A while ago I asked for reader requests. I wanted to know what you, my loyal readers, wanted to learn about me, my life and our farm. Well, today I am getting around to answering the first one. Don’t worry the rest are coming eventually, I just had to schedule them around other topics and things I already had planned.
One of my readers asked me how I do it all. Lucky you, I am going to share with you my secret. Now get ready because this is big.
I don’t do it all and I don’t do it all well.
Because I have so much going on in my life I definitely fail at a lot of stuff. I am a competitive person, but I have learned to accept failure as a part of life and a learning experience. I fully realized that I cannot do everything perfectly. I think accepting that you will not be perfect all the time is the first step in taking on so much.
Also, my house is not clean. If you come over and my house looks clean, it probably really isn’t. There’s probably a lot of dust lurking around. I probably have dirty dishes hiding in everything (fridge, stove, dishwasher). But you know what; I find family, volunteering and work so much more important than having a clean house.
I forget things. A. Lot. It drives my husband nuts because I will walk right by a shower gift that I left on the counter for myself when I am walking out to the car. My mind is always going 100 miles an hour and so I forget stuff all the time. I have tried to fail safe myself against forgetting now that I am older. I definitely still forget things, meetings, conference calls, etc. If someone stole my iPhone I would cry because I didn’t have my calendar with all of my reminders and my to-do list. Then I would remember that it is backed up on the Cloud, my Macbook and my iPad. So yeah, if it makes it into my iPhone I am less likely to forget about it.
I don’t sleep as much as I should. When I am not too tired I try to get up at 5 am. I will work in the house on different things for up to 2 hours before I go out in the barn and begin my work day. I have found I can get a lot done before anyone else is up.
I think the most important part of doing “it all” is I have to be passionate about it. I have to believe in the purpose, love the job or people, or just plain enjoy it. Without that part of it I would find any excuse to do something else. With so many things on my plate and filling my time I won’t take on just any committee, project or job.
It is not a competition. All of the different boards and committees that I am on are not a competition. I do not think of any of it as a competition. I do it because I feel like I can make a difference whether it is policy development committee or the planning committee for our local Project Rural Education Day. Writing for different publications and on different blogs is something I absolutely love. I have always loved writing and I think love is the reason why I can juggle so many things and still love it. Well, it might also be my ADD that helps with that.
When it comes to doing it all there is no secret. You have to love and enjoy what you are doing and know that being perfect will not happen. You will forget things and feel like you are drowning at times. In the end, if you are able to find things you feel passionate about it will all be worth it!
