Slice of Life – Finding Balance

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Two Writing Teachers

I’m feeling that overwhelming sense of an unbalanced life. Where it feels like all of my free time has just dried up and gone away, not to be seen again until June. I sat this weekend, reflecting. Where has my time gone? How can I get some back?

I know one huge black hole for time – social media. I can’t help it, I love to “chat” on Twitter, check-up on friends on Facebook. Write blog posts, read blogs from others. All of these things have value, but I worry about what I’m missing. Obviously it is stealing time from my family. It’s stealing time from reading and writing. Blog posts are great, but I need to focus if I ever want to accomplish my dream of writing a book.

So, when considering what I wanted to “slice” about today, I decided to put forth some resolutions. I did this last year and checked myself against them once a month.

Resolution One – Blogging

One way I want to organize is to write most of my blog posts for an upcoming week on the weekend. This will give me some time during the week to give back to reading, writing, and family. Franki Sibberson had suggested this idea this summer, but I’ve never implemented it. We’ll see how it goes this week and hopefully it will become a habit.

My goal is to blog four times a week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We’ll see how that goes. 

Resolution Two – Social Media

I have to limit my time on social media. Right now I feel like I’m checking in constantly. I’m going to limit myself to before my kids wake up in the morning and after they go to bed at night. Right now I get home from school and unwind by checking it, I think I can steal some of that time back this way.

Resolution Three – Exercise

I’m embarrassed to think of the last time I exercised. It was this summer, but no idea when. Instead of committing to more than I can handle, I’m shooting for 3-4 walks a week. I think that is doable, and then if I can manage it, I’ll move on from there.

Resolution Four – Read Aloud

I haven’t read aloud a book to both Luke and Liam in some time, excluding picture books which I read them often. I want to read a chapter book to them again, so I’m starting with a favorite of mine, The Real Boy. This will be the next read aloud for my classroom and I’m anxious to see what the boys think of it.

Resolution Five – Write

I need to write more, I want to write more. I keep talking about creating a book, but I’m afraid. I get about 3,000 words in and decide that what I’m writing isn’t worthwhile, and then I stop. A few weeks ago I let go and decided I wanted to write about creating your classroom environment – including everything from relationships with students to classroom management. I wrote and wrote all weekend, and then, nothing. I’m committing here to writing 1000 words a week. Hold me to it. J

Five resolutions, I think I can do it. I need to get the balance back in my life. Every year when school starts, the scales tip and pull me away from what should be most important. With these five resolutions I’m giving time back to my family and myself. I’ll check back in at the end of October and hopefully be in a better spot.