"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up." ~A.A. Milne

This past Sunday, before heading out to a birthday party, Adam and I were about to do our (sometimes) weekly big cleaning, when I looked around our bedroom. We usually ignore our bedroom during our weekly cleanings, because no one sees it but us and we can just shut the door on the mess. There was just stuff everywhere. Piles of clean and dirty clothes, boxes of things that needed to be unpacked or returned, clean gym clothes hanging on the drying rack because our drawers are too full, half-unpacked suitcases and bags, just stuff. And it was bugging the hell out of me. So, we filled up one garbage bag full of clothes to donate, one full of undonateable clothes to trash, and one full of old sheets to donate to a local animal shelter. I eyed the suits I've been meaning to donate for over a year now, decided to see how far the dry cleaners that accepted the suit donations were from the place where the party was going to be held that afternoon, determined that they were only five minutes apart, and plopped the suits on top of our donation pile. It felt good to get rid of that clutter. Our bedroom actually has a floor!

Lately, I've been feeling like life is moving along without me. Days, weeks, months just flying by in the blink of an eye without my even really noticing. My life is starting to feel like the bedroom floor... things, events, obligations, ideas just piled up haphazardly. Instead of taking the time to tackle them, I usually just shut the door and pretend they're not there. I just don't feel, for lack of a better word, present in my life. (That sounds so crunchy, granola-y.) It's March already... March! My birthday, my thirtieth birthday is in just four days! I swear it was just the holidays.

I wonder if it's turning 30 that is causing me to realize that I want change some things about my life. Not big changes, I'm overall quite happy with how things are and where I'm headed... just the little day-to-day things. Or maybe it's because Spring is just around the corner and I've caught the spring-cleaning and organizing bug. I've been thinking a lot lately of how I could fit in all the things I want/need to do. Mundane tasks (cleaning, laundry), necessary tasks (exercise), fun activities. But I also want to be able to do nothing... to lie on the couch, watch television, blog more. And get 8 hours of sleep. I keep contemplating setting up a daily/weekly schedule. Is it crazy to schedule almost every moment of your day? To set a "bedtime" and a "workout time" and a "dinnertime" and a cleaning schedule and a laundry schedule? To write "relaxing" into the 9-10pm timeslot?

How do you find a way to fit it all in?

Posted by: nickgb | March 11, 2010 3:07 PM