Prioritizing a Busy Life

Well, it's that time of year again. When we vow to stop smoking, start exercising, and by golly, lose that extra weight that's stalked us for the last decade. Trouble is, everyone knows that New Years' resolutions don't make it past that insurmountable wall that is February. We can only take so many weeks of staving off hunger pains with salad and fruit before we lose our willpower and dive headfirst into that pan of brownies.

Another problem I have with New Years' resolutions, besides that they are impossible to keep, is that our resolutions seem to be so petty in relation to the master plan we call life. Is losing ten pounds really going to change your life? Is it going to change you? Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that losing weight can be a matter of health for many of us, and that it affects the confidence of virtually all of us. Eating healthier and getting more exercise are important goals. However, I challenge you to consider making changes in areas of your life that are more consequential. How about eliminating negative speech? Can you imagine the lasting impact that would have on your relationships, especially in your marriage? Or what about going on an electronic diet? Limit your television and computer time, and replace it with reading, playing board games with your kids, or something active like running.

Personally, I have decided to tackle my nemesis - Time Management. From what I can tell, nearly all of us are tormented by this particular villain. Between jobs or school, husbands and children, homes to keep up, extended family commitments, etc., many of us can barely keep track of what day it is. The best we can do is say, "Oh, today we have writing club, dance, and night classes - it must be Tuesday." At least for me, it's time to jump off this carnival ride and reorder my life.

I have always had a policy that we should have one evening a week and one day a weekend that is spent at home. This helps to insure that we: 1.Get a chance to rest, and 2. Spend some time together as a family. Since I started school full time and the kids all became old enough to participate in activities like baseball, volleyball, and dance, this policy has flown out the window. I don't purposefully schedule things every day, but, for example, when I signed Andrew up for basketball I didn't realize they would have practices and games on both Saturdays and Sundays. Add in what I already had scheduled, gymnastics Saturday morning and church on Sunday, and there go our weekends. The same happens during the week. I don't schedule activities for Thursday nights, but three out of four weeks I will end up with something. A meeting one week, a practice another, and the kids' school concert thrown in for good measure.

I propose list-making as step one in the fight against busy-ness. You can organize your list into categories if your a type-A personality like I am, or just free-flow if that's your style. I already know which categories are most important, and which order they go in. My problem is that I have too many entries within each category. So here goes. I have to decide what my top priorities are with regards to church, family, and school, and some things are not going to make the cut. Will you take the plunge with me?