them done in the morning as otherwise things get left. Some things are now habits and get done automatically. My free days are Thursday and Friday when hubby has his days off. I tend to do my hobby activities in the afternoons. This works well for me apart from when hubby has time off, like last week where everything goes to pot as we have other things to do and now this week I will be playing catch up. But it was lovely to have him home for the week. When I was working I also had a cleaner, but it doesn't always work out. Helen S.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have it sorted nicely and I like how you have timetabled your chores etc and it's what I've tried to do in the past. But, health issues always set me back and then I'm playing catch up ... it gets me down and it always the housework that suffers so if I can go back to having a cleaner again it will be much better. That's the plan anyway. xx
DeleteIt can be so difficult to find a balance between things we would like to do and things we actually need to do. I am working on this myself. I hope you can find a method which works well for you. Xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Jules. At least I only have to worry about myself which I think probably makes it simpler. I hope you can achieve the balance you are wanting in your own life xx
DeleteIt sounds like you're getting a good grip on working out which you want to do and things that need to be done. I have to do more of that. I do have my household chores broken up into days I do things and that seems to be working for the most part. I just need to not time waste. I think I get ultra-focused on something and can't seem to stop doing that one thing, and other things I want to get done just seem to be put off.
ReplyDeleteI know which aspects of life I need to change so have moved on to working out how I can make those changes. Well done on getting the household chores sorted out. As for the time wasting ... that's my problem, as well as getting distracted and making excuses for not doing what I should be doing! xx
DeleteI think you are very wise to deal quickly with things that have become - well, less enjoyable, really. We only have the one life and you and I, we both have more than done our bit and it's time to think of ourselves and what we would like to do to balance what we have to do. It's just too easy for life to get over-cluttered if we're not careful.
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Thanks Joy, that's encouraging. Sometimes I think I have a tendency to overthink things but I prefer to address issues before they become a problem. It's easy to keep going with activities and tasks that bring little joy just because I'm used to doing them, so from time to time I like to reassess. xx
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