Planning will help it happen

Ok, so going from zero to about 250 mph a day has got my mind spinning. I find myself having to write everything down, and think ahead to what is coming up so that I am prepared...between football/baseball, laundry, teaching all day, planning, keeping the house clean, and demolishing a kitchen (oh yes, the granite is on it's way), I am moving a fast pace. Sometimes forgetting appointments, sometimes delaying what is on my mind (lesson plans).

You may feel like me. It may feel like you are running like crazy. Here's my advice...carve out your time. Keep one thing in your day solid: something you love to do for you. Mine is working out. I have to have it. Maybe it is that cup of coffee in quiet. Maybe it is yoga.

I have been mentioning about how important it is for kids to know themselves. As readers, as writers, as people. My Third Graders are developing this awareness, but it amazes me how so many of us don't STOP our crazy lives enough to know what WE need.

I need to use old fashioned pencil and paper to write down my plans. That includes play, reading, homework, appointments...I need to see it sketched out on a week calendar. Why? That is the way I can wrap my mind around what I have going on and not feel overwhelmed.

Some people are opposite. They only want to see one day at a time. That's great. If I flew day to day, I would be insane.

So today I am going to sit down with my calendar. I am also, like I do for school, going to write down each day what I am going to read with my kids. It is less likely to get pushed out if I plan.

Try it. You may find it works for you. If it doesn't, find something that does. Reading, like every other appointment, needs to be given a special time...