catching up

(mural Alice Springs. Pete, River, Sol silhouettes)

Finding time to blog regularly is proving a challenge at the moment.

You see I've made a few new rules for myself and one of them is I no longer go to bed at midnight most nights and let me tell you that makes a million miles of difference to so many things.

It is an easy habit to fall into staying up late while the house sleeps, just so you can have some quiet time to yourself but really nothing can replace good sleep.

Add to that drinking two litres of water a day and you have yourself a recipe for more energy right there!

So, now that I'm going to bed earlier and doing important things like you know watching Madame Secretary with my husband I have to find a new time to blog. And I will! And I'm serious about the watching TV with my husband thing. Spending time together is actually important obvious as it sounds!

The other thing I've done is set myself office hours. The key is, sticking to them. Which I'm doing. This sounds so simple but has been life changing.

Managing your time well when you work from home is one of the trickiest things about working for yourself and working from home.

In my case clearer boundaries needed to be set. There is a time to fold washing, a time to focus on work, time to drink coffee with your girlfriends and time to spend with your loved ones and if you feel like you're constantly chasing your tail it is time to make some changes.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I just wanted to fill you in on what's been happening, where I've been and because I'm guessing there's a few people reading this who need to set some boundaries of their own. Do it!
It is easier than you think and it pays off in ways you can't even know about until you do it. And it is the small changes that make the big difference.

How is your week? Do you work from home? Tell us your time management tips in the comments. 
I'd love to know what works for you.

monday musings: on being busy

I've decided that 'being busy' has become an overused easy excuse not a genuine reason. Have you noticed? For so many people their reply when you ask "How are you?" is "I'm so busy". Or "sorry I haven't been in touch I've been so busy".

Sometimes this is hard to swallow when you consider the number of communication mediums available to us, that sometimes it can be days before we reply to family and friends or receive a response. Because we are 'busy'.

I read once in a buddhist book (sorry I'm vague on title details it was a long time ago) that to the Eastern way of thinking Western busyness = laziness. And I have to agree this makes sense to me.

Maintaining a daily spiritual practice (whatever that means to you) and regular meaningful connection with friends and family are just two important parts of life that can suffer: because we are 'busy'. Too busy to exercise, too busy to eat well, sleep well, love well, live well. Something is wrong with this picture wouldn't you agree?

Sometimes when I talk to my wonderful nan on the phone and say we will come and visit some time soon, in her gracious way she says "see how you go. I know you are busy". Nan says this, not because I have told her I am busy but because she likes to make life easy for everyone and would never want me to feel pressure to come and visit (not that I ever do in the slightest it is always such a joy to see her). I tell her "I'm never too busy for you".

I do prefer to say and think that life is full because that is the way it feels in the best possible way. To my mind being busy has a bit of a negative connotation in that there may be stress accompanying the busyness.

I looked up the definition of busy -
busy adjective. having a great deal to do verb keep occupied.

Yep that's pretty much everyone.

From here on out I am being mindful of the 'b' word, intending not to overuse it and definitely won't be relying on it to make things ok for not getting back to friends and family when they phone, text or email.

What are your thoughts on being busy? Am I over-reacting, are my expectations too high or does the busy phenomenon bug you too? Do you know anyone who is not busy?

my kitchen rules

This post has nothing to do with the television program of the same title, it was just a sneaky way for me to name the post and veer slightly off topic and on to the mysterious knack of keeping house with children who are still learning the 'house rules'.

I have a friend who I admire, we'll call her D, D has an almost magical ability to keep her home in impeccable order without it feeling clinical or uninviting. In fact it is just the opposite, her home is aesthetically beautiful and the order imbues it with a sense of calm making it a warm and welcoming space to be in. She has two sons under the age of 7 and you can arrive unannounced day or night and order reigns supreme.

I marvel about her to other friends "I have this friend who..." and those friends say "oh but she must spend her whole day cleaning and tidying".

I recently came clean (pardon the pun) and asked D her secret. She laughed that I wanted to know and then happily filled me in.

I thought her answer may interest you too (sorry to those who couldn't care!) I am always curious about how other people 'do' life and am eternally searching for better ways to do things myself.

D says, "I can't think clearly if the space around me is disorganised. I am just one of those people who needs things to be ordered. And no I definitely don't spend all day cleaning up".

I suggested that really all people probably function best when their space is ordered but it is the how to make that happen that is a mystery to many, especially when you have professional house messer upperers (children) to derail your order.

Here is D's strategy:

Get rid of stuff. Regularly - "less stuff = less to organise, put away, tidy etc;"
Storage - "a place for everything and everything in its place"
Morning ritual - "washing goes on as soon as I get up. Beds are made as soon as everyone is up"
Dishes - "I never let them stack up. I let them drip dry but I wash them as we go."
Toys - "I have taught my boys to clean as they go. They pack up one game before they start the next."

Sounds pretty simple, yes? Or no?

Something else occurred to me about D's secret to success: her sense of style. D has a great eye for putting things together. Some people have a natural flair for this. I'm not entirely convinced that it comes naturally to me, and I used to think that putting a lot of time and effort into how things look was er dare I say, superficial.

I've changed my mind. Creating a home that is aesthetically pleasing is not superficial, there is an organic way to go about that too by seeking out recycled furniture and fabrics rather than buying new. And because of my perfectionist tendencies I've been slow to learn that it takes time to master things, even your own sense of style and it is ok to ask for help from those you admire.

How are you at keeping house? Are you in a happy space? Or couldn't care about that pile of dishes?

managing distractions

Monday feels like a good day to write about 'getting things done'. While I'm definitely one for making time to watch the clouds drift by I do have a mild trait of needing to be productive to feel happy. And if I'm honest, I'd like to be way more efficient at getting things done. I don't like the feeling of always playing catch up and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. I've identified a few daily distractions slowing me down and want to compare notes with you.

As regular readers know my eldest son River started prep this year, one thing his class is practicing is 'managing distractions' that stand in the way of their learning. What a great thing to learn, because there is no shortage of distractions in this lifetime to take our minds and actions away from what we really want or need to be doing.

Checking emails, sending text messages, chatting on the phone, reading blogs, washing dishes, are just four of my distractions that keep me from getting through a to do list that some items seem never to be crossed off.

So now that I'm becoming clear about what is distracting me, I am going to manage those distractions. If my five year old son and his classmates can learn to do it so can I. And I've started with writing this post. Normally I would check emails as they came in and if I felt like it I would reply to them, I would answer the phone if it rang, if I got stuck for a word or next sentence I would wander off and wash the dishes or wander to another blog - true this does help writer's block - but it didn't take much for me to wander off.

Single-minded focus is my new aim. Starting a task and seeing it through, managing those distractions as they come flying at me including the thoughts that take me away from my task is my new approach.

I think clearing my mind with meditation and returning to regular yoga practice would definitely help me to focus my busy mind and scattered approach to getting things done.

I've decided clutter is huge time sucking distraction. My husband is always telling me the more possessions people have the more time they have to spend putting them away and he's right. A 'spring clean' is in order for me to cut down on the time I spend organising possessions, finding lost items and putting things away. Less things, more time to myself.

If you're looking to change your ways this list 50 tricks to get things done faster, better and more easily has some good ideas. And if organising and decluttering your house is a priority but you don't know where to start The Organised Housewife will get you sorted.

Are you satisfied with your productivity/efficiency? How do you organise your time to get things done? Send me your tips I would love to know what works.

snatch 'n' grab

Children are taught not to snatch and grab. I’ve decided the rules are different though for mothers. If I don’t snatch and grab TIME I will never accomplish a project, a phonecall, writing a card to a friend, exercise, sewing, gardening, reading…whatever it may be.

I’d been wanting to sew some pants for the boys but 3 days of heavy rain stopped me from driving 40 minutes each way to the fabric shop in Mornington. So when I decided to sew them out of fabric I had at home my next thought was “I’ll wait til Sol has his nap today". I got sidetracked and the making didn’t happen. Then I thought "I’ll wait til they’re asleep tonight" then it was late and still the time didn’t seem right. Another day passed and the pants were still annoyingly unmade, not even begun.

I decided it was TIME to snatch ‘n’ grab. Half an hour before the boys bedtime while they ran around me I laid out the fabric and began pinning on the pattern. The boys stopped playing to ‘help’. While Sol played with the sharp scissors and tipped the pins out onto the carpet, River and I continued pinning the pattern to the fabric. We’d made a start! Then, Sol tore the pattern in half. Ok, time for bed boys.

An hour later after I tucked them in and the house was quiet I returned to the pants. After sticky taping the pattern back together I was ready to cut them out. I’d made a start.

When the boys woke the next morning all I had left to do was put the elastic in the waist and hem them.

Ta da! They were done.

So I invite you to snatch ‘n’ grab some time. Don’t wait for that lovely long stretch of uninterrupted day or night. Get started on writing or reading that book, sewing that dress, painting that masterpiece, lifting those weights. The time is now. Just make a start.

You can find 15 minutes each day to dedicate to something you really want to make happen by the end of the week you will have devoted almost 2 hours to your task.

It works. Try it and see. I’d love to hear how it works for you, what you create.

Happy weekend everyone.