The gift of time.

This is a long story, with a short message.  Be patient, read it all, and then think hard - what is your schedule like?

Thanks to the "snow day" in Austin, Texas on Friday, January 24th, I was blessed with the gift of time. 

I am no different than many of you. I am a busy, working mother who enjoys volunteering where my busy sons spend their time. I have created a flexible work schedule for myself because I want to be home when my sons get home after school, and I enjoy the time I have with my husband and sons in the evening.  I do not love working during those after school hours;  however, some days it just has to happen. It might be finishing up a project for a client, submitting a proposal or working on one of my volunteer activities, but there are days where I have to work in addition to driving someone somewhere and helping with homework.

This last week was one of those weeks, my schedule was completely full and there wasn't any wiggle room. Some of the items on my schedule were absolutely necessary and some were completely self inflicted.  On Thursday, I hit my breaking point, my wall, or whatever you want to call it when adults have a temper tantrums like exhausted 2 year olds. After collecting myself, I was forced to gather my thoughts and figure out how I was going to juggle all that was on my plate.

Was there anything I could get rid of, or put off? Unfortunately, no. Everything this week was deadline driven.  So, I went to bed a little defeated and definitely exhausted, knowing that Friday was booked with volunteer duties for an upcoming event, and that on Saturday I would have to prep and paint the laundry room before 10am on Sunday when the Container Store shows up to install my new shelves. (obviously a self inflicted deadline)

Then, I was reminded that I am NOT in charge. The powers above intervened and gave us what my children called "snow" (it looked like sleet to me) and school was canceled on Friday. Since my volunteer work was at the school, I was given the gift of time on Friday to start what was going to have to happen on Saturday. I was given the breathing room I needed to do the work with thought and purpose. It was a good thing because guess what...the prep work and the painting took at least twice as long as I thought it would.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I quickly realized that there was no way I would have been able to do the work that I needed to do, without running myself ragged and chewing my family up in the process.  Was getting all of that work done more important than my sanity, and our happiness at home?

What is the morale of this story? We need breathing room. We need to be realistic about our schedules and our commitments.  Why would I schedule a laundry room re-do when I am co-chairing an event at school, booked with client work, and busy with my children's activities?   Why not wait?

The sense of urgency is everywhere.  The real question is, "is it really urgent?"  If I had the sense to evaluate my schedule before I hit my breaking point, I might have seen that I didn't have time for this other project.  I might have spaced out my client work so that I could get a other responsibilities complete during my "work" hours.  Time is precious - what is the best use of it?

I have forgiven myself for scheduling over my family and coming very close to creating a firestorm.  I have thanked the powers above for the gift of time on Friday, and am enjoying time with my family on Saturday.  I will make good use of time today to complete my volunteer tasks so others can complete theirs too. 

Gifts of time don't come often.  What will you do to evaluate your priorities, plan appropriately and right your schedule? If you don't know where to start, call me. I can help you take control of what is going on around you, simplify your schedule and prioritize so you can make what you really want to happen in your, actually happen.