You’ve probably all noticed, but I’ve been super quiet recently.
Don’t worry, everything’s fine.
Yet, at the same time, everything’s not fine.
In truth guys, I’ve been feeling frustrated lately. I’m feeling frustrated because I just don’t know how to balance everything in my life.
There, I said it. Does anyone else feel that way too?
I mean, one part of the problem is that I’m interested in So. Many. Things! On top of “adulting” (which is something that I have to do and not something that I necessarily want to do), I want to play the flute, go out for runs/bike rides/rollerblading/hikes, keep up with my blog (and fellow bloggers). I want to sew, garden, bake, play board games and video games. I want to get my nails done, stay on top of my social media accounts. I want to keep watching Netflix with my husband before bed.
I want to be able to read a darned book without my eyes getting crossed from fatigue after five minutes.
I want to spend some quality time with my kids. Time during which I’m not in the middle of laundry, supper preparation, or tidying up the house. Time during which I’m not stressing about the laundry, meal preparation and house tidying that I will have to do later on.
Right now, I’m not doing any of the things I want and have to do very well (except, perhaps, raising my kids – or, I’m doing it as well as I can). That’s ok, I guess. Though, there are some things I wish I did better. Like keeping my house clean and tidy. I mean, I don’t need it to be eat-off-the-floor clean, but finding a middle ground between that and the tornado-alley-like version that I currently live in would be nice.
The problem is, there aren’t enough hours in a day. And I procrastinate. A lot.
So, what do I do? Do I decide what’s important and concentrate on those things and drop some of the other things that interest me? Do I set up a schedule for the things that I want to do?
I just don’t know what to do.
How do you balance leisure, housework, parenting and work?
Oh, right there with you! One of my favorite overused business sayings from working days is, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Pick a task, do that task, re-assess to pick again, repeat. And when I feel particularly overwhelmed, my “picking” means making an actual To-Do list that I actually cross off, so I can organize the tasks and recognize the progress. Still working on incorporating those fulfilling tasks though (you’re not alone there!).
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Nous sommes les seules à savoir combien nous donnons le meilleur de nous mêmes et devrions êtres les seules à s’apprécier pour notre bien-être, la reconnaissance n’est pas toujours au rendez-vous, garder l’équilibre est notre choix, pas toujours facile. Bisous
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That’s absolutely true! It’s sometimes hard to see that behind the mountain of things to do, there are small steps that can be taken – that it doesn’t have to be tackled all at once. A to-do list is a very good idea. Thanks for chiming in!
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Prendre chaque jour comme un défi avec sa capacité du moment, donner l’attention et l’amour à ses 4 enfants et son conjoint demande déjà le don de soi. Pour garder l’équilibre on peut se permettre des moments de détente pour recharger toutes les énergies qu’il faut pour redémarrer une autre journée dans l’harmonie sans culpabilité. Procrastiner est un signe qu’il est temps de penser à toi. Je t’M et ton gp aussi. gros bisous.
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Just checking in to say I’m failing at balance as well and I have far less interests than you! LOL
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Thanks for sharing your struggle too. I guess it’s easy to feel isolated when feeling overwhelmed. Are you still blogging by the way? Hope you are well.
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Well, isn’t that the question that has been asked for, I don’t know, centuries 🙂 It is easy to get overwhelmed. Then comes the frustration. You know how to do it all, it’s just a matter of putting that puzzle we call a schedule together. I think you can manage it all BUT when you get to the frustrated point it is hard. It feels like chasing your tail. My suggestion would be, pick one thing that you love to do the most. Focus on that until you can get yourself back on track. I mean, obviously you HAVE to plan, raise, deal with the kiddos hehehe 🙂 Try not to be too hard on yourself. You are not alone in these feelings. It happens to everyone 🙂 You will get it all sorted and it will probably happen again at some point. You are doing better than you give yourself credit for 🙂
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Thank you, Margaret, your comment means a lot. I suppose you’re right though, that the question of how to find balance has been plaguing humanity for a very long time. You’re right, of course, I need to start by focusing on one thing (I mean, besides the things that need to get done) and work my way from there.
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I just know that it comes but it will go as well so cut yourself some slack 🙂 🙂 or else it will linger and eat at you 🙂 The cleaning was the most overwhelming to me because it always needs to be done or it backs up. I found that focusing on one room a day, for no more than 45 minutes relieved a lot of stress. You are doing good, don’t let “you” tell you other wise 🙂
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This post is so real! We all have to balance different aspects of our life, and right now I’m drowning in one. 😝 Its nice to see you alive and well! 😂
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Thanks Aditi. And you’re absolutely right! No matter what our situation is, it’s easy to find ourselves with too many balls to juggle. I hope you manage to get your own head ou of the water xx. Thanks for sharing 😊.
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Thanks! And no problem ☺
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Ouf, pas facile! Effectivement, peut-être que si tu te faisais un horaire ça pourrait aider! Je ne sais pas si tu le faisais à l’école mais je trouvais le mien très utile! Je commençais par bloquer les plages horaires lors desquelles j’avais des obligations invariables, par exemple, mes cours, le travail, le transport, le sommeil, la popote, etc. Ensuite, je pouvais voir combien de temps j’avais réellement pour le reste! Sinon, peut-être un coup de main de quelqu’un d’externe avec les tâches ménagères pourrait être à considérer? SURTOUT quand tu recommenceras à travailler?
N’oublie pas aussi que malheureusement, ce n’est pas possible de TOUT faire et que c’est très correct et même sain d’avoir des heures de procrastination!
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C’est un peu la réflexion que j’avais. J’ai l’impression que de faire un horaire serait gagnant, mais j’ai un peu peur de me sentir « pognée ». Il faudrait que je m’assure de me garder de la flexibilité pour procrastiner ou être spontanée sans stresser ou me sentir coupable de ne pas faire quelque chose de plus productif. Cela dit, je vais définitivement faire quelques essais!
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Exact! Je comprends ta crainte! Tu pourrais peut-être booker juste les responsabilités et pour les plages horaires libres tu écris que c’est libre et que tu peux choisir parmi X activités et que l’une d’elles soit “Embracing Procrastination”. Comme ça si tu choisis de procrastiner it’s all good et c’est considéré comme étant tout aussi important que coudre, jouer de la flûte, etc. C’est 100% sain de rien faire! (#lookwhoistalking hahaha)
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« Embracing procrastination » 😂. J’aime ça!
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I feel you!! I am in the same boat….so exhausting!
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I feel like it’s a very real struggle for so many people! Yes, definitely exhausting!
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