I admit it. I’m distracted. There’s this thing that starts with an F and another that starts with a T. Let’s just say that they exist on the computer. Something to do with social networking, I think. There’s email, of course. Lots of that. Oh, and there are all of these blogs. Lots of them. And then there are the news articles, so many interesting tidbits of interesting things that I should definitely know about.
I’m an information junkie, and I’m a mom. I’m also the one who does the bulk of the homemaking duties in our house. It’s a hard juggle in the Age of Distraction, let me tell you.
There are other distractions too. There are the distractions of more ancient media, like the phone and the television. There are the distractions of oh so many things to be done around the house, so many things that I don’t even know where to begin. This week, the cat needed to go to the vet. I had to put out the garden veggie transplants while the weather was sunny. I’m making crafts for my daughter’s birthday party loot bags. I needed to keep the house tolerably clean and the laundry done and the lunches made and the dinner finished and the…you get the picture. Just a regular week in the life of any one of us, I’d imagine.
And there are the educational activities. There’s a program at church on Monday evening for a few weeks. We run a nature group for home learners on Tuesdays. My daughter attends a part time play-based program, and I need to volunteer there.
So how can you stay sane and keep your home running smoothly in the Age of Distraction?
Reduce distractions. Yes, easier said than done. Ok then, prioritize your activities. I really don’t need to do half of the things that I do, but many of those household extras are important to me. I like growing plants to transplant outdoors. I do not like cleaning the sink. Therefore, I grow the plants and I clean the sink less often. I do not feel guilty about my sink.
Get into a routine. In our house, I do the once a week chores on Saturday in a 2-hour block. Period. I do not feel guilty about them all week, because Saturday will come and I will do those chores. The same with the daily chores. Of course, your routine sometimes needs to vary, but I find when I put things off life starts to feel rather overloaded.
Stop your brain from going on overload by actually concentrating. I can be amazingly productive, but when I have too much on my plate I find myself running from half-finished task to half-finished task. And you know, laundry just doesn’t feel as good when it’s only half-finished. You can’t send kids to school in wet clothes.
And last but not least, remember why you’re doing these things. Is it to make the community better? To help your kids find enjoyment in an activity that wouldn’t run otherwise? Every so often, think about your activities in relation to these goals and determine which ones you should keep on doing.