Fitting it all in

and not losing your mind in the process...

Although, it has to be said, I am not sure about the not going crazy bit, just at the moment...

At the moment I am training for an event - the half of the Westcoaster. This is going to be huge; I have never done an off-road half before and when I did the 13km section of the team marathon of this a couple of years back, I nearly died, it was so hard. I have a training program which should work me up to the right level of fitness to complete it - and completion is what I'm looking for - but trying to follow that program is a logistical nightmare!

I addition to me training, the small people between them have activities every single day of the week. This means drop-offs and pick-ups, and staying at the venue if it's too far to go home, and then getting home and trying to get dinner eaten before it's the small people's bedtimes. And the husband does his share where he can, but that's mostly the weekends, because he works stupidly long hours.

Did I forget to mention that I teach full-time? You may scoff at my 8.30-3.30 work day, and I'll freely admit that I try to keep work at work, but that doesn't always happen. Marking waits for no-one.

O, and I study. This one is totally my own fault. I know it is taking on another thing that really is too much, but I really enjoy it. My workout for my brain is as important as my workout for my body.

And we're building a house ... And I'm on the committee of the local Cricket Club ... 

Blimey heck, how on earth did I end up doing so much stuff?! 

But I'm not looking for sympathy here, I know that all of these things are my own decision, and all of these things are things that I really want to be doing. I'm certainly not the only one who has far too much on my plate. But what can I do to make sure I don't turn absolutely nutty in the meantime?
  • Plan things. I know this sounds obvious, but if I don't write something down, it doesn't exist and it won't happen - it's as simple as that. This is mainly because my brain isn't so flash at multi-tasking, so I focus on one thing at a time. Which is fine until I should have changed focus a while ago and now I have forgotten what I was supposed to do. (When the small people were very small, I used to call this nappy brain. Now I'm not sure that applies, maybe I can blame menopause coming on?) So I have a diary, which I call my Life*, and I write everything in it. Having everything all in one place is the best, because I am so random that if it isn't, I'll even forget where I am supposed to look to check what's next! It's real, people.
  • Stick to the timetabled stuff. This one is obvious too, but if there are deadlines, or pickup times, or scheduled activities, these have to come first. It's good to have things where other people rely on me, because I'm committed to those things and I'll make them happen. This is also a good first step in ...
  • Prioritising. Having a system that lets me decide which things are more important is vital. Because I write everything in my diary, I have to decide which of those things I am actually going to be able to get done in the timeframe - some things just have to be, and some things can wait a day or two. Whether it's the different coloured pens I use in my diary; the must-do, should-do, could-do we use with students at school; or some other system, I just have to accept that not everything is going to get done just now.
  • Let it go. Some things aren't going to get done at all. Which means that if I have to do 73 loads of washing of a weekend, undies are going to be done first and sheets and towels can wait. Or emailing that isn't work or money-related. The only thing that makes me feel better about this is that my exchange sister in Germany is equally bad at emailing me, and for the same reason.
So, coming back to this training thing. I do e) all of the above when it comes to training. 

I have written all of the program I have into my diary, what distance to do on which days. I also have my fitness class in there, which I always go to, because it is a timetabled thing. I have prioritised the long runs in the weekend, because that is how I am going to extend my endurance out, and even if that means not doing something with people, I have to get it in there. And I have accepted that two weekday runs is pretty aspirational - if I get one in, then I will be happy with that, and if it is shorter than recommended, well, at least I've done something. And if I don't get any weekday runs in, well, that's not ideal, but I'm not going to stress about it.

Now is an exceptionally busy time of the year, and not letting everything get too much is really important. Stuff needs to get done, and when it is done, more stuff will come along, this is just the way it works. Making sure that it doesn't all overwhelm me, and that I have some time to do silly things with the small people, but that I reach my goals as well ... this is not easy.

How do you manage to do everything and not go insane? What tools or strategies do you use? Please tell me, because I think for me the busy-ness levels are still quite high, and I could do with some chill.


* I have always maintained that people can't tell me to get a Life, because I have one!

#fitnessgoals  #healthandfitness  #brainturnedtomush  #lovemydiary
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