I’m in need of some advice. My life has gotten way too busy. Take a look at my schedule….
Monday-Friday
5 a.m.: Wake up, go to the gym, get ready for the day
7:30: Leave for the bus station
7:45-8:45: Bus to Provo; read scriptures & do homework
8:45-5 or 6 p.m.: Work
5 or 6 to 6 or 7: Bus back home; do homework
6 or 7: Make dinner; clean it up; talk to Matt for 30 minutes
9 or so: Go to bed
Plus, on Wednesdays, I leave work early at 3:15 to make it to class at the U by 4:30. Then I have class from 4:30-9:30, and get home around 10.
Saturday
Sleep in
Exercise
Clean the house
Do laundry
Go grocery shopping
Sunday
Sleep in
Read the Primary lesson
Go to ward choir
Go to church
Come home, de-stress from the Primary experience
Make dinner or invite ourselves to dinner at the family’s
Go to bed
So basically I have like 30 minutes on the weeknights free, plus Friday and Saturday nights. We usually do something fun on the weekend nights, but the weekdays are killing me. And I’m often so tired from the week that I am too worn out to enjoy the fun things on the weekends. It’s not just physical tiredness. I feel mentally exhausted.
I love my life. I really do. I have everything I ever wanted. A fantastic husband. A good job. Opportunities. An education. Knowledge. My health. Good family and friends. But I am just too busy to have the time and energy to be me.
So I need to simplify. I’ve thought about dropping out of school. I really just want to be a mom anyway once we have kids. But I know that if I do need to work, this is what I want to do and I need the masters degree for it. Plus having a masters degree opens up a lot of possibilities of working from home, like teaching online classes or something like that if the need ever arose. Plus, I have just been feeling like I shouldn’t drop out. I’ve thought about trying to get a job closer to Matt’s work so we can move and eliminate the commute. But I’ve checked and no one is hiring right now because of all the budget cuts at all the schools. So pretty much I don’t know what to do. But I know I need to do something. Any suggestions?
10 comments:
Well I don't have any great advice but having kids is only going to make life harder and busier and than you'll realize how much free time you had so enjoy life now while you have you time. You'll now what I mean when that day comes believe me!!!!!!!! Your only option to me it seems is stop getting up so early to exercise! That's my two cents for what it's worth.
Okay.. well I don't have a whole lot of advice since my life has never been packed with the kinds of things yours is! Good for you and being so disciplined when it comes to school tho! You will be so glad someday that you got it done. But the one thing I DO have a different opinion on than the previous comment.. is I don't think having kids makes life harder. It makes life BETTER. Yes they keep you busy but it is the kind of busy that is enjoyable. I don't think there is anything that is more fulfilling and has made me happier than to be a mom. So don't let that thought of it making life harder or busier discourage you at all from that route in life.
just quit your job and have a kid
Hi, Christy!
If you're like me, it's tempting to turn on the TV in those moments when you're getting dinner ready or winding down for bed after a long day. Just having "background noise" seemed to take my mind off the stresses of the day.
A month ago, I decided to try an experiment and not watch TV, even as a background noise. While it didn't necessarily give me more time, letting there be peace and quiet during the short moments I do have has made a huge difference. I have to work harder to think of things besides work since there's nothing else to distract me if no one is around. But when I can manage to think about other things during those times, it's amazing what it can do.
And one other seemingly small thing: I memorized the Relief Society Declaration (it's easier to memorize than you think) and try to recite it to myself in the morning. I'll also sing "I Am a Child of God" to myself--sometimes verbally, sometimes in my head. While doing those two things may sound cheesy, they really help me start out the day with a better perspective on my priorities, and everything else seems less hectic during the day.
Sorry this comment is so long, but I hope it helps.
Good luck with everything!
--Brittany B.
Is there a way that Matt could make dinner once a week? I can't remember if you said what his schedule was like. Do you have a slow cooker? If so, just throw a meal in there once or twice a week. Another thing that I do sometimes...if we are having chicken a few nights in one week, I cook double the amount the first night, then refridgerate the rest for the second night. That way I save some prep time the second night by not having to defrost or cook meat. I would also highly reccommend investing in a 30 minutes or less cookbook. I have about five meals that I can cook in that ammount of time. It makes things easier. As do slow cookers. Another thing is casseroles. You can prep them ahead of time, then stick them in the fridge until time to cook. By ahead of time, I mean the night before. Then you could have Matt help and just spend time together while doing that. Just some ideas. And maybe once a week pick up something on the way home, like a roasted chicken from the grocery store, then throw together a salad when you get home. Hope this helps!
P.S. Don't give up on school. If you have a feeling there's a reason you are in school, then trust that feeling. It might be hard right now, but trust me, trying to finish once you have kids will be even harder. Just remember, "This too shall pass."
Yes. Matt makes dinner twice a week and is great with doing the dishes and stuff.
And I feel like when I don't exercise, I feel sluggish. I don't think I should give that up.
That's a recurring struggle in my life too. But it seems like if I give it a little more time something always changes. Either I get more efficient or something kind of naturally gets eliminated. Or I just pick one week to cut pretty much everything possible out. Then I'm just taking a break and I'm not giving anything up.
One suggestion would be to look into "Once a Month cooking" or using a crockpot at least a few times a week to cut out dinner prep time.
Good luck! I'll pray for you!
Wow, you are so ambitious. I have always been jealous that you've done so well and gone so far in school. My advice is that even if you don't have to work after you have kids, do as much school as you can. I regret that I didn't finish my schooling and now I know it will be awhile because it's too hard to do it with little ones. Good luck and I hope that this means you plan on becoming a mom soon!! :) Teehee
Just for the record...I love being a Mom and it is rewarding and in no way was I saying don't have children or was I trying to discourage you from having children!!! :) All I was trying to convey was if you think your busy now wait until you have kids! Because really right now you have the freedom to go and do what you want for the most part when you have kids it becomes a little more complicated! I hope that makes sense I suppose from now on I need to be very specific. I assume you knew what I meant but hey I can't go on confusing people! LOL!
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