I have trouble with balance -- not the walking without falling kind, well, not always -- but the fitting in reasonable amounts of the things I should do with the things I want to do kind and balancing all those with the things I need to do.
Like solitaire.
Or reading.
Or cleaning, even. I've been in a purging phase lately, adding stacks and stacks of stuff to the Goodwill pile. Going through drawers, cleaning off shelves... (They sent a postcard saying they'll send a truck through my neighborhood on Thursday, so this makes sense. Mostly.)
Or cooking -- I've made multiple loaves of bread lately trying to figure out baking. And the only thing I learned for sure is don't eat dough that rises until after it is baked. Even coated with sugar and cinnamon. I never burped more in my life. Ick. And ick.
My reading lately has been entirely books about writing, proving that another thing I haven't figured out how to balance is a reasonable divide between reading fun books and functional books. I've gone full-tilt into what people call the 'craft' of writing. SavvyAuthor's symposium a week or two ago. Then, yesterday, one of the bloggists I read suggested WriteOnCon.com whose Free Online Conference started today.
Suddenly I know what I'll be doing the next few days. And it won't be writing.
Do you naturally have balance (some people do) or do you struggle to fit in everything? Do you make a schedule and stick to it religiously? Or do less compulsive people just have an easier time with this somehow making it all just work without worrying about it? What are you doing this week?
No balance for me. But I don't actually have that much unaccounted for time that requires balancing. I guess when you've got three hours per day to catch up with your family, do housekeeping and do hobbies, you just do whatever you can fit in and hope to get to whatever you missed tomorrow, or the weekend, assuming that's not booked solid.
ReplyDeleteFor work, there is a meeting calendar, and a task list. And when the task list is looking a little overwhelming, then tasks start going on the calendar for some dedicated attention. Then we start over again next week.
Good luck finding balance.. I think it's probably a struggle for most people who have ever given it a single thought. Those who appear to have found it, are probably just living day-to-day not even thinking about it.
I spent all last week querying, so this week, I'm going to try to get back on the writing wagon...or I'm going to play Xbox.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally worry about that for Hubby. I have all day with the Little Ones, but he has from 5:30 to 7:30 M-Thurs before they go to bed and we've made a habit of letting them go to spend Friday night with my MIL. 2 hours each day, a little more or less than that on Saturday, and all of Sunday.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem like that much. One the plus side, he has fewer hobbies than me and he shares them with the children (video games). They seem to love them. They don't care for book reading or staring at a computer for a few hours trying to figure out which words work best. They tried knitting and it only frustrated them.
I do recognize that I'm very lucky to have more time though, even when it makes me feel like a loser that I can't point out anything accomplished in a day. Can I count the reading books on writing as accomplishments or just words written? If I'm trying to be a writer does it count as an accomplishment when I clean the kitchen? Should I try to block out my day with a number of hours for reading , some for writing, some for cleaning... (and where do I fit taking care of the children, which is always the primary goal -- though with the minimum goal of keeping the children alive, I have, so far, always been able to manage that :)
And I realize I blather on, without visible direction when what I really mean to say is that I think you are likely right. All thinking people probably have problem with balance. And if not balance almost certainly guilt; thinking they should be doing something that they haven't.
Luck in your search and thanks.
Ah, xbox. The console we do not have. Bill loves his though.
ReplyDeleteLuck with either the gaming or the writing, whichever you choose this week!