Bettin Girl Blog

I am a girl with a schedule out of control.  I love the flexibility right now of working from home with a few days in an office or in meetings, but that flexibility comes with some cost: I can’t seem to get a handle on my overall schedule.  Two different work places, volunteer life, being a wife, spending time with our friends + family, helping with house stuff + taking care of our dogs – lately I feel like I’ve been giving only 50% because I’m so scattered.  I hate the monotony of routine, but I think in a lot of ways I need a little more structure and a lot more intentionality + proactiveness in my day to day living. 

Instead of just always complaining about being overwhelmed, I decided it was time to take a little control + make it work.   And making it work doesn’t necessarily mean fitting everything in – it means making some good decisions about what I will and won’t be adding to the schedule.  This Bettin girl is still learning how to say no to all the good things, projects + opportunities on the horizon. 

I occassionaly read the “beauty tips for minister’s blog” and the writers approach to tackling a hectic week ahead was intriguing for me.  Here’s what she had to say:

1. Clean the kitchen. Really. Get rid of crap on the counters, fill the water jug, make some herbal iced tea and a pitcher of iced coffee. Refill the dog’s kibble container, empty the garbage, make a casserole and lay in some healthy snacks. You won’t have time to do those things later in the week. Sweep the floor tonight.

2. Do the laundry. Iron some key items so that you don’t have to wrestle that white blouse all over the ironing board when you’re in a real hurry.

3. Clean out your purse and re-organize it. Charge your cell phone. Make sure you’ve got breath mints, aspiring/Advil, hand sanitizer, lipstick, eye drops, a powder compact and fresh hankie in your cosmetics case.
Get $50 cash in small bills so you’re not flinging your ATM card around like a monkey incurring mindless little expenses all week rushing around. Stash a small notebook and plenty of pens in a side pocket. Tuck in your Bible.

4. Fill the gas tank. You’ll thank me for this later.

5. Make social plans with friends for Friday night NOW. You’re going to need them.

AFTER you have accomplished all of these things, and only then, tidy up your study, update your calendar, carefully plan for everything you need to do (including walking the dog, sleeping, exercise, eating meals in a semi-sane fashion), make some notes, send a few e-mails, take a deep breath, and turn off the computer.
Go draw yourself a bath, give yourself a facial, scrub your feet, shave your legs, and get a good night’s sleep.

You will arise the next morning feeling ready to do your work. Serve well and faithfully, and let God make it happen through you.

Well, I’m not a practiced hand at real routine, so this week I’m attempting my own baby-steps version of getting a handle on this strange schedule I call my life:

1)On Sunday I planned out our meals for this week – two different meals we can make + have as leftovers for the other two nights.  I picked up those groceries, added in a couple of magazines just because.

2)I moved my laptop to the dining room table – it used to be on the end table next to the couch, which makes it too easy for me to constantly be working in the evenings.  When you work from home its easy to feel like there’s always work to do (and it just so happens that I work for places that have more work than one will ever accomplish in a single day) and for work-a-holics its too tempting to always sit and be finishing some project.  The problem is that it means I don’t get other things done – like the dishes, or talking to Josh or just relaxing.  Now that I’ve moved the laptop to a real surface, I feel like I am intentionally walking away from work when I leave the table and do stuff around the house. 

3) Reorganized my purse last week.  Like the BTFM suggestion, I restocked my purse with some new items and added a little cosmetic bag to keep things a little more tidy in there.  Bought some breath mints, more hand sanitizer (i am a hand sanitizer freak lately), burts bees, listerine strips + this new little “wisps” – small disposable toothbrushes that are awesome!  I like knowing that things are in my bag + I am not always hunting around for what I need to leave the house (this is a persistent problem of mine, just ask my sweet and consistently on-time husband). 

3) Getting more sleep!  I tend to use the hours of 1030pm – 1am to catch up on tivo + look at facebook on my iPod (josh is consistently asleep by 1030/11 lest you think I choose tv over him!).  Then the dogs get me up anywhere between 5:30 – 6:15am and that means I am consistently only getting around 5hours of sleep a night.  Apparently that’s not very good for you, so I am  amending my ways.  Last night I made sure it was lights out at 11:30 and this morning when the dogs woke me up, I wasn’t growly – I woke up more refreshed than I had in a long time.

4) I am firm on my plans for this weekend – heading down to Winona on the train on Friday morning…Josh + Matt + Jenny will join on Saturday.  And that means I’m not taking any work with me – no laptop, no work emails to answer – I am firm in my resolve to have fun, enjoy time with my family + take a break from work + volunteering. 

5) I made a schedule for the week.  It always helped me when I was overwhelmed in college and grad school with finals + papers.  I wrote out all the details for the week – each segment of time that I am going to work on something and by the end of the process I feel so much better about what’s ahead.  I may not necessarily stick to it, but I feel like there’s a little order to the week. 

Wish me luck on this little endeavor…I’m hoping with a little intentional work I get find that balance I am striving for!