Carving Practice

I've been missing my daily midnight deadline more these days--evenings come quicker, sleep takes over. I could say that as I move farther away from soap life, the "soaps every day" mentality with which I started is disappearing. Mostly, I think, life, and the exhaustion that comes with organizing life for a family of five, is just taking over sometimes.
 
My kids are fighting this. Many a night, I hear little voices saying, "Mommy, don't you still have to post your blog?" Clearly, it has become as much a daily event in their lives as it has in mine. But they can tell you as well as I can how full the days can be. I am constantly reminding them that time management is their key to being part of activities they love (and ones they don't, but have to do) and being able to complete their homework.
 
While my kids may not be responsible for as many people as I am, they certainly do lead busy lives. So perhaps my advice to them is the perfect advice to myself. It's not really about how many things there are to do. It's about how you allocate your available time to get them done. For me, that might mean writing before the dishes are cleared or before running an errand that can wait. It might mean excusing myself to a quiet room (don't I always tell the kids to find a quiet place to work?) to get the job done.
 
In the end, time management is less about deadlines (though it's good for that) and more about making sure we are able to accomplish the things we want to accomplish. In the end, it will be fine that I published twelve hours later than planned. It matters more that I published, and that I carved out the time to do so.
 
I'll keep working on that carving...