Frustrations

I have many interests, in a perfect world I could give them all a 100% of my full attention.

The garden, crafting and reading with the kids, the many sewing projects, cooking and baking, doing yoga, having a social live, the bookkeeping, going for walks, volunteering for playgroup and preschool, reading books, photography, doing research and writing the blog. And preferably doing it all fully dedicated, while also keeping the house picture perfect. Sound familiar?

Well, I'm no super woman and I struggle to keep the balls in the air, I get frustrated and loose the joy all these projects could give me. So I stop, exhausted, do nothing at all and get cranky at myself (and everybody else around me), while housework and projects hauntingly stare at me.

I've tried to set up routines in my calendar, having set times for every task, for projects, but it becomes just that: tasks. I might keep it up for a couple of weeks, but then it starts to drag, I just don't to well with routines and although everything gets some attention this way, nothing my full attention that makes the end result satisfactory. More frustrations!

For the last two months I've been trying out something new. 

I call them focus weeks. Every week gets another focus.

This week I have an admin week, working on the big pile of paperwork that needs archiving, checking on insurance policies, putting through various claims, doing tax, making a check list for the accountant.

This week is all about paperwork, policies and money, not everyones favourite subject, but it's rewarding to give it my full attention, I feel in control.

Next week is gardening week, I make sure this one falls together with 11 days of planting in my lunar calendar. Complete focus on the garden, planting out seedlings, mulching, fertilising, weeding, building trellises and taking care of the little veggie garden at preschool. A week well spend, the garden looks healthy and well cared after a week like this, there is a lot of pleasure to be found in that.

The following week is sewing week. I can leave my machine out for a whole week, not needing 15 minutes to get everything out and working out where I was.

Then there is also the monthly fitness week, doing an hour of yoga every day, going for walks, swimming.

Some focus weeks return monthly, other do every quarter like the admin week, the cooking week, the cleaning week. Really, cooking and cleaning only every three months???

Well, not really, I still incorporate that in every day, just like my rounds through the garden while feeding the chooks, making bread, yoghurt and baking, still have yoga every Monday, sewing classes every Tuesday, swimming every Friday and my 15min of admin on Saturday morning. I might still do some sewing throughout the week, sew some seeds, do some extra cooking. But make sure that the theme of the week gets priority and full attention, the rest is for fun if I have extra time and feel like it. So a cleaning week is more like a Spring cleaning: sorting cupboards, cleaning the car, decluttering, washing windows.

A week is just long enough to get a project done satisfactorily, without it becoming a drag. And for the first time I can look at projects around me and know that they will get done, just not that week, so at last I don't longer feel guilty about it.

For a non organised person like me, so far, this is as good as it gets.