Setting Boundaries

The world's bursting with a rainbow-colored array of things to do. Everywhere I look, I find another fascinating topic I could pursue. Millions of hobbies, countless volunteer opportunities, and vast possibilities call to me on an ongoing basis. And I want to do them all!!

My library bag can attest to it. I can think of seven hobbies I'd love to pursue but don't have time to at this point in my life. Make that ten. Twenty...

It's a challenge I face every single day, sometimes several times a day. How do I mesh my desire to LIVE with my life? Does that make sense?

I'm the type of person who is never good in a bubble. My writing takes up a large portion of my day, but I'd get burned out if I let it overtake my entire life. I need variety, structure, and a constant stream of magazines to flip through.

I talk to many women who are writers--I'm sure it's the same for men, too--we're all juggling enormous responsibilities. It doesn't matter if we're single, married, with kids, without kids--we're juggling many duties at once. And the juggling doesn't always go smoothly.

Every two to three months I spend a little time in thought and analyze my current balance. How am I doing with my writing? Would I feel better if I were writing more or less? Have I let the promotional side of writing overtake my day? What about the non-writing stuff: am I doing the job I want to with my family, my household, my free time? Are my relationships suffering? Have I taken on too many volunteer positions? Not enough?

The answers are always different because my life is always changing. I realized recently that my schedule was not working for me any longer. I'd let little things slip in here and there until they'd overtaken my main purpose.

So, I put up fences to protect my personal time. Since the computer--specifically, the internet--can suck up my day if I let it, I've made a few rules: I have 45 minutes to check e-mails, etc... before I write. Once I've met my daily writing goal, I can pursue what I want until 5:00 pm. However, after 5:00pm the office and computer are off-limits.

This is hard people!!

I've done it for one week, and already, it's made a positive impact on my life. My mind isn't racing at 7:00pm. The stack of magazines on the coffee table? I'm savoring each and every one.
And best of all, I'm enjoying my family, not working feverishly to do "one more thing."

What about you? Is your schedule working for you? Do you feel satisfied or overwhelmed each day? What can you change about it? Sometimes we have to make tough decisions in order to get our life back on track.

I'd love to hear from you!

Join me on Friday for a few fun links.

And...

Write Already! It's Wednesday!

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