Getting Priorities Straight

A friend of mine tweeted me the other day:

I want 2 c ur schedule sometime. U’ve got to be the busiest person I’ve ever known & ur always so positive! How do u do it?

My answer?

I lie:-)

In all seriousness, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I do have a ton of things I try to do well. I am a wife, a mom of now 4 little girls, I work full-time, I write as much as I can, I blog three times a week, I try to go to conferences, I study writing craft, I’m involved in a crit group as well as a local writer’s group, not to mention a long list of other smaller things I try to do outside of writing.

Sometimes I take a step back and look at my life. What am I spending time on that I don’t need to? I complain about having too little time, but I also know that I don’t always use the time I have wisely.

And an even bigger problem, my priorities get so very out of whack so easily. I “do” everything, but nothing gets done like I want it to. I don’t spend the time on my writing that I’d like, or spend time proofing and tweaking my blogs to make them sound picture-perfect. My husband gets my leftover energy as well. My kids complain because I don’t pay them enough attention, and they’re right. I don’t. My house most days is NOT spic n span, even though my husband does try to help out with it. I go to work oh-so-very tired and whereas I probably give more effort to my job than I do anything else in my life right now (it does pay the bills you know!) I still could do much better. And the five minutes I spend every morning reading my Bible just doesn’t feel adequate by any stretch.

In short, I’ve overextended myself, which is so very much typical Krista. This has left a very tired, pregnant woman who just wants to sleep all day!

My problem: I don’t know what to eliminate. Every once in a while, I contemplate taking a writing break. And I do take short breaks, during busy weeks or months, and allow myself a breather. But to quit for longer than that? I don’t think that’s the answer, not at the moment, because it’s one of the things God is calling me to, not away from.

So I’m starting to look at the little things I do that waste time, or the things that aren’t absolutely necessary. Internet time is a big one. Blogging is another one. I’ve already cut down on the number of blogs I read, even though it pained me SO very much to do so. I feel like I’m missing out!

So, here are a few things I’m doing to help manage my time so I can give priority to 1.) God 2.) Family 3.) Work 4.) Writing.

• Cut down blogging from 3 x’s per week to 2. For the rest of March, I’ll post on Monday and Friday’s only. In April, I’ll relook at it to see if I need to adjust anymore.
• I will turn off Twitter/Facebook/Internet while I write.
• I will manage my commitments. I HATE telling people no, but I’m learning that I’d rather to do less things well, then do many half-baked.
• Bring my lunch to work at least 3 x per week and use the hour to write (unlike my habit of late of going out to eat most every day! This will help my writing, my wallet, and my weight!)

I’m sure there are a TON of other things I can do, but well, if I have too MANY goals I’ll be overwhelmed by goals, ha!!

So, please pray for me as I try to re-prioritize my life. I REALLY want to have good habits by the time baby number 4 arrives in August.

Discussion: What are things you’ve done in your life to reorganize your priorities? Have you had to give something up that you loved in order to gain sanity?