Finding Enough Time

This weekend I completely derailed our plans for Saturday afternoon by trying to squeeze one more task in.  I do this pretty regularly--try to squeeze in getting one more task done.  Sometimes it derails me or my family and sometimes it doesn't.  I've been this way as long as I can remember.  I underestimate how long it will take to get something done or how long it will take to get somewhere or how long it will take to cook something.  I have operated from the view that Everything Must and Will Get Done.  


But the reality is that Everything Cannot Get Done.  I am realizing that I need to accept this and operate from this perspective instead.  Instead of thinking I can and must squeeze everything in, I need to prioritize and put first things first.  This means that I need to put what needs to be done ahead of what I want to get done.  If I think that everything must get done then it gives me the leeway to do what I want to do first and then what must get done gets squeezed in afterwards.  


So, instead I need to reset my brain and daily plans to choose to do what needs to get done over what I want to do.  What needs to get done needs to come first.  This week I was discussing this with a good friend without realizing what it all meant.  She shared with me tonight that she had been thinking about these two ideas today and how it changed what she did with her day.  I have to admit that I thought about it a little today, but only made a little progress prioritizing and choosing wisely.  My friend, on the other hand, reordered her day and felt good about choosing what needed to be done first.  She was a huge encouragement to me tonight that I truly need to do this and begin my day out with a plan.  I need to pause and consciously plan out my morning and then afternoon when it arrives.  I simply must choose what needs to be done first.


Speaking of which, I better skedaddle off to bed!  I finished doing December's budget tonight (a needed task) and now I need to get some sleep.  Sorry for the abrupt finish to this post.  I just wanted to get it down in writing before I forgot!