On Routines.

I see so many people on Instagram and Facebook that live back east or the far north, or anywhere that is experiencing the crazy ass winter this year has brought, saying that they're on day X of cancelled school, and can't wait to return to the routine of school days...this confuses me.

On the one hand, I love when my kids go to school. I have an entire chunk of day to work, meet with potential clients, run errands, grocery shop in peace, avoid crowds, etc. On the other though, it comes with so many other things that I seem to forever suck at: getting places on time, waking up early, routines in general...

I am not a very strictly routined person.

I was not exactly raised in a consistent environment.

Over the last few weeks though, my work has suffered for it.

I got crazy busy, Lainie had a dance she needed a costume for, I went out of town, two clients who I sent CD's to didn't receive them, and all of a sudden it was like I was drowning.

EVERYTHING started piling up.

The house is a disaster, the laundry isn't done, I can't find any of Jack's pants, and in the middle of all this, it's a new month and I have shit to do if we want to eat in February.

I need a routine.

I need a schedule.

I need more structure here, or we're going to drown.

I read Elizabeth's post recently about priorities, time wasters, and how she does what she does.

While I can't say I agree with everything she wrote, there was some solid insight there, and the main thing I took away from it was: waste less time, get more shit done.

Sounds simple, but sometimes we don't realize we're wasting time when we are.

So no more Facebook, no more Gmail chatting with friends, no more games on my phone or checking Instagram during certain hours.

Sit your ass down and get some shit done.

Another new thing I'm toying with is a schedule for the day.

I'm not the kind of person that can schedule every single task and every single minute of every single hour...I will die. But I can handle chunks of time that are dedicated to things. For example, I get home from dropping the kids off at school around 7:45. I need 15 minutes to stand under hot water in the shower, or check a little social media, or just pee by myself, but then from 8 am to 11 am, I need to turn that shit off and work.

I'm giving myself from 11-12:30 for lunch, and doing whatever I want. Napping, watching Netflix, reading, whatever. It's my time. 

12:30 - 2:30 is time to run any errands that need to be done before I get the kids, and finish up any pressing work.

2:30 I pick up the kids, and you don't need to know every other detail about my day, but you get the idea. 

Chunks of time.

I still have flexibility over what exactly I work on or do with it, but the time is either designated work, or designated bullshit time.

I've learned over time that there are three main things I absolutely need in order to be happy:

Freedom and flexibility in what I do for a living

Providing a stable, reliable, and not dirt poor income for my kids

Substantial, quality time with the people I care about, both my kids, and my friends/chosen family/romantic person.

Everything else is just a distraction.

We'll see how it goes.