Stress & Getting Organised

Getting Organised… It’s not quite a New Year’s Resolution, but rather a wish to get on top of things, which I happened to begin tackling in January.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of stress over the last few months, all related to illness, work, blogging & the house, and I want to put a stop to the spiral and get on top of things to try to fix it. I am worried that my mental health is starting to seriously suffer from the strain of it all, and so I really need to improve my situation before I go back to a place in my head I don’t want to revisit.

I am not sleeping well at all, and this in turn gives me bad headaches and migraines, which makes the situation worse as I can’t be on my laptop much to work/blog.

I feel like I am not doing a good enough job as a Mother, or in my work life, or here on my blog. I am stressed and behind with everything, and I feel like I just need to figure things out a bit. Getting my life organised so I know where I am and what I need to do next should help with the problems I’m facing, so that’s my plan.

Working at home with a toddler and a preschooler isn’t easy. I have no childcare for Lydia at all, her naps are getting shorter, and Georgie does 15 hours a week at preschool, which involves lots of time spent walking back & forth as it’s a mile away from our house. More and more of my work and blogging is having to wait until after bedtime.

I love my work, I love my blog, and of course I love the kids and spending time with them in the day, but I feel guilty a lot of the time – if I’m playing with the kids maybe I should be tidying up a bit or doing that laundry. If I’m working or blogging while Lydia naps and Georgie curls up with the TV on, maybe I should be spending some 1-on-1 time with Georgie instead, or unstacking the dishwasher. After bedtime I just want to relax but if I do that makes me feel guilty too – I should definitely be using these precious child-free hours to work, or blog, or catch up on housework.

I don’t really want to have to give up anything. I’ve thought about stopping Mama Geek, or giving up with ZCWD until the kids are both in school, but it just doesn’t feel right.

To try and tackle my organisation issues I am going old school with pen and paper – or more specifically, a Filofax. These things have been around since the 1920s, so you can’t argue that they must be doing something right.

In one place, I will have a home diary, address book, blogging planner, and work planner. I’ve designed and printed custom pages for blogging and for work, and hopefully it will help with project management, time management, and keeping tabs on reviews, deadlines, and so on.

I’m hoping that getting on top of what I should be doing when will help me to manage my day a bit better, prioritise the different parts of my life, and ultimately I should get to spend more time doing all the things I love, and less time stressing and crying, and cut out on the tossing & turning when I should be sleeping.