Just maybe not all at the same time.
Last week was one of those that the cartoons would start to point blinking arrows toward as a giant clue as to what’s going on (or wrong) in a life. Monday I missed a tweet chat (because I was on the phone with the wedding caterer). Tuesday (early) I realized that I didn’t know what week it was, then (later) rewarded myself for getting my blogs done early by working on wedding projects and missed a scheduled Skype call. And then our Internet went out on Wednesday and stayed out til Sunday afternoon!
It was one of those weeks.
But as it was all going on, I did start to think about the whole concept of “having it all.” The goal–and, considered by some, fallacy–of many a working woman, sometimes called the elusive work-life balance.
Except I don’t consider it a fallacy or elusive–it just takes work. And maybe cutting ourselves a little slack.
Looking at my blog calendar I see it’s been 2 weeks since a post went up here on the 64 Arts. But what you don’t see, if this is the only site of mine you follow, that I published 17 other posts among all my blogs since my Curly Girl post when live. And I worked those 2 weeks at the day job, turned in a Design Team project, made half a dozen table numbers and all sorts of other tasks large and small.
So it’s not like I was slacking.
And yet, there’s got to be a better way. One strategy is to cut ourselves some slack and make some cuts. Which works in the short-term, but isn’t so much of a permanent fix. You could drop everything, walk away, and contemplate starting over, but that can be a bit counter-productive. Finally (and the best option as far as I can see) is to review what you’re doing, look for what could be improved, consolidate some redundant systems, and streamline what’s left.
Granted, that last one is anything but a quick fix, but it’s still the approach I plan to take over the next few months.
In other words: change is coming, but it’s good change, I promise!
Until then, things will keep bumping along as they have been as I wrap up some projects and get ready to consolidate others. Watch this space and, if “having it all” is your goal, don’t give up, just think about different ways of getting it.