A Little Overwhelmed

Lately, I've been feeling a little depressed. I think it's because my regular to-do list is long, and it seems like I can't get to half of it on a regular basis. Then there's the "when there's time" list, and I hardly ever get to that stuff.

I need to figure out a way to manage my time better so that I can get more done. I'm not sure how to do that, although setting a timer when I'm on the Internet might help. Now that we have an iPod Touch (Thanks, Corey & Gilda!), I can use that to do some web surfing while doing free step and maybe reclaim a little time there.

When we lived in California and both worked, we had a cleaning lady who came every other week. She stayed for a few hours and got an incredible amount of work done. I need to figure out how she could accomplish so much in so short a time and try to adopt some of her methods.

I think I also need to come up with a better way of keeping my to-do list. James uses Remember the Milk. I may start my own list there or look for another website where I can track tasks. If I can keep my list updated more easily and be able to access it without having to search for a notebook or index card or sheet of paper where my current list is, it may be easier for me to stay focused and keep on track with things. I can get an awful lot done on Fridays, when we're expecting our small group in the evenings, because I have powerful motivation to have my house clean. So I need to dig up more of that motivation so that I can get to other things, too.

It's tough because it feels like we're so busy that James and I struggle to find quality time with each other. Our evenings usually consist of watching TV while we get in some exercise after the kids have gone to bed. At least we're exercising and, hopefully, working our way toward being healthier, but we need to also figure out how to have some good time together just hanging out and talking.

We were busy before we had kids, and now even more so. And as they get older, some of their needs will fall away and we won't have as much to do in certain areas. But their time commitments will probably grow, and some of our time will be spent ferrying them to more activities and helping with homework. So it's not like we can expect a bunch of leisure time to return to us for quite a while.

I need to get my lists down in one place, prioritize them, and look to them for motivation instead of allowing myself to be lazy.

The other side of the coin is that I don't want to spend most of my time working on tasks at the expense of time with James, Rachel and Ben. It's a delicate balancing act. But I'm blessed to have my family and my home to take care of, and I want to do the best job possible.