Downtime vs. Being Busy

I'm gone about 60 hours a week for my job.  I'm taking a full load of classes at college.  I'm part of the 20-week training program that ends in a half marathon this fall.  I attend three different WLS support groups per month - leading one of them.  I'm a part of a photography group, a girlfriends dining group and a crafters group all with full schedules I could take advantage of.  I own my home and have the regular household chores that everyone has except since I'm single, I get all of them by myself.  And of course I've got family obligations just like everyone else.  

I'm damn busy!

I'm also a homebody.  I like being home and hanging out in my own space. I like to sleep late sometimes or spend the day watching movies or engrossed in a good book.  In the summer I like hanging out on my patio enjoying the sunshine. 

But I also like to travel and go on day trips.  Although I don't seem to have the time to do this as much as I want.  Which is why I made the goal to do the Traveling Race Mania thing.  

How can I fit it all in and still have a life that I enjoy?

As you know from my last post ... when life gets too crazy I tend to revert back to my most basic comfort desires.  Comfort foods, hibranating at home and letting bad health habits creep back into my routine.  This can be dangerous if I let it happen too often.  And I don't want days like that to happen -- it makes me feel bad.  So how do I avoid it?

I need to figure out how to not be so busy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.... easier said than done.  About a month ago I started using Google Calendar a bit more faithfully than I had been.  Everything is now on the calendar so I can see all the commitments and appointments I have.  Everything.  It's pretty overwhelming to see it all there in writing.  

But over the past couple days I've been going through and making adjustments.  Deciding what's important and what can be eliminated.  Now that the days are less crowded I now need to set a specific schedule for school work.  My goal is to actually set up an area in my house that is devoted strictly to doing school stuff.  Not a desk necessarily .. but maybe my easy chair with a table next to it for comfortable reading (cuz there's a LOT of reading going on here!).   Also need to get my Crim training schedule and homework exercises onto the calendar so I can see it all in one place.  

It's all a major balancing act.  Being healthy and having more energy and being involved in achieving my goals -- it takes a lot of time and commitment.   I just need to refine my schedule a bit more so it doesn't become a burden and is actually something I enjoy.  

But it is all worth it for the life I have right now.

~Pam