Have you ever felt like you could do with more than 24 hours in a day? More than seven days in a week? What I wouldn’t give for a Sunday v2.0 where all work and socialising was illegal and the only thing you were allowed to do was relax. Sadly, that’s never going to happen and so I need to find time within the week that I currently have available to me. This is currently proving to be an extremely difficult task as I have a full-time job and am studying for an MA part-time. I’m planning a 10th birthday party for my blog, and am helping to organise a burlesque show. I have friends I want to spend time with, a blog that is looking a teeny bit neglected, and have promised a monthly column to another fantastic website. As a result of this, my diary is looking extremely busy and my email inbox is bulging with messages that I should have replied to already.
So… I need a plan. First of all, I need to unsubscribe to some mailing lists so that my inbox is more manageable and doesn’t frighten the hell out of me whenever I look at it. Secondly, I need to start saying no to things. No more accepting invites to things that look fun simply because I want to have time for them. No more pretending I have time to see all my friends individually when I actually don’t. Something’s got to give as… well, I just don’t have the time. Next, I need to write a To Do list of all the important things. Putting this down in writing always helps to transfer the swirl of panic which threatens to engulf me into something more tangible and, dare I say it, achievable. As soon as the first couple of things get crossed off that list, it’ll feel like a small part of the wright has been lifted.
Last Friday, I drove to rural Leicestershire to have a rummage through the Council’s Collections Resource Centre. I took a day off work to look at some of the Symington collection of corsetry, foundation garments and swimwear as research for an essay I’m writing, and fully expected to be back in London by the evening. Thanks to a clumsy road worker hitting a gas main, I ended up being unable to take my car off the site that evening and ended up alone in a cheap hotel. I was so tired that I was asleep before 10pm, which is unheard of for me. Although I was absolutely gutted that I was missing the first day of the fantastic Eroticon conference, as I was driving home on that sunny Saturday morning I realised that I had needed the break. I needed time away from work, study, emails and housework so that I could recharge my batteries. Sadly, one night wasn’t enough.
I never used to understand why some people said they needed a holiday, and why they’d take it in a place where there was nothing to do. I guess I just wasn’t very busy back then! Right now, I would love to slow my life right down and put my feet up for as long as I feel that I need to. Some time soon, I’ll perhaps have a free weekend where I can spend at least one day of it doing absolutely nothing. Until then I shall have to make do with short daydreams on my commute that involve giant tree houses filled with cushions, big houses to play hide-and-seek in, and lying on soft grass just to stare at the sky.
But Lori, if you had that second Sunday you’d find plenty of things to fill it with. You know you would.
I’m in exactly the same place just now, and it’s leaving me stressed and irritable and actually getting LESS done. I’m allowing myself a couple of days to not feel guilty about it though.
x
You’re right, the extra day would get filled up so fast! Let’s both just sit back, take a few deep breaths and try to remain calm.
Must. Not. Panic.
You could be describing my life: work? Check. Studying? Check. Neglected blog? Check. New column? Check… How the hell did this happen? I used to just make time, you know? I’d see wonderful things to do and I’d ‘make time’ for them. Now I can’t make time because it’s already been made for something else.
Perhaps we should have lunch together and just sit quietly, studying. 😉
Eight days a week! Twenty-eight hours a day… PLEASE. I wish we could start this campaign but… oh, yes: we don’t have time.
I’m a big fan of study dates, which mean I get to see friends but we spend at least two hours studying before dinner. Perhaps we should plan one. Am definitely up for a lunch where we compare To Do lists too 🙂 What site’s your new column for?
I like this post a lot!
I can so empathise with you as well as tell you what an advocate I am of lists! It really makes a difference and breaks everything down into something far more manageable.
You can do it and you will! Stay positive and set yourself realistic goals and anything is possible. 🙂