SYL 2012 - Time - Planning ( alternative title - Oh Crap)

Simplify Your Life Wk 14 - Time Management Planning

OH NO!!!
I am crap at time management.. crap crap crap.
I am utterly disorganised.
I am the mature age student who is madly writing a 2000 word essay because she forgot it is due in tomorrow. I am the mother who shows up at school an hour late for the performance because she forgot what time it started.
I am the wife who sneaks to the store after the kids have gone to bed to buy her husband a gift for his birthday which is tomorrow.. because (you know this bit) she forgot to keep track of the days.

I tell people I'm scattered, I'm flat out, I'm just in the middle of a crazy time, but the truth is.. I've been this way for a while now.

So the Simplify Your Life Challenge this week requires dedicated planning, organisation, committment to one method of recording. And I feel sick.

I love stationery and have all the physical tools to get organised but I am still in a total mess 95% of the time. I hate having to commit to one format, I am worried I won't hold it together. I am worried I will lose the book, the holder of the information, I am worried I will not continue to record important things, and so.... I don't do any of it. I fly by the seat of everyone else's pants.

The trouble is, I feel like the disorganisation of my world is hiding a bigger issue, and if I clean up one thing, the ugly truth will be revealed.

In my chaos I am always moving, going, doing and chasing. My friends see me rushing from one urgent event to the next and they often say "I don't know how you do it."

But the truth is, I'm not doing it well. I'm not actually doing any of it well.

I show up to class and all I can think about is the Dental  appointment I accidently scheduled for today, and how much information I will miss. I think about the fact that Miss 7 has a lunch box full of Uncle Toby products because I had 2 seconds spare this morning and basically emptied the snack cupboard into her bag. I think about the fact that yet again there is nothing organised for dinner, and wonder how many nights a week I can get away with eggs on toast before someone complains. I wonder who I will ask to collect Miss 7 from school tomorrow because after two and a half years of study I still haven't organised proper after school care for her. I worry about orders I have to send out for Button Bliss, and the advertising material that was due in last Friday. I worry that the dog is 3 months overdue for her vaccination. I forget to listen to the teacher so now I have to worry about that too.

The Man I Married is the polar opposite of me. He makes lists. Lots of lists. He makes lists of lists. He is organised and focused. He knows his purpose for the day and he moves steadily and unrelentingly towards the target. He has the most amazing diary and planner and he juggles many appointments and committments throughout the day, and he shows up to them all!
While this is awesome in many ways, there is rarely room for a diversion. He doesn't like to deviate from the plan.
Inconvenient roadblocks are handballed to me, so I find myself squeezing in more and more and more. And I become more chaotic and more disorganised.

The bigger issue I mentioned?
Time. Time to think about myself.
Too much time on my hands can lead me into a dark and nasty place, full of negativity and self doubt. If I stay busy and chaotic, I don't have time to worry about ME. There is security in that.

I can see however, there is a need for balance here. I need to get a plan, so important events don't pass by un-noticed . A meal plan would be good. My kids and husband would definitely be happier if I didn't look so wild and frantic all the time. I would be happier if I felt prepared for the next day.

Deb has suggested to babystep this weeks challenge (luckily for me) and I am holding on to this quote from her post.


Wish me luck!