Making It Work

Often as triathletes get more involved in their sport they add more to their plate.  If you're mid-20's and single, that's not a big deal.  Maybe it cuts into your happy hour time and hangover sleep-ins.  When you work and aren't attached, you have free time.

As you get a life essentially, getting married, having kids, buying a house, added responsibilities at work (maybe not in that order) you have less time to work with.

We often forgo sleep in order to "make room" to fit everything in.  Either work out in the AM before work or in the PM after the kids go to bed.

Then, add in today's technology - cell phones, blackberries, android apps, tv, movies, etc and poof, there goes the "free time".

I often see triathletes ask "where did the day go" or "I need more hours in the day".  I don't think they are going to mess with the calendar any time soon to add hours to the day.  It'd be nice, though.

So what are you to do?

I was approaching this issue as well.  At first, it was me, my house, work, triathlon, my 2 labs and extended family.  Pretty cut and dry.  My time I did what I want/needed and had it balanced.

Fast forward to today, house, work, 2 cars, the Wife - E, toddler R2, infant WeeMan, 3 dogs, triathlon, wife's work, wife's extended family, my extended family.... and I'm sure there's more.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching about how I don't have time to do what I want.  For the most part we have a decent plan going as long as WeeMan stays out of the hospital (which has has for 3 WHOLE WEEKS and is doing a LOT better!!!!).  But, we were bursting at the seems with not enough time.

We attended church a few weeks ago and they have started a new series on balancing life.  It struck home as E was shooting me looks through the whole thing as if to say "are you hearing all of this???" as sweetly as she could.

I heard it.  Maybe didn't like some of it, but I heard it.

Reduction #1, we had to find a new home for Patches the weiner dog.  If you have read for a while, we got him back in March, he got thumped by RJ for eating his food and just hasn't really fit in overall.  Luckily he was cute enough that finding a new loving home took a total of 1 hour at my work.  He's going to get a lot more attention than we can give him right now.  It worked out for everyone.

Moral of the story is, if you think "I need more hours in the day", it isn't going to happen.  You need to find reductions in life to carve out more time to devote to what really matters.