Time Management

A couple of months ago, my niece (the fabulous and talented Sophie Leininger) complimented me on how well I was keeping my life balanced. I'll admit, I was feeling pretty in control at the time and it felt good to have it be recognized. I was writing every day, exercising, working my day job, remembering a friend's birthday and visiting my mother on a regular basis.

Oh, how I miss those halcyon days. Someone asked what I was working on this weekend and when I heard my own explanation (I'm taking a break from the proposal I was working on to do page proofs on a different project, but I need to get the proposal done so I can get back to the rough draft that's due in September) I felt like I'd lost my mind.

Now mind you, I'm happy to have this problem. They're all projects I'm happy and excited to be writing. I'm also thrilled to go to my son's soccer tournaments (Go Chaos United!) and attend my cousin's wedding and go with my sweetheart to his father's memorial services (well, I'm not HAPPY about that, but you get my drift). Still it's all time and I'm starting to freak out a little bit.

I need to remove some of the distractions and settle down to get some work done, but the distractions don't seem to want to be removed. I keep thinking that the next week will be the one where I have some blocks of time to really work and then my mother has a dental emergency or my son gets sick or, well, you know. It's making me incredibly anxious and since my baseline is already a fairly high level of anxiety, it's not good.

Soccer season ends in a few short weeks. My mother's jaw has been successfully recontoured (don't ask). The wedding is coming up and will soon be past and I can settle down and get some work done. Right?