I Forgot and I’m Sorry July 1, 2008

My daughter greeted me with this note when I went to pick her up at daycare the other day. (If you have trouble deciphering kindergarten spelling, it says “You Were Late, Really Late”).

I was hit with a tidal wave of Mommy Guilt.

The worst part is, I had completely forgotten about the event scheduled that day (a singalong) and I didn’t even know I was late! What was I doing instead? Cleaning house, blogging, working, starting dinner . . . whatever it was, it wasn’t as important to my daughter - or to me - than going to the singalong.

I’ve been writing a lot about physical clutter, but I suffer from mental clutter too - mostly in the form of procrastination, coupled with trying to do too much. I have a lot of interests and many balls in the air (not a bad thing in and of itself) but I’m unrealistic about what I can accomplish in a day.

And then there’s my internet addiction.

Balancing my roles as mother, wife, daughter, friend, worker bee, entrepreneur, household manager (and person!) is very hard for me. It feels awful that I was so wrapped up in some chore or task that I forgot about my daughter’s event. Her sad little note is still here at my desk, not so much to chastise me as to remind me that living by my true priorities is the surest way to order, serenity and peace of mind.

I’ve Dropped My Big Rocks May 29, 2008

Several weeks ago I wrote about the notion of attending to your “big rocks” first, in terms of time management and productivity. I had three big rocks, and ambitious goals.

As of this writing, I think I’m still carrying just one of those big rocks. Why?

The first rock was to work towards financial security for my family, by diligently working at my freelance job, which bores me to tears. I have to force myself to do my projects, and this is no way to live!

The second rock was to find a new job, by making one contact daily, which was probably unrealistic in the first place. But I’m so unfocused and unsure of what I want to do that I have no compass for making those contacts.

The third rock was to work on my personal serenity project - decluttering and organizing my house, doing a little bit each day. I think I can give myself a pat on the back for this one. I’ve organized my sock drawer, and my linen closet, greatly reduced the amount of stuff I had on my desk, and managed to clear the floor of piles of debris in my basement “holiday room”. I’ve taken two trips to the consignment store, put together a favorite recipe binder (two in my case - I cook a lot), and organized my spoons :-).

So how to tackle rocks one and two? A coach. I thought I had to approach a coaching relationship with goals, like: “I’m dying to be a (fill in the blank) and I don’t know how to get there”, but I’m learning that the idea is to start the process with questions. I know I want to make more money, but I’m really torn between my interest in social service work and my entrepreneurial dreams.

In the meantime, I do need to pick up that financial security rock and keep marching along . . .

My Big Rocks April 4, 2008

I loved the anecdote in Stephen Covey’s First Things First about the time management seminar and putting the “big rocks” in the jar first. In Covey-speak, the “big rocks” are your Quadrant Two goals, the important but not urgent goals that are in line with your values and personal mission statement.

When I embarked on my quest to get organized, I thought long and hard about what my priorities really were, and I’ve finally settled on three, along with the daily action steps required to achieve them: 1) financial security for my family (work diligently every day); 2) find a new, more rewarding job (make one contact every day); and 3) achieve order and serenity (work on decluttering every day).

I’m trying to implement ideas from Neil Fiore’s The Now Habit to help me move beyond procrastination and get all this done!

What are your Big Rocks?