This has been a very busy week. As you can see, I haven’t had time to blog very much this week. My parents are on vacation, so our routine becomes a lot different. Grace goes to my friend Patty’s house when Grandma and Grandpa are gone, which is great, but Patty lives a lot further away than Grandma and Grandpa do, plus when they’re out of town, Grace and I house sit for them, so after I pick up Grace, it’s over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to water plants and take care of the puppy.
Yesterday, I had a whole list of things that Grace and I needed to get done, but I woke up with a terrible head ache and by noon, I was out of energy, so we laid down for a nice nap. I had some energy after the nap, so we were able to get a few things done yesterday evening.
Even though this week has been hectic, and yesterday didn’t go according to plan, I was thinking back to where we were last year at this time, and I have to say, last year, I was OVERWHELMED. There was WAY too much on my plate, and I was trying to do it all. I would push myself to do everything by waking up early and staying up late. It absolutely WORE ME OUT. There were times I barely had the energy to give Grace a bath and climb in bed at night. I would crash on the couch all weekend with terrible exhaustion and headaches. “What am I going to do?” I remember thinking to myself. I have to do something…..this is NOT working. My mind is constantly working on solutions and the only solution I could come up with for being overwhelmed was to SIMPLIFY my life.
“SIMPLIFY. That sounds good.” I thought to myself…..”But HOW am I going to do it? It’s easier said than done.” I went back to the drawing board and kept thinking it over and over. My first solution was to work fewer hours. I was working 40+ hours at work (on top of everything else, so I was putting in over 70 hours a week BEFORE I even did anything for Grace.) “Cut back my hours?” I thought to myself, “That’s going to put us in a hole, we need the money.” Then I did the math. I cut back my hours at work to 34 hours a week, and guess what? The difference after taxes between me working 40 hours a week and 34 hours a week is around $30 a paycheck. I would rather have the extra 24 hours a month than the $60 a month I’d make if I was working those hours.
6 hours a week doesn’t sound like a lot, but I was amazed at how much I was able to get done during that time. It gives me time to run a couple of errands and teach a couple of piano lessons before I need to pick Grace up. One of the best things is that when we get home, I don’t have to focus on bills that need to be paid or errands that need to be run, or piano lessons that need to be taught…….I used the time I got out of work early to do those things, and when we’re home, I can focus on Grace! It’s so nice to be able to go home, have dinner and relax before bed.
My #2 solution has been my long term goal of teaching piano lessons as my source of income. I’ve worked and worked on that goal one little step at a time. I’ve had to push myself and remind myself that even though it’s not happening as fast as I’d like it to, and even though our life right now is hectic, this is only temporary until I can teach full time.
#3, I sat down and took a look at my priorities, and where I was spending my time. I determined that I was spending too much time on-line. Even though I was researching things, or trying to work out details of setting up my studio, it was taking up way too much of my time, so now I limit my time on the internet. Now, I can spend that time working on projects around the house, and playing with Grace.
So, even though this week has been a busy one…….I am thankful that I made a decision to “Simplify” my life and I am not overwhelmed any more.
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