Rebecca, Catching up (Days 18-20, 25)

Free up time.
Do what you love.
Spend time with people you love.
Streamline your life.

Most of my time is spent doing what I love...except when I browse the web too long, a time-wasting procrastination-style habit I've been changing in the past few weeks. (Removing my facebook and google reader apps from my iPhone definitely helped.

But looking at these four items together, I want to make sure I've got enough time to spend with the people I love--and I think the key to the first item, freeing up time--with the goal of spending more time with husband and child--is streamlining whatever else I can.

My plan: On work days, I'm going to try to work more efficiently, with a clearer end point for my day in mind--for the express purpose of picking my son up early from day care. Even an extra half hour with my toddler is precious time that I don't want to lose.

To further increase our quality evening time together, I need to streamline our evening routines. Healthy meals are important to me, but it can be time-consuming to prep and cook good food on a work night.

So, I've been reading up on slow cookers and pressure cookers, with the goal of minimizing time spent cooking in the evenings. We already have a pressure cooker that we never use, and I asked for and received a nice slow cooker for my birthday.

If anyone has great, tried-and-true pressure cooker and/or slow cooker recipes that are vegetarian, please share--I'm all ears!

Julia's Days 19 and 20

Check them out here, where I talk about not being able to do it all, and here, where I talk about nothing at all.

Christa, Day 19: Unraveling the Web of What I Love

True story: I started writing a post at my mommy blog before I read today's voluntary simplicity idea... it doesn't exactly harmonize with the underlying theme of Day 19, but it's tangentially related because it's about time. The time to do the things you love, in fact. I've always thought that unless your job is something you really, really love, the biggest thing that gets in the way of doing what you do love - other than a lack of motivation - is having to work for a living. And it's something I've been dealing with for the past few months - having to work in a certain place at designated times has been a real 'do what you love' killer.

But for me, it's not as simple as working less to do more non-work activities. Today's idea:

Do what you love. Once you’ve freed up some time, be sure to spend that extra time doing things you love. Go back to your list of 4-5 important things. Do those, and nothing else. Read more.

I'll admit right out of the gate that this one is a challenge for me because a lot of the things I love are wrapped up in work. Number three, for instance, is having enough money to feel secure because financial insecurity is probably my main stress trigger. Sometimes doing the things that make me happy, which is my number two, involves work or just work-like activities. Like the 72 Ideas in 72 Days Project, which requires daily writing and a certain degree of commitment. Or my favorite freelance gigs. Spending "quality" time with Tedd and the P. can sometimes involve making sure I have dealt with responsibilities beforehand so I can be fully present.

All in all, this is possibly the most difficult simplification idea I've encountered yet. Saying no to work? I said goodbye to a big project. Decluttering? I'm currently in the process of ditching excess storage containers. And so on.

Most days, I really enjoy the voluntary simplicity idea of the day - even if I reflect on it without actually doing anything. One thing I've noticed while reading everyone else's experiences is that we all have trouble with different things. Some of us have time management totally nailed. Not spending is not a problem for some. Decluttering is super easy for some. We all have our areas of individual expertise and things we need to work on. What do I need to work on? (Other than not ending sentences with prepositions, apparently...)

Unraveling the tangled web of what I love. For example, I love my family and have taken and am taking steps to create a life that allows me more time to focus on caring for them. But earning money is one way I care for my family, and so there's a small part of me that loves that I was able to find a job at all. I love working for one of my non-profit clients because it's a great organization. I love blogging, and I do it but it definitely takes time. Time that I could be using for other things that I love. I love spending time with P. but I think she gets a lot out of daycare. Some of the things I love doing, that make me happy, are also stressful. Etc.

See? It's complicated!

But there are things I've felt I wouldn't have time for if I even tried to fit them in, and today's list item has inspired me to make the time. Specifically, to start doing some Rosetta Stone German lessons to improve my grammar. Alongside Tedd, who could certainly use the vocabulary. I want to feel more comfortable speaking German with P. in the mornings when Tedd's already off to work and I want to speak better than your average German toddler. Where will I find this time? Probably in the evenings or when I'm home for lunch - I guess it's just something I need to figure out!

P.S. - Check out Julia's Day 19 and the Attorney at Large's Day 18-21!