Making Time For Magic

It is a long weekend in our neck of the woods. Typically, long weekends mean I work through the weekend catching up on all sorts of tasks that I can’t seem to squeeze into my regular work days. Working a full time job and pursuing online ventures can eat up time like nobody’s business. I’m making different choices this weekend though.

Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning. I only managed to get the main floor clean, but instead of working into the night and getting the whole house clean - I declared it good enough and walked away to enjoy the evening.

Instead of logging on to the computer when I had declared the housework done, I grabbed a book and read. Now, I alwas read a lot. The difference is that last night I didn’t take breaks from my book to log in to check my email or see what was going on on twitter.

Today, once I am finished posting here I will log off the computer and get the family ready for the magic show being hosted by the town at the community centre.  The entrance fee is a donation to the food bank and all of us are excited about getting out as a family. My middle son is especially excited, as he’s interested in performing magic tricks and has tried out a few simple ones on the family ad naseum trying to perfect his technique.

I had logged on with the intention of checking my email and touching base with a couple of my forums and I have done that.  Then I thought I’d write a quick post here to write about what I’m doing differently this weekend, because I think that many of us try too hard to do too much and end up sacrificing our families as a result of trying to be successful in our businesses.

I know I’m guilty of that!

I’ve read all the literature and I know I’m supposed to take time for my family and try to seek balance, but I seldom apply it to myself. I’m always one to say, “Well, that sounds good in theory, but I don’t know how to do that in my real life.”

So I just wanted to say - the only way to do it in real life is to just do it.

Take it one step at a time and declare one evening or one weekend a non-multitasking time and follow through. I think you’ll be surprised at how wonderful it feels to make time for teh magic in your life.

Long, lost and forgotten or right on track?

I’ve never been one for New Year’s Resolutions. When I see something I need to change in my life, personality, or business I usually make a conscious decision right then and there about how I’m going to change it and then get down to the business of improving.

I know there are other schools of thought out there that give strong credence to using the New Year as a fresh slate and a good point to make change, set goals and so forth and for this reason this year I decided to jump on board and create two goals for myself.

They are:

#1 The one touch rule. I got this one from my mother and the rule means you only touch something in your home once before putting it away. In my home we have the habit of shuffling clutter ( I REALLY dislike clutter) from room to room. So by adopting this rule for myself, I hoped that the home would stay cleaner. Let’s just say its 1/4 cleaner than it was because I am only one of four.

#2 Help! I decided that this would be the year I would ask for help. Notice how wonderfully measureable and specific my goals are! Sheesh, you’d think someone who wrote about goal setting would be able to set better goals! Anyway, I’m working on the asking for help thing. It’s a work in progress. I first need to figure out what I need help with. Any suggestions?

So….how are your New Year’s Resolutions going? Are they long, lost and forgotten or are you right on track?