December Thanksgiving Art Journal Day 17: Water

It's a good thing I like these colors, because as you saw, I used them in the previous day's challenge as well. One of the things I've learned with my busy kids, is that I still have to carve time out for myself, to do things I love. If that means working on my art journal while waiting for them at their activities, then that's what I do. I have pictures last year of me at play practice, working on revisions for a book. I sat in the corner revising while the kids were all on stage practicing. Sometimes I'd take a break and watch my kids, and when they weren't doing anything, I got a lot of work done. By the end of the play, I'd revised a book, and I'm pretty sure I knew everyone in the play's lines as well as they did. :)

All that kid watching makes a mom thirsty, which is why it's fun that the topic today is water. Sometimes, sitting in a gym or auditorium with bold signs clearly saying, "no food or drink," it's annoying to have to get up, go outside, get a drink, then come back in. And yet... I think about all the people who are walking miles to get dirty water because it's all they have. So it's good to be reminded of just how fortunate we all are. We're given so much and we take it for granted. That's why I don't mind rushing from kid activity to kid activity. I get to be there for my kids, when a lot of parents out there can't. I get to walk outside and get a drink of water, when a lot of people in the world can't.

Being grateful for the little things makes me remember just how very fortunate I am to be able to take them for granted.

Because we do take a lot of things for granted. Water is just one of them, and even though we're aware that others aren't as lucky, we don't always take the time to say thank you. I love having the opportunity to recognize that and to really take the time to be thankful.

Today's art journal topic is water.

My art journal entry reads:
"I am so thankful for water. Water is another thing we take for granted, and yet we're so lucky to have good, clean water at our disposal. I'm thirsty right now and grateful that I can go have some. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

How can you be thankful for water today?

I'd love for you to share your art journal masterpieces. You can either post them on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with the hashtag #DecemberThanksgiving, or feel free to email me if you want to keep it private.

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Making your office space work for you

I spent a good portion of the weekend cleaning my office. I didn't plan on cleaning my office, but as you may remember from my earlier post about how one project leads to another, you can understand how it might happen. It started last week, when I had a really great writing breakthrough. I decided I needed my desk to have some clear space to work. The only problem was, I had tax stuff all stacked up ready to do my taxes. So I started by clearing my desk.

Then, Saturday, I wanted a specific writing book that I know I have. But I couldn't find it right away on my writing bookshelf. I eventually found it, and it was exactly where it was supposed to be, but for some reason, that meant I had to clean my office. So now, I am in absolute bliss because not only is my office clean, but I got to do a few decorating/decluttering things I'd been wanting to do for a while now. I have a really small office space, and a lot of stuff, so this was a great exercise in making what I have work.

Presenting...

My office!

This is the view looking in through the door.

My office is in the basement. I hate being in the basement, but hey, you appreciate having an office to begin with, right? On the green wall, you see a white thing. That is actually the window, except that it's really old and it leaks freezing cold air, so I had hubby close it up with Styrofoam he had from another project. When we can afford new windows, it'll be a real window! The lamp thing you see, that is a special bulb that gives me the effect of being in the sun. So I don't have a beautiful well-lit office. But we made it work as best as we could with we already had.

Yes, those are my bookshelves. Some of them, anyway. The sticky notes on them are to let me know which is which for my catalog project. Someday I'll have them all in the catalog. My bookcases are pieced together from things we found on sale, at garage sales, and were handed down from others.

On the floor are three file boxes- two are stacked on top of each other. My laptop sits on that stack and I use the other one as a footrest. The fileboxes are all the mementos I'm saving from the kiddos, but I needed a table and footrest, and these are the perfect height. So why not let them do double duty? My couch is covered with a sheet- that's because my dog sits with me and he's gross. I wanted this couch to stay nice.

Here's the view from my closet. I have a tiny table squeezed between the couch and bookcase. I needed something to hold my tissues, tea, etc, and this small table works perfect. It's really ugly, but it was hubby's grandma's so I love it. The table has a drawer where I can keep junk like pencils, and then the shelf underneath is all of my current study materials. The dog is sniffing by my tiny trash can, and I have a bin next to it that has my book cataloging materials.

I have a fun quote I'm thinking of hanging above the couch- or above my desk. I can't decide, so it's not up.

The reason you see my ugly stepstool is because that's where it goes. When my door is opened, the stepstool is behind the door. It's a pretty small space, so I maximize my storage.

The big brown blob on the right is a shawl I knitted. I like to call it "The Behemoth." It's blanket sized, and it was a really good lesson in why you should check gauge before knitting. I usually have it wrapped around me as I work. But, as you can see from the other blankets in the picture, I also use those sometimes. I get cold easily, so I am generally wrapped in a blanket or two or more.



My closet is under the stairs, so there's not a lot of room, but I did manage to cram in 3 bookcases, and a couple of stackable storage drawers. Most of my shelves (including the ones in the other picture) are stacked with books two or three deep. Yes, I love my books. No, I am not getting rid of them. Being surrounded by books makes me happy.

I should admit that I have not read all of them. However, I intend to. I figure, once my kids are grown, hubby is retired, I'll have nothing to do but read. And that suits me just fine.

We will also not discuss my plans for when we run out of room. Personally, I don't think my kids need their own rooms when my books need space, but that's just my opinion.

 

This is the spot that started it all- my writing bookshelf. One of my goals this year is to make better use of what I have, and I'm hoping to really get some good use out of these books!

On the other side of my writing bookshelf is my desk. There's just enough room on that wall for the desk and bookshelf. I have a desktop, but I'll be really honest, I hardly ever use it. My office chair is a really fancy, really expensive chair, and, I hate it. It's not the chair's fault. I'm short so it's too big, and I haven't found one that works any better. If I sit at my desk for too long, my arm goes numb. So I don't spend much time there and prefer working on my couch. I do have a ball I sit on sometimes, but my chiropractor says I should only do it for short periods at a time.

My desk is a v-shape, and the other end comes just to my door. Like I said, small space. But it works. The far top of my desk (cut off in the picture) has a bunch of nice mementos and gifts from my writing friends around the world.

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but I have a set of file folders in a holder on my desk- THAT's all my tax stuff. I still have to work on those, and match them to my spreadsheet, but I'm hoping to do that soon, so I can get my taxes out of the way this year. I need to be a good example if I'm going to talk to others about taxes, right?

Ugh, I just realized that my lighter thing is right there with my pretty candles, looking not so pretty. Oh well. Even when I clean things up and make them nice, it's never going to be perfect. Martha Stewart, I am not, and that's okay. My bookshelves don't match, well, actually, none of my furniture matches, and as you can see, The Dog likes to sneak in a lot of my pictures. But that's okay. You don't have to make anything perfect to make a difference.

Do you have things in your house that you can re-purpose to help you work better?

Go back to school!!!

[caption id="attachment_4222" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Dog in his spot where I work.[/caption]

Or, what my day looks like when the kids are home and I'm trying to work.

9:00 Decide I should get out of bed because I've already wasted time I should have been working.

9:05 Wish I had stayed in bed because I've been "MOM!ed" approximately 1,000 times.

9:10 Take a shower.

9:30 Eat breakfast and start work.

9:35 Yell at the kids to turn the TV down.

9:37 Get up and close the door after my dog lets himself in my office. I work with the door closed. I could write an entire blog post about WHY I can only work with the door closed, but I will spare you the horror. Suffice to say the door MUST be closed.

9:40 Get up and let the dog out of my office.

9:42 Google devices that would let the dog in and out of the office so that I don't have to keep getting up. Find nothing.

9:43 Get up and close the door because the dog has let himself back in my office.

Repeat said process until 11:53.

11:53 Get up and make myself lunch. Listen to kid whine, "but I never got any breakfast." My answer, "fine. Have breakfast." Kid, "how come I can't have lunch?" Tell the dog he should be grateful we had him fixed.

12:05 Eat lunch while throwing dinner in the crockpot, thus proving that I DO actually feed my children (in case anyone from social services is reading).

12:15 Make another cup of tea and get back to work.

12:17 Close office door because dog has finally decided to grace me with his presence.

12:19 Yell at kids to turn down TV. Threaten to take it away.

12:21 Get up and let dog out of office.

12:23 Close office door because dog has decided that he doesn't want to be with the kids anymore.

12:25 Check school website to be sure that I didn't get the go back to school date wrong since everyone else's kids went back today. Nope.

12:27 Answer the phone in hopes it's one of the kids' friends asking them to go do something. As in, leave. At the sound of start of telemarketer speech, wonder if they'll take my kids in exchange for whatever they're selling.

12:31 Get up and let dog out of office. Inform him that he can fit in a crockpot just as easily as my roast.

12:33 Close door when dog returns.

Repeat until work is done.

Here is what my schedule will look like when the kids go back to school:

8:00 Get up and get kids off to school.

8:30 Eat breakfast, exercise, and take a shower.

9:00 WORK

12:00 Have lunch, let the dog out, think about dinner (start if needed).

12:15 Back to work.

3:30 Welcome my children home, and if all is properly aligned in the universe, finish work.

 

One more day, people, I can do this for one more day...

Making the time

[caption id="attachment_4055" align="alignleft" width="150"] The books and knitting I'm sacrificing[/caption]

Can I make a confession?

A lot of people praise me for how organized I am and how I've got it all together, and how I get so much done. Right now, I am SO not living up to that title. In fact, I feel like I am juggling a million glass balls and at any moment, they're going to crash down into a million little pieces that will get stuck in my bare feet, leaving me bleeding all over a carpet I still need to clean.

I keep saying, "when X happens, I'll do Y." And you know what? X happens, and something else gets in the way of my doing Y. I was talking to a friend who used to be one of my writing buds. We used to challenge each other and push each other on a daily basis. She hasn't been writing much because life got crazy. She'd say things like, "when I get past X, I'll start writing again." Well, X finished but then another situation came up, and it's been a couple of years. I told her recently, "You've got to just say, I don't care that X is happening. I'm going to carve out this time and I will write. This is my writing time, and I'm going to stop letting stuff interfere."

Then I realized something last night. I do the same thing. I missed a writing goal. It partially was because I was waiting on someone else. But then I slacked off on doing my part. Because life was getting in the way. First it was because I still needed to do stuff with my new computer (and yes, still working on it!), then it was because my boss was on vacation, and I had a lot more to keep up on. There was also my husband working weird hours, leaving me to do more of his stuff. Let's not forget the kids' sports and activities. I was trying to keep up with it all, proud of myself on the days when I had it together, worked out, made dinner, did my Bible study, got my work done, and found time to write.

But most days I've been falling into bed exhausted because I have too much to do in too few hours. And left a lot on my plate undone. I've done a lot of kicking myself for not accomplishing everything I'd set out to do.

I was thinking about this last night as I finished a great chat for work. It was fun, and I loved it. I was so tired after that all I wanted to do was curl up with one of the books I've been wanting to read for a while. But then I got an email from someone who just sold her book and wanted me to know so I could make the announcement. Of course I was happy for her, but a tiny voice in the back of my head reminded me that I'd never get that announcement for myself if I didn't do the work. So instead of picking up the book and treating myself, I pulled out the manuscript and got to work. A few times, I thought about going to bed, but then I started thinking about all the people I keep telling to make the time.

So I made the time.

I'm not saying that what I wrote was good (but I hope it was!), but I did get more done than I thought I would. Moving forward, I'm going to be more intentional about making sure I find the time to write.

How do you find time for the important things that sometimes slip away?

 

Pomodoro Productivity

I'm hard at work- REALLY!

A week or so ago, I was talking with Camy Tang about re-evaluating things on my plate and time management. She told me about the Pomodoro technique. She had read about it on Mary DeMuth's blog, and since I respect Mary as a fellow superwoman, and it was working for Camy, I checked it out.

Wowie Zowie!!

The first day I used it, I got all my regular work done, plus some writing, plus some chit chat with a good friend. I've been using it off and on for the better part of a week, and when I remember to use it, I'm finding that I'm getting a lot more done.

Now, since I don't have a handy dandy tomato timer, I've been using the microwave timer, which has been great for me, because it forces me to get up and turn off the timer, thus forcing me to stop work. Before, I'd look at the clock and think, "just a few more minutes," and keep going.

For those of you scratching your head about the technique, basically, what you do is take 25 minutes and spend it on one task, then when the time goes off, take a 5 minute break, then do it again. Each of these segments is called a Pomodoro. After four Pomodoros, you take a longer break.

Since I work at home, I've been using my breaks to straighten up the house, start dinner, do laundry, etc. I'm amazed at how much housework I get done during my breaks! Better yet, I don't feel as overwhelmed because I think, "only five minutes of putting laundry away. How much laundry can I get put away in five minutes?" And then, when my timer goes off, I leave my laundry where it is, and get back to work!

Today I crossed everything off my to-do list, including a couple of items I keep moving to another day because under my old haphazard method, I ran out of time. The only thing I didn't do is something I forgot to write down.

For me, the key is going to be remembering to actually use the system. My crossed off list proves that it works much better for me than anything else I've tried.

What time management system works for you?

Filling the well

Thursday is my favorite day of the week. It's the only day I consciously keep free. Well, sort of. The only things I allow to be scheduled on my Thursdays are things that make me happy. So I'll meet with my best friend, have my critique group over, etc. But mostly, I just hang out. Be lazy. And rejuvenate. Sometimes, I even sleep in.

The worst part of tax season is how "taxing" it is on my "me time." Because I am an introvert, I find the energy of having to deal with so many people and actually be nice to them trying. Not that I'm not a nice person. Well, maybe that's debatable. But to me, giving good customer service that's heartfelt and not being fake about it takes a lot of energy when what I'd rather be doing is sitting somewhere curled up with a good book.

During tax season, I am a ball of stress. I commented to one of my friends yesterday that I cry at every stupid little thing because I can't do anything about the big things. However, it's gotten a lot better now that I recognize the need for "me time" and I work hard to keep it that way. Instead of feeling stressed all the time, I have one day for decompression. Granted, I still have too many things I try to accomplish in that day, but I also make sure I take time out for one selfish "me" thing. Even though I call it selfish, the reality is that it is the time I need to rejuvenate and be a better me so that I can take care of others and do all the other things I need to do.

Last year, I also tried something new. I went on a silent retreat with my church. Wow! I wasn't sure how I'd do going 48 hours without speaking, but it was such a blessing. I went 48 hours without noise and input from all directions. It was just me and God. The one direction that mattered. And, if I'm really honest, the direction I probably ignore the most since it's not always the loudest voice vying for my attention.

If you are exhausted, like I am, and you feel like everything is tugging at you and pulling you in a million directions at once, like I do, then I'd like to suggest taking out your calendar, moving things around, and giving yourself a little space. Take that space and use it to rejuvenate. Do something nice for yourself. Maybe you don't yet have time to really do it right, but do something. Take that time, and while you're resting, invite the Lord to join you, and spend that time hanging out.

And if you're like me, and think you don't have the time to do it, trust me when I say you don't have the time not to do it.

Overconfidence is a very bad thing

I should have never spouted off about my routines.

Today, I completely imploded and exploded, which is a feat that defies a number of scientific laws. I think. But I did it. Ha! Er, wait, I'm not supposed to be proud of that.

One of the things I skimped on was Bible time. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Remind me to never do that again.

I had so little patience today, even though I should have been just fine. I think I spent more time yelling at everyone than I did accomplishing anything. Because the other thing I skimped on was picking up the house. Which looks like it's been ransacked by a herd of wild animals. Maybe not a herd. But at least four of them: the children, the husband, and the dog. So today was clean up the house day. Except it turned into yell at everyone because they're not doing anything to help day.

So now, I'm sitting here, in my still messy house, admitting defeat. My work is done, but my house is still a mess. And it occurred to me that maybe I need to focus on cleaning a different house. The rest of tonight- I'll be catching up on the skipped Bible readings, ignoring the laundry pile and dishes and everything else that nobody else does.

But maybe tomorrow, I'll be happier, saner, and back on a normal routine.

Routine in chaos

This week was the annual MOPS clothing and equipment sale. It's one of my favorite events of the year. I work with some amazing folks and I love the friendships that have been forged over the years. However, what this means is that I have to take time off my regular job, find child care of my little one, and still keep up with my online work.

I thought about sharing the details of how early I've had to get up (3-4 hours before my usual time) and that I've been staying up later than I'd like to stay caught up, but the last time I shared my schedule, I scared folks. What I do want to share is how I was able to do it.

I have a system.

A couple of friends and I were discussing FlyLady the other day, and I admit, I'm a reluctant flutterer. Her routines are too structured for me and I have emotional issues with wearing shoes. But she does have a great point. When you have a routine of what needs to be done, it runs a lot more smoothly than wandering aimlessly trying to figure out what's next.

For me, if I do everything in the right order, nothing gets missed. And, when I'm in a time crunch, it's great for prioritizing things that need to get done the most. This part, I stole from Stephen Covey. A long time ago, I read his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I don't remember everything in the book, but the one thing that's stuck with me is the idea of putting first things first. Take care of the most important things first.

Which means when I have other things interfering with all the stuff I have to get done, I look at the most important things, do them, and leave the rest for when I have time. Then, once things slow down, I can play catch-up, finishing the items with the highest priority first, and pretty soon, I'm back to my normal routine.

How about you? How do you handle keeping your balls in the air when you've got that extra one thrown in?

Those pesky kids!

The past week was crazy. Kiddos off school, work, life, blah blah blah.

Because the kiddos were off school, I watched an inordinate amount of Scooby Doo. Almost every episode ends with the criminal exclaiming, "and I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids." Or some version thereof.

I can relate to the criminals... I kept saying that over and over while the kiddos were off school. I'd start working on a project, and wham! "Mom, she bit me!" "Mom, she said I was ugly." "Mom, she won't help me clean." "Mom, I need some milk." "Mom, I'm hungry."

Needless to say, I've gotten little done over the past few days.

Recently, on the ACFW loop, people were discussing the idea of being a SAHM and trying to get writing done. A lot of folks talked about what they do to facilitate writing and kids.

I've shared a lot with you all about my Panera time, Starbucks visits, and my beloved Denny's. That's how I get my writing done. With the kiddos off school, I didn't get my two Panera days and I'm hurting for it. I didn't get the writing done I needed, and it's been driving me crazy. Those pesky kids!

I finally resorted to bribery. If they let me have my writing time, I'd bake cookies with them. It sort of worked. We baked cookies, but I didn't get as much writing done as I would have liked. But that's okay.

The reality of being a writing mom who also works the tax season is that I don't always get to write as much as I'd like. However, I'm learning to balance the realities of parenting with the realities of being me. It's important to set boundaries with my kids to let them know writing is important to me. I want them to know that dreams are important and require hard work. Just because I'm "mom" doesn't mean I don't have dreams. More importantly, as I model the behavior of what it takes to achieve dreams. How else will my kids learn that the things they want to do with their lives aren't going to just land in their laps? But I also want them to know that they are important to me. I've always got time for a cuddle, and some of my best stuff is written with a kiddo on my lap.

So what about you? How do you balance the demands of parenting and working towards your goals?