I'M STRESSED AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE

Sunday's NYT article, "In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop," was just the wake-up call I needed. I've been more productive the last few months than in years yet each night I go to sleep chiding myself for not finishing projects and wondering how I can get more done.

I used to be a highly-organized person. Each day I wrote checklists. When I crossed off a to-do item, a task as small as dropping clothes off at the dry cleaner or as time-consuming as filing six months of household papers, I experienced a rush of accomplishment.

Oddly enough as a working mom, I managed to keep my organization skills strong. Lunch hours were not about eating, they were a luxurious block of time where I ran errands, quickly and alone. A friend of mine once told me she admired how with fifteen minutes of down time I managed to accomplish multiple errands while she spent the same time sitting in her parked car.

As a SAHM, I find this efficiency a challenge. Worse, now that I'm not "working", others who do work, consider my complaints unjustified. I used to get sidetracked by dirty breakfast dishes, a pile of soiled laundry, and phone calls but I've traded these for another time-consuming distraction: blogging. Not the writing part. To spend endless hours writing is my dream. No, it's the blogosphere learning curve: blog administration, marketing, social networking. The blog world is enormous and learning how to navigate it is overwhelming. Additionally, there are so many interesting writers out there on every subject that when I read one I like, I link over to another they recommend, and another, and before I know it hours have passed and I can no longer remember the original article or my motivation for reading it in the first place!

I've been wondering how to better manage my time between my role as a mom, my home business, and my blogging. I tend to take things on with a flourish. I become passionate and consumed with the desire to be an overnight success at whatever I do. Over Christmas I decided I was going to start a business AND a blog. I had no idea how much work each of them would require and, since both of them are computer driven, I find myself chained to my Ibook. I work while the kids are in school - forgetting to drink, eat, walk the dog, and plan dinner. I sneak time logged on while the kids are doing homework. I make a quick pit stop while cooking or cleaning only to realize dinner has burned or it's 10pm and I've forgotten to put the kids to sleep! I spend little to no time with friends, little to no time reading books, and even less time with my husband.

Don't get me wrong, I love writing the blog. It's forced me to share my words in a public forum and connected me to other people with like interests and concerns. But in my hopes of filling my days with new purpose I've added stress and confused my priorities.

The NYT article above was interesting because while I am not a career blogger, and while I'm hopefully not going to drop dead of a stress-related heart attack any time soon, I am suffering from similar time-management difficulties. I answered the wake-up call and researched some tips I hope will be helpful. I provide links below in case you're interested.

Warning: Do not spend hours going from link to link like I did! Defeats the purpose, no?

How do you make the most of your day so you're a satisfied and happy mom? I'd like to know.

Related articles:
Workload is Killing Bloggers
(This link is not working, please go to www.kathrynvercillo.com/blog. Click on right column heading"Workload is Killing Bloggers". It's a good article.)
Work At Home Mom Time Management Tips
Time Management Tips for WAHMs and MOMs

P.S.!!!!! It just took me so long to write this article and get the linky-love right that I'm late to pick up my son and I haven't eaten, walked the dog or anything! So much for time management!