Pieces of the Pie

I don't really care how supernatural your mom powers are, there just really are hardly enough hours in each day.

There is a lot going on in my world right now. I've just started this while blogging thing again, which may have actually cleared some brain space by shaking some of the words out. My husband and I are organizing an event for our church which is snowballing into something much bigger and we are sprinting to keep up with the thing. I'm the Community Outreach chair for the school, and we are in the middle of another drive. I'm in two organized group bible studies; doing one on the side. My biggest boy is about to register for kindergarten; my biggest girl just became a tween. My baby girl hates to read and yesterday my baby boy asked to sit on the potty (the answer is no) My husband's start-up business is keeping him busy, occasionally overseas, and he's training for a half-ironman. Oh yeah, and we just got a pet guinea pig yesterday.

There are just not enough hours in the day.

My friend Karen Stubbs has an incredible ministry called Birds on a Wire.

I am currently doing it for the second time.

It's that good. Her faith is big, her marriage is going strong, and her four kids have thrived.

That's all to set up the fact that she has some great perspectives on time management, and her process for separating the good from the great is the perfect place to sort through your to-dos.

+ Non-Negotiables

+Essentials

+Bonus

I am not a list person. 

I've tried, but then I spend the entire day looking for my misplaced list; very counterproductive for me.

But, even if you lose this list immediately, it is still worth making.

Some of my non-Negotiables are; my morning quiet time, down time with Josh in the evening (early bedtime for the kids), one-on-one time with the kids.

The Essentials: Clean eating, homework & carpool, going to church, participating in a community group, grocery shopping. They are things that I have to do, but they aren't first on the list.

Everything else is Bonus: exercise, (that one should go on essential, but right now it's bonus), my hobbies, home decor, leisure travel, PTA, kids extracurricular(feels non-negotiable at times, but truly has to stay down here)

It is so much easier to prioritize when you have this tool to categorize them.

This is such a liberating exercise. I highly recommend it.

Karen's study is available to purchase online and it is great to do on your own or with a circle of friends.

I just noticed that house-keeping didn't make the list at all. 

Hilarious and true.