Wanted: More Time in Each Day!

Do you think if I posted that ad on craigslist that some kindly god would grant me more time to get stuff accomplished each day, or just laugh and make my insomnia even worse?

Sitting down in the morning to make a list of what to try to get done each day has become an exercise in prioritizing. But, how does one prioritize when everything is urgent? For instance, today a friend is coming over to clean out my giant compost corral - it contains probably close to a ton of composting chicken manure and hay plus bags of alder sawdust. To get ready for her arrival, instead of making the dinner I'd planned, I raked the weeds and rocks away so she can back right up to it . Microwave popcorn is an acceptable dinner substitute, right?

While talking to her about coming out, I mentioned my homemade liqueurs and said I'd send some home with her. When I got up this morning, I realized my house looks like a group of toddlers broke in and messed around all day. It would be several hours' work to get it cleaned up and she's due here in less than that amount of time. Solution? Clean the kitchen and the bathroom and don't worry about the rest.

But, our daytime temperatures are still reaching 100 so early morning is the best time to work on demolishing the deck, and considering how much work is left to do on that, it's a pretty high priority. However, so is emptying out the shed since it will be picked up in a few days to go live somewhere else. The tools we're using on the deck are still in there along with all the culled tools (boxes and boxes) that will go in the yard sale.

As I sit here typing, crowded in place by the two boxes of paintings to my left, a newly inflated exercise ball rolling around behind me, the box with Mata Ortiz pottery and a pile of empty boxes behind me, and the desk with a 2" stack of filing to be done, I wonder if maybe straightening up in here isn't a priority. No, no, no. I have to stay focused on getting the outside stuff done.

The exercise ball reminds me that I did not get any of my exercises or stretches for Physical Therapy done yesterday and I have another appointment today. The exercises, stretches, and balance exercises to ideally be done each day now add up to about an hour's worth of time. Some are supposed to be done more than once a day but I rarely accomplish that. I need to making healing a priority but how do I do that when we've got to meet deadlines.

Speaking of deadlines, I am not impressing the author who likes my editing. I have not met a single deadline since we started working together. It's not that I'm being a lazy bum, but rather that my life keeps imploding. I'm very grateful that he is so understanding about it but he does have the right to want his work to get published, too, and has readers chomping at the bit to buy his books. So, even though I've not worked on that for a while yet, I do feel like it should be a priority. I want to do a good job, though, and trying to work on it at 3 am when I can't sleep is probably not when my mind is the sharpest!

So, if anyone knows how to create more usable time in a day - many days, not just one - please clue me in. Quit blogging for a start, you say? Hm, I've considered it but then I wonder if the blog is one of my few remaining links to sanity. Not sure I want to take the risk of falling off the cliff. It often feels like I'm hovering fairly close to the edge as it is.

Which brings me to another Wanted ad I could post on craigslist: supportive friends. One definitely finds out who one's friends are when times are tough. I've been surprised to find which ones were fair weather friends and which ones are there to listen and give me a shoulder to cry on. Friendship is like marriage - it's for better or worse. If you're not there for your friends during the tough times, how can you expect them to be there for you when you encounter tough times in your own life? It's not surprising in some ways; our incredibly overscheduled busy 21st century lifestyle doesn't put much value into the simple things like human connections.

Of course, people also often choose to eliminate negativity from their lives and given my current state of being, that would be me. I'm finding it hard to be my normal cheery, facetious, and fun self while drowning in a big pit of shit. Power of the pig, my ass. The only thing he did was leave me a big mess.