Complete the i-village course "Achieving Work-Life Balance"

how much time I spend looking for things. I looked everywhere for a book I needed to complete my class agenda, then just looked online to find the chapter numbers.

I looked and looked for the mortgage login code so I could switch to online pay. It took me half an hour to make that switch. I really need a system.

my second assignment was to write down EVERYTHING I do in half-hour increments.

I have long castigated myself for wasting time. Now that I catalog it, I find that while it’s true that nothing on my to-do list gets done, it’s not because I am wasting time. In fact, I do so much (housework, laundry, meal prep, bill paying, taking care of hubby) that it’s a wonder I get anything on the list done at all. My time is crammed full until evening, when I am too exhausted to do anything except vegetate.

That does not mean I can’t strategize. I am going to put every bill I can on automatic debit from the checking account. I am going to try going to bed earlier and getting up earlier so I will have some of that creative morning time to myself that I used to have.

Yay! I am not the huge slacker that I thought I was!

The Assignment

The point of time management is to gain control of your life and ultimately achieve your dreams. The best way to start, then, is to work backwards from your dreams. What are they? Brainstorm. No idea is too big. Write them down.

Identify the dream that you hold most dear to your heart, and turn it into a concrete goal. Now, still using your pen and paper, start to break it down. How many years will it take to get there? What steps will be required? Figure out what steps you can take this year, this month, and even today to bring you closer to your goal. If you have other dream-goals, break them down too. You now have the beginnings of a road map.

My Brainstorming

Goal 1: Keep taking care of my husband at home, and see him toward good health.

Okay, I am already started on this goal, and it’s going well. How long will this take? Who knows? I can do only so much, nature and the universe will take care of the rest. I do not know how long he will need care, as in “someone with him all the time,” but if it is a long time, I will need money, since insurance does not cover having someone there so I can work. That brings us to Goal 2 . . .

Goal 2: Become a Powerhouse Author.

This really is a dream goal, but the assignment says dream big. I have a foot in the door with two textbooks going into their third edition now. They do well enough, in their modest way, but what I would really like-and we are not just talking money here, we are talking personal achievement-is to expand from just books on writing and do a book on grammar only, a vocabulary book or two, and, yes, even a reading text. That is what I mean by powerhouse. How long would it take? Yeesh, I hate to think. A lot of time and creativity would go into them. Where do I start? With that grammar-only book. I have the foundations of it already. I need to write a prospectus and pitch it to my editor. But first, I eed to achieve that work-life balance. Right now, I don’t even have time to take my vitamins in the morning. :(

Goal 3: Become a Master Teacher

Again, we are talking personal achievement and satisfaction. I already do a great job. My division chair says on my evaluations that if had to establish a college on Mars with just one faculty member, he’d pick me. Okay, so maybe he just wants me off the planet . . . But what do I want? I want to influence something other than just students’ writing. I want to help them become better, stronger, happier people. And how do they do that? By finding and achieving their dreams. Since I teach first-year students at a commuter college, one way I can help them do that is to attach them to the college by helping them become aware of its resources, helping them make friends and connections. I am starting on the road to that by collaborating with a wonderful and creative fellow faculty member. We have declared ourselves ambassadors for the college and have devised a first-week shecdule that sends students around the campus to explore its resources and report back to the class. I also have to give myself time in class to promote college events and to reward students for participating in them. I am off to a good start. . . just have to keep plugging away.

Goal 4: Make my home a great place for friends to gather

Right now, with my hubby unable to go out in the world, I have to bring the world to him. We host Poetry Night every Monday, and I try to bring people over as much as possible. I need to work bit by bit on making my home attractive and clutter free, maintaining the yard, which looks awful at the moment, and being able to let anybody in at any time without embarrassment. The first step in this is to get a system to get clutter out and order in. How long will this take? Based on past experience, forever. I am not on the road to this part yet . . . in fact, I should make it a separate goal.

Goal 4: Maintain the stuff and systems of my life in an orderly way. What does that mean? That everything not only looks orderly on the outside, but is orderly on the inside. My car may look okay, but what about that squeal in the brakes? What about the spare tire that is flat as a flitter? I could go on and on, but I know what I mean. I need time to do these things, though. I guess that is why I am taking this e-class.

Okay, enough brainstorming. I have already laid out more than enough to keep me busy for ages. If I can make progress on these four things, I will be happy.

and invite all of y’all (what a great expression—must include it in my favorite colloquial terms goal. Digression ahead . . . While “y’all” is Southern for you plural, “all of y’all,” sometimes rendered in speech as “all-y’all” takes it a step further, making sure that the listeners know EVERYONE is included!) to join me!

I am going to do my lessons here online, just to keep myself honest.

Some hiatus, eh? I am still on hiatus, though, because I am not going to socialize here for a week . . . I am just here to work.

Achieving work-life balance is something I desperately need to do!