time crunch

July 11, 2017

I need to use my time better.

I spent the weekend alone with the kids, which went well, but was TIRING.  I find myself panicking about how I am going to possibly cope with 3?
(Answer: probably not spend many weekends entirely alone with all of them, if I can help it, at least for a while).
On the up-side, lately I have:
– baked muffins (Superhero Muffins again – I just LOVE these!) + made dinner over the weekend
– watched the rest of Catastrophe with Josh (loved season 3)
– attended a jewelry sales party my SIL hosted, buying a pretty bracelet
– been working out – 5 of the last 7 days (4 treadmill runs, 1 home barre routine)
– listened to lots of podcasts (thank you commute + treadmill time!)

 

bracelet (chloe and isabel)
On the down-side, I have NOT:
– meditated (and I miss it, but not enough to get up any earlier)
– read the book for our book club on Thursday, or read much of anything of substance
– had much time to think/plan/write
– made much headway on longer term projects for work (too many short-term fires getting in the way)
I will also admit to way too much texting and insta-scrolling than is healthy for me.
I have two half-days off instead of a full day this week, so perhaps I will feel more relaxed with that extra time — although tomorrow is my anatomy scan and will probably take up most of the morning between getting there and receiving the results.  I’m nervous and excited but honestly mostly nervous, since I haven’t ‘seen’ this baby since the 7 week U/S and at that point, she just looked like a smudge with blinking heart.  
I have tried tracking time but never seem to be able to keep it up for longer than a day of two.  Maybe I am trying to be TOO granular?  Hmm.  I honestly think I’d feel a lot better if I had a tiiiiiny bit more time to reflect and if I spent more time reading (and less scrolling).  We’ll see what the next couple of weeks bring.

4 Comments

  • Reply Beth March 10, 2019 at 7:09 pm

    I only have 2 kids and mine are older (5 and 7) but I still find weekends alone with them tiring. You would think that I would have figured this out by now but no. They are not as tiring as they were at 1 and 3 (for sure) but they are fundamentally still the same bouncing off the walls crazy people they have always been. Supervision still strongly necessary to avoid serious injury. However, I seem to be in the minority with figuring this out so there is lots of hope for you!

    • Reply theSHUbox March 10, 2019 at 7:09 pm

      Mine are crazy too 🙂 And there’s a lot of fighting which gets so exhausting to mediate!

      I actually really DON’T have solo weekends often anymore since we take call at the same time – Josh just had to switch his call, so it happened! Once we have three I think I’m going to make an effort to make "rare" into "never" 🙂

  • Reply Alyssa March 10, 2019 at 7:09 pm

    Hi! I’m curious about your thoughts on this – I sometimes feel that medicine, and particularly residency, really changed my concept of "time". If I have "free time" it’s hard to feel OK about just sitting/doing nothing (maybe I read, maybe I snooze, etc… you get the idea). BUT if I have lots to do on my list, I suddenly feel like I need more free time. Because I went through residency while also transitioning to adulthood in general, I can’t tell if this is something all adults face (my teenage self was totally fine with being busy and also fine sleeping til 10 am). My gut tells me that it comes from the SOMUCHTODO and not-enough-hours-in-the-day feeling of being an overworked resident. Maybe this is similar to how you struggle with your concept of balance and "free" vs. "busy" time but I thought I’d put it out there. Excited for you for the anatomy scan!

  • Reply Ana March 10, 2019 at 7:09 pm

    First: you are doing a LOT. all that you listed sounds like more than i’ve done in the past few months. You are choosing to workout instead of meditate, etc… you are not just lazing around (and even if you were, that’s awesome!)! you are doing OTHER things with your time. There isn’t enough time for any of us to do EVERY SINGLE THING we want to, but there is time for plenty.

    Second: If you really miss certain things, I wonder if you can fit them into bits and chunks during this busy time period. You don’t have to meditate every day at the same time to get the benefits…try to fit in a 10 minute session during the workday, or on your off day, or before bed (if you can stay awake!)—even 2-3 times a week would be good. I gave my kids the ipad last weekend for 15 minutes so I could do my meditation. Also, maybe your commute time could be used for reflection once in a while. I’ve gotten super into podcasts lately, and I realized I missed my "thinking time" walking to/from work with only my thoughts, so now I try to NOT listen to anything in the morning so I can have some time with my thoughts.

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