How I Got Off The Hamster Wheel Tonight

Posted on December 3, 2009 by LJ

Tonight I was completely spun up, running around on a hamster wheel.

Since finishing NaNoWriMo last Sunday, I have been doing a condiment week. I’ve been playing catchup.

A busy week that seems to have no end, task lists that keep growing, having to fight a few battles that were necessary but still took a lot out of me, little sleep, and dealing with a bunch of Brownies hopped up on S’mores. I thought I was going to implode.

So how did I get it to stop in a matter of hours?

1. I took care of the basics. I handed my daughter over to my husband. I ate dinner. I sat outside and watched the stars and moon for a while.

2. I relaxed. Next came a hot bath with a relaxing scented bubblebath and candles. I listened to a sound meditation (SankofaSong.com).

3. I sat down with my task list and started pruning. Some tasks were deleted outright. Others were moved to the days when I would actually do them.

4. I renegotiated my schedule. I know I have many rehearsals (both my own and my daughter’s) this month. This means I have less time. These night’s regular tasks got moved or ignored until January. Brownies have made Thursday after work stressful as I tried to manage my weekly housecleaning, my daughter’s spelling practice, and early dinner. Housecleaning got moved to Wednesday and dinner will be “dinner in a bag”.

It’s now less than two hours after meltdown, and I feel like I am back on track. I still have to work some things in – like holiday crafts and working on the book (which after 50,000 words is still 2/3 unwritten). But it seems manageable now, and will probably be even moreso after a good night’s sleep.

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