Several years ago when I had one child and I worked outside the house, I wanted to do so much but never had time. My energy was a little low at times and that didn’t help make it any better. I was out of the house for work for about 10 hours a day 5 days a week.
I’d come home and have about an hour with my child send her to bed, clean then knock out myself just to do it all over again the next day. I had all the help in the world with my daughter, all of her loving grandparents, my husband, and my friends. Sadly, I still could never find the time to do more.
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| Photo by Aron on Unsplash |
At one point, I decided to go back to school full-time taking two classes a week at the college. Did I mention how I was taking my 150cc moped from downtown 30 minutes to school once a week as well? I wanted to read, to sew, and I needed more time with my child. Where would I get all this extra time from when I’m already doing too much? I’m sure you’ve heard this all before, or perhaps you said some similar notions yourself.
We all never seem to have time for certain obligations or the energy so items and even people become neglected. I’ll tell you what I did have time for even with all this haste, there was time for social media consumption. Not the good kind that uplifts you, but the garbage nonsense that didn’t make me any better in any way.
There was time for my favorite TV shows and movies streamed on demand while I laid in bed motionless. The, there was all the endless cleaning that never seem to get anywhere, it would be clean for a few minutes and messy the next. Not saying those are all bad but too much of a good thing… I‘m sure you get where I’m going with this.
There was time for my favorite TV shows and movies streamed on demand while I laid in bed motionless. The, there was all the endless cleaning that never seem to get anywhere, it would be clean for a few minutes and messy the next. Not saying those are all bad but too much of a good thing… I‘m sure you get where I’m going with this.
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| Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash |
Well, let’s fast forward a bit where I have a newborn and an elementary school-age child. On a better note, however, now I work from home. All I could hope for is more time with my kids so I’m not missing them grow up like before.
Maybe I’ll have more time now, NOPE!!!! Time flies past, I’m running in two different directions at once and maybe once a week I have time to comb my hair. This newborn can’t be watched by anyone else because she refuses a bottle. Even though she’s not having it, I’m still blessed with people who help me.
Maybe I’ll have more time now, NOPE!!!! Time flies past, I’m running in two different directions at once and maybe once a week I have time to comb my hair. This newborn can’t be watched by anyone else because she refuses a bottle. Even though she’s not having it, I’m still blessed with people who help me.
I would often think back to the moments where I thought I didn’t have enough time and I yearn for those days that I once thought were so hard. Waking up early in the morning was so easy and I could rip and run with no problem. Well, what’s done is done, so I can’t rehash the past. Mentally I force myself to move on so I can get over it and push through. But, it remains that I’ll never have enough time.
Wallowing in my frustration won’t give me more time and neither will complaining. At this point it has been a three-year long journey for me, I took it slow and was able to learn so many things about myself and my girls. I came to the realization First, you have to want knowledge to seek it out, then you may consume it. I desperately need a way to obtain more time to enjoy my life, so I put my feelers out.
Usually, I would watch all types of Facebook videos, so I just started replacing those with Law of Attraction Videos (LOA), self-development videos and videos that helped understand ways to find more time in my day. I know there are others out there that have done the same without help from anyone, more children than I have and not to mention various other limitations. Who am I to complain?
Usually, I would watch all types of Facebook videos, so I just started replacing those with Law of Attraction Videos (LOA), self-development videos and videos that helped understand ways to find more time in my day. I know there are others out there that have done the same without help from anyone, more children than I have and not to mention various other limitations. Who am I to complain?
When the kids are sleeping and I’m in bed I would watch a show or two then some reading right before bed. About an hour a night would help me get through a book or two a week. I made it even easier for myself by downloading ebooks and audiobooks. Having ebooks on my phone gave me time to read while going to the bathroom ( not Facebook time anymore) or reading in the car when I’m not driving. For the times when I’m cleaning or driving, I’m able to take in part of a book through the audiobook versions. Somehow, with these few changes, I started gaining more time in my day.
I hate to forgo cleaning because I love a clean house, but these kids don’t stop making messes. Heck, I’m always spilling or dropping something to also. So I started scheduling out more chores and delegating other chores to the girls, so they did more than just cleaning their own things.
Some days, depending on what I needed to accomplish I would force myself to close my eyes and walk away from the mess. More energy came to me, I seem to have more pockets of time to sew again and do more with my children. There now seems to be more time in the same 24 hours that I’ve always possessed.
Some days, depending on what I needed to accomplish I would force myself to close my eyes and walk away from the mess. More energy came to me, I seem to have more pockets of time to sew again and do more with my children. There now seems to be more time in the same 24 hours that I’ve always possessed.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and act like I always have it all in control, because I DO NOT. And, I know we are all in different situations so some of these things won’t always apply. However, we can all replace some of our unhelpful activities as well as multitask others to receive more from of our day.
We all have the same 24 hours.
Sometimes, found myself complaining that I wish I had this or that then things would somehow be better or different. I tell myself I would be able to _________ ( fill in the blank). In my mind, I feel like things would change but I still couldn’t do XYZ. So what’s the point?
You must start by assessing your position and figuring out where you want to be in your life. What activities can you interchange to better yourself right now? Are you doing busy work that you’re able to hold off on or maybe pass to the next person? Or maybe it can be done in intervals. That’s a win-win situation. Winding downtime is necessary, but are you doing it too much? Not to mention it can actually become an energy drainer after a while.
How you use your 24 hours is up to you. Hopefully, you’ll use some of those hours for your own growth. If not, that time is gone and it can’t be replaced so choose wisely and stop making excuses ( we all make excuses at times). Because those aren’t going to get you any further on. Time is the most valuable asset that we are all given, so invest it so that it may work for you to better your life in a meaningful way.
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| Photo by Harry Sandhu on Unsplash |
What can you change today? How will it help you?
This post was proofread by Grammarly