I get asked that question a lot. Usually via Facebook, when I post to my status whatever stupid, yummy, sugary treat I’ve just made myself. (Yesterday it was homemade chocolate-caramel ice cream. YUM!!)
It’s been posited that I am either on crack, have an extreme case of ADD, or simply have a resting stress level that would kill a rhino. I think it may be some combination of all three.
However, I think I’ve got a pretty good work-life balance. See, I work in my home, so I just do it all at one time! (I kid! But I don’t.) Wake up, take Brian to the train, feed the baby (who is not a baby anymore but whatever), take her to school, sit at my desk, do work, have lunch, make something sugary, eat something sugary, do more work, pick up the baby, pick up Brian, cook and eat dinner, put Abby to bed and go back to work. That last item may or may not be replaced with “play Wii games” and/or “watch Top Chef.” It all depends on how busy or tired I am.
I know how profoundly I’ve been blessed. I’m no more than 100 feet from the kitchen - I can be at my desk downstairs and hear the timer go off on the microwave. And Abby’s old enough now that if she is home sick, I can mostly put her on the couch with a Disney video and work in 45-minute bursts.
I often wonder how it would work if I didn’t work where I live (or these days it seems more like live where I work). I remember joking at other offices that I needed to get a cot so I could stay until midnight. I’ve always had a flexible enough schedule that I could go grocery shopping in the middle of the week if I really needed to. I repeat, I am and have been incredibly blessed. I am also allergic to 9-5 desk-work.
But I want to know: how do YOU do it? All my mom-friends are super-moms. Everyone who works also has a life (although the inverse may not be true). So really, truly, leave a comment and tell me how YOU find that balance point and get it all done. I could always use some pointers.
Since I don’t have kids, it might be cheating a bit, but I get asked that question a lot too. I think folks don’t realize exactly how much time they really do have, because they fill that time with tv and the like. And that’s not a bad thing at all if it’s what makes them happy. It’s just that some of us, and it sounds like you’re one of them, need projects. We’re not so good at sitting on the couch for hours – sure, sometimes, but not every day.
I love to make lists. It helps me get a better perspective of what *needs* to get done versus what would be nice to get done.
Making a weekly menu has seriously changed the way I operate. It saves so much time and aggravation – there is nothing worse than having to come up with a dinner plan when you are hungry and crabby.
Another biggie I have been working on is learning to let things go. Some days (or weeks, or, let’s be honest – months) it just doesn’t get done. And that’s ok. I can bake the banana bread tomorrow. The bananas won’t mind.