Wheel of life & balance {SYL12-week 4}…

{Source}

This week {and I am a little late to post} we had to fill in the wheel of life chart to see where our time and energy is currently spent and what areas, if we want them to, need more time and energy and focus.

My categories were

Home & finances {basically the “housewife” component”}

Health, body & beauty {included fitness}

Family {no brainer}

Self development & mental well-being {Comes back to one of my core values being growth and also balance. A balanced Lulu = mental well being }

Fun {Family togetherness, social occasions, letting loose, laughter & smiles}

Creativity {Includes all forms including writing}

Work & career {more the development of something than what I already do}

Relationships {With husband & friends}

Deb pointed out that nothing can be all 5`s or even all 4`s. In fact I only got one 4 and the rest were 3`s, 2`s & 1`s with most things coming up at 2 or 1.

I was not at all surprised to see that my family got the highest rating in terms of my time & energy although I often feel like I am letting them down trying to balance everything else or that because I devote so much time to them {mainly Noah & Shion} that I am drained thinking about all the other things I need to do and get done as well that instead of doing them when the boys are asleep I waste time net surfing or chilling in front of some American Idol {I know, i know!!!} and get even more stressed so I think I need to carve out time each day to focus a little more on some other aspects of my life without letting the QUALITY of time with the kids or things I do for my family suff

Relationships and fun got a 3. One thing that Shun & I need to work on is our relationship instead of just focusing on the kids or our own time. We need to find balance there and have time with each other unrelated to the kids or household tasks/disussions {ie, finances etc}. We are trying to make more time for each other and also time for fun things to do altogether like day trips, fun for the kids, outside time etc. Recently I have felt that some of my friendships- those that were around before I was a mother {or wife for that matter} were fading fast. I know that this is normal when your life changes so drastically like by getting married, having kids {and soon to take on a mortgage. Not to mention living on one salary}. I have tried to make more of an effort here but perhaps it is time to let go somewhat of some things from my life “before”. Sad to see things there change and maybe they won`t be changed forever and where possible I will still try to work on these relationships but there is only so much I can do.

I am a pretty social person  and I like to get out and about although it has gotten harder now that both kids need to eat and both are very very mobile! Lunch dates or coffee dates out are hard and usually cause a lot of stress for me to be honest. I much prefer having people come over and hang out here or me going to their house to hang out there- less cost, less stress & more fun. Of course this is when the kids are involved!

In the last couple of months I have started to have some time for myself away from the kids- not just work- but the occasional shopping trip, in December I saw a movie with a friend, and I am going out in a couple of weeks for a night out. These things all help me recharge my {mama} batteries and are important for my mental health as well.

Home & finances, creativity and work & career all received 2s. I honestly walk around my house most days and think it is disgusting. Perhaps by some peoples standards it is fine but by my own it is pretty bad. I am hoping that with moving into our new place, putting new routines in place and getting a better handle on things that this will get better. I will try to ensure everything has a home and I will declutter things further as I get ready to move. We are about to take on a mortgage as well and to be honest our finances are a bit of a mess. I also have a long list of things to do that are home/finance related that I just never get to {life insurance, extra health cover, savings account for Shion {Noah`s is set up already}, automatic transfers} because I have put them in the too hard basket.

Creativity & career got low scores because now that I am a mother and I want to stay home  with the kids they are low on the radar I guess. I am not sure where I am going with these right now.

Health, body & beauty and self-development & mental well-being got 1s. I grouped them like this for my own personal reasons although I guess mental well-being could of come under health. Health & beauty wise I am a bit of a mess but imagine that many mama`s feel that way! I also feel like I am not using my brain NEARLY enough lately and this needs more focus. I think getting on top of some other things in my life would help me feel more accomplished and thus fuel for more self-development.

I am happy with where family & fun are in my life right now. I do think my relationships could use a bit of work {especially with hub!} but ultimately I want to get home & finances and self-development & mental well-being up a bit higher. I think in order to do this I need to leave creativity & career on the back burner a bit longer- this doesn`t mean I won`t get to them eventually {although I might never get to focus on them much again}. I know that health, body & beauty SHOULD be higher on my list. I do. But to be honest I know that even if I say I want to focus on them they will be the first thing to go on the backburner {again} so I am not going to push myself towards that just now. I will continue to try and eat better, drink more water and exercise when I feel the push or perhaps try and combine in into something else like fun {family day out at the beach could class as exercise right? Plus a little sun is good for you, right?}

Week 5 is catch your breath week for the challenge. I am going to use the time to remind myself {as the quote at the top says} that I can do anything but not everything! I will start working towards finding more balance in my life. I will write lists and actually start crossing things OFF THE LISTS. Things like making a poster with our family mission statement on it and printing it out so that I can see it everyday. But also I am going to go back to my values, and wheel of life above and start doing the big rocks first which Deb talked about on her blog today {click link to see the video}. The premise is simple and not something that we don`t already know but it is a matter of actually doing the big things first before letting the smaller, less significant things bog us down.

It is 7 or so weeks til I head to Australia and less than 12 weeks until we move into the new house. I have lots to do between now and then! This week I will start dumping stuff we do not need at the new house! Declutter time baby!

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