Friday, November 14, 2008

Some days there are not enough hours

This has been my problem lately - there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done! Now when I say this, I hear myself telling others in my best kiwi accent "well, yor obvisly doin' too much!" and "jus stop doing stuff!" So now it is my turn to heed my own advice.
The problem is - where do you start? Everything seems so important (and again I hear myself talking to others about the "tyranny of the urgent"!!). Today I leapt out of bed, threw down some breakfast, checked my emails, made sure the kids had food for school, talked on the phone to a friend from NZ, had a shower and got dressed, made sure the kids had brushed their hair and teeth and were appropriately dressed for the bike ride to school in almost zero temperatures, checked I had food for work and then dashed out the door! All in 45 minutes! Not bad huh!
Then at work I ripped through about 40 emails (most requiring an intelligent response of some sort!!), spent an hour inducting a new team member, spent another hour talking with someone interested in becoming a missionary, reconciled some donations from a speaking tour, finished some text for a brochure that needs to be translated, answered phone calls, gave instructions to others in the office, got to the bank to change some money for one of our elders, got to the Post Office (stood in a queue for about 10 minutes), dashed back to the office to find the kids there ready to go home (at 12:15). So we make the journey home, leaving behind messages and instructions for the things I had not done today.
Once at home, we launch into lunch (with an extra school friend as well), do homework and then clean up the dishes - OK open the dishwasher and throw them in!!! Now as I sit at my computer I have scanned around the room and the apartment and the mess is starting to get to me, but - quite frankly - I can't be bothered! I have been eyeing up a DVD of Season 6 of "24" that I am part way through, but know I can't put it on until the kids are in bed tonight (not entirely suitable for a 6 & 9 year old to see torture and blood). So now I'm thinking of my book(s) that is/are beside my bed. Hmmm - do I go for the intellectually improving "Mentoring" book, or go for the meaningless Marian Keys one?? I know even before I finish this which one I will chose. You can guess!
Meanwhile, in the back of my head, all the things I was supposed to do today are lurking, threatening to creep up on me when my guard is down! It is tiring. And hubby starts another language course on Monday, so I am on my own in the office and can only work till 1pm (to 12 on Thurs and Fri) which is when the kids come home from school.
Anyway - that is my vent for the day! Have I solved anything? Maybe. Maybe I have assured myself that I am human; that some things really aren't as urgent as people think, and that my kids are more important than the work/ministry. I know this, but somedays the pressure is too much .
Now - which book . . . .

2 comments:

skatey katie said...

you are a machine, girl.
just *reading* your day gave me the dizzies.
which book did ya pick?
get that nana wig off and go paint your nails!
big kiss X

Ang said...

Whewee girl!! I was thinking I was picking up speed at being able to do 8 things back to back!!! You just rattled off about 40 before lunch! Katie girl I hope you are making spaces for FUN!! It's my new toy xx