...keep up this blog

It's been a while since I last posted but the past month has thrown more than its fair share of challenges my way. On the one hand being busy has prevented me from dwelling on the issues involved but the flip side is that the things I enjoy doing have taken a back seat.

Earlier this month Seth Godin posted 'You don't need more time ... you just need to decide' and whilst I agree with this as a premise I'm not convinced of its translation into practice. How do you decide between the responsibilities of family life, work and your own interests? I could of course choose not to take my daughter to the numerous after school activities on offer reminding her that 'we didn't have all this in our day and we did just fine', but for most of us, this is the very reason why we want our children to have the opportunity to embrace them.

When it comes to work perhaps I need to be more disciplined in when I check emails, how much I undertake in my own time and follow a more structured GTD style approach to organising projects. As a freelancer though, as I've said before in an earlier post, the fear that next month may hold a dry spell makes this a difficult one to do, not the organisation bit - that's a no brainer; but the concept of limiting how much work is done in a day. Most of the work I undertake I actually really enjoy doing so my frustration is this: by the time I've done all that's required of me for work and home (which includes being the primary carer and housekeeper) there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to sit in my chair, finish the books I have on the go and listen to the numerous new albums I've downloaded.

And there my argument stumbles because deep down I know this is all an excuse. I waste as much time as  the next person browsing through favourite websites including blogs, twitter and facebook so my solution is this. I'm going to expand my GTD to limit the time I indulge in the technosphere and increase the time I have for more traditional activities.

It seems after all that Seth is right; I don't need more time...I just need to decide.

...buy a new chair

If there's one thing our house doesn't need it's any more furniture. It's a 3 bedroom, 3 reception room house, average size and there are only 3 of us living in it (excluding the cat and she doesn't take up too much space with her stuff). But for some reason we have five sofas and four chairs spread about the place. I'd like to get rid of two of the sofas; they're old and saggy but my husband loves them, as do most people who spend time sitting in them. For now they can stay.

So another chair is not high on our list of needs, but it's crept to the top of my list of wants.

On Sunday with Christmas behind us we threw caution to the wind, ignored the tradition of twelfth night, and un-decked our Christmas tree. We'd shuffled the furniture around in the sitting room to accommodate the usual oversized tree, so once we'd relocated it to its new home on the bonfire, ready to combust in a tinder fuelled blaze, that's when the idea was sparked. There in the corner of the room was the perfect place for a new chair. There'd be plenty of room for a table, lamp, pile of books, ipod speaker; a square metre of floor space allocated purely to the art of relaxation. And this wouldn't be just any chair. It's a Charles Eames lounge chair and ottoman (reproduction sadly) in chocolate brown leather with a walnut frame. In a word, exquisite. I've already bought it in my head. I sit in it after the chosen one has gone to bed; reading, listening to music, glass of wine to hand and a view of the garden straight ahead.

I'm pretending to debate the merits. On the 'for' side we'd then have equal quantities of chairs and sofas, a fact that is of course ridiculous but nevertheless satisfies my need for symmetry and order. On the 'against' side we could spend the money on plenty of other things: a treadmill, wallpaper, new garden furniture...the list is lengthy and all items are worthy of consideration.

It is of course a done deal. But once it's in place we'll need to think about whether we should buy a new side table and lamp too. Not to mention the fact that there'd be a space on the wall behind which would probably need a new paining...I'll think about it; from my new chair.

...go to a school play

Today was the 3rd and final performance of my daughter's Christmas play 'Babushka'. Kids ranging in age from 5 to 9 did themselves, and the school, proud as they sang and acted their hearts out, missed cues, dropped the baby Jesus on his head and managed wardrobe malfunctions. I know it's the same at primary schools up and down the UK but there's just something a bit special about your school's play.

In all honesty, like many parents, I was less than impressed that we had to block out time for 3 performances; it's a busy time juggling work, school activities, Christmas present buying and wrapping as well as the seemingly, never-ending culinary demands. However all frustration disappeared as my 6 year old took to the stage to perform a Russian dance with 9 of her classmates. Resplendent in Russian dress, the beaming smile on her face said it all. This is it. Life is good. And if it's not good when you're 6 then there's really not much to be optimistic about.

The year 2 who played the lead role was hilarious with a good sense of the comedy of her character and the younger pupils made adorable angels, farmyard animals and insects (if you don't know the story:  Babushka meets the 3 wise men on her way to 'rescue' the new born baby King from a dirty stable; well in the main). The daughter of a friend of ours sang a solo and another child picked his nose for most of the performance. It was, as it should be, a play of contrasts and the perfect start to the Christmas celebrations, reminding me that some things are more important than others.

With our star of the show now tucked up in bed it's time to catch up on work but the memory of a joyful 6 year old looking for me in the audience and watching my reaction as she sang and danced her way through the show is well worth the late night.

... think about actioning my to do list

My to do list would make David Allen cringe. This is odd because as someone with mild OCD I'm a big fan of the concept behind the GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology: removing tasks and actions from the mind by keeping a record of them either on paper or electronically.

I have all the GTD tools: the filing system (daily, yearly, A-Z), colour coded post-it notes and cards for recording actions against life areas (home, work, kids) and of course the book. And for the last year I've also followed David Allen on Twitter reading some of his links with great interest.

'Yes' I think, 'I'll start doing that.' But what is it that stops me from actually getting on with it, from getting things done?

Basically, I take the Why Don't You approach and 'go out and do something less boring instead.' Why sort out my filing when I could join my 6 year old on the zipwire in our garden? And do I really want to categorise all the things I need to do on different coloured cards, stored in different folders? Well yes I'm the sort of person who'd love it, but I'd much rather be cooking and listening to The Boss or Radio 2. It's not that I'm totally dismissing the GTD system merely assigning it to a yellow postcard for action another day.

I get that if I actually organised myself in a GTD way, I might have more time to read, go to the cinema, sit around with girlfriends or maybe take on another client. But the problem is, I manage to fit these things in around my slightly chaotic approach to life and every now and then I get to treat myself to a day of sorting, shredding and filing.

As we have 30 people joining us for a party on Saturday I feel it would be wise to do an office clear out before then, if only I didn't have the tree to decorate, Christmas school plays to attend and a family gathering in the Midlands for the annual Christmas present exchange. That said, I've got a few spare minutes...maybe I'll check out these lovely filing products first...JIC (just in case).

... watch the penguins

It's freezing at home today. In the true sense of the word, not my usual exaggeration for a chilly day. Sat in my study wearing a coat and hat I'm realising that I'm truly more mean than green or maybe I can rationalise the lack of heating by the limited amount of time I have during the day to even light the fire.

That would be a justified excuse, after all I have created a set of screen shots for a customer's website and reviewed a blog post for another client, if it wasn't for the fact that due to the opt-in, invasive medium that is twitter I have been distracted on numerous occasions throughout the day by the penguin cam at Edinburgh Zoo. If you haven't seen it yet be warned: it's a time suck. Having looked in on them a few times now I am 100% certain something is going on to the right, just off camera. You know how the penguins in Madagascar are always plotting, well watch out Edinburgh I think there's a jail break planned. At one point this afternoon they all disappeared from shot and then a group of 5 or 6 ran (can they run) back into view so we wouldn't guess what they were up to. After posing for an acceptable amount of time they then shuffled back a la The Great Escape to continue digging the tunnel from which I am sure they will depart some time soon.

Thanks also to the tweets of India Knight, the social engagements of Sir Nils Olav are now part of my knowledge base, and no he's not a Norwegian royal but one of the king penguins at the zoo and mascot of the Norwegian Guard. A knight of the Norwegian realm (you couldn't make this stuff up), Sir Nils' page on the zoo website successfully consumed another 10 minutes of my life and prevented me from finishing a newsletter.

Both, I feel, perfectly acceptable excuses for not lighting a fire and considering the oh so many exciting but essentially useless diversions that lie in wait behind whichever window I happen to be working in at the time, excuses that I'm confident I'll use again.

Oh, and I seem to have inadvertently propositioned one of the directors I work with...it was an honest mistake with completely innocent intentions but proving the case that brain is not fully engaged. It must be the cold.

As for the gentoo penguins? Well, the light's fading but they're back on screen for the moment. One last performance before they make a run for it...