Time management

I've been contemplating time management recently, due to a series of events which have happened over the school holidays. I mostly feel like I'm chasing time, rather than organising it.

My mum very generously offered to let our daughter sleep over, during the school holidays. Great! She'll be there a whole week, as of tomorrow. What happened in her absence? It's funny, because I now notice there's more time for me to contemplate life strategies better. And, ironically, my mum is now shifting the focus of her daily routine, to the rhythms of a six-year old girl, looking for adventure. She is no doubt, at this very moment, contemplating how much sleep she'll catch-up on, once her granddaughter comes home.

I'm making it sound like raising a child is a burden. It's not actually, because I've also noticed how lost I feel without her. Even Dave says how much he misses her relentless pursuit of playing tag with him. It seems our daily rhythm has changed in the absence of our daughter. We have more time to contemplate life strategies, but in her absence, we miss the bits that make our family what it is.

There's now a realisation, time is what we fill our priorities with.

For each of us at different stages of life, those priorities will change. Grandparents have more time to contemplate routines, than perhaps parents do, in their flurry of responsibilities. Is this a glimpse of what my life will be like, after our daughter leaves home? I've not doubt, it will be. And I believe contentment will be found in that routine too. At the moment though, I am pining for my daughter's distraction - as time consuming, as it is. :)

So what does this say about my routine at home? Well, it's probably good to shake the routine around a little - sometimes - to make new realisations about your circumstances. It's very easy to be distracted by competing priorities. It helps to clear your mind (and plate) to deal with only a few. As long as it isn't life threatening, things can wait until you get around to them.

However, I am glad I've had this week off to contemplate...

1. How generous my mum is.
2. A new financial strategy, which I'll discus in another post.
3. How much I enjoy cooking for my family, and not just to provide a meal.
4. How very lucky I am to have freedom of choice.

For as long as time is my own to choose what manner of activity I'll engage in, I have everything I need to build a routine. Okay, so it probably won't be easy; but at least there's an opportunity to change as life does.