I was about an inch from insanity this past week. With school every day, music five times a week, and church youth group twice, it keeps me on my toes. And that's not even including eating, sleeping, homework, practice, and leisure time, oh no, those aren't important enough to make it on the list. I kept thinking how in the world can I get everything done while still keeping myself together? During these times I feel as if I'm faking my way through it all, pretending everything's completely fine. After getting past the shock of me being able to homeschool again, I am figuring out that it's not going to turn out any less work. Sure, there's less busy work, and yes, I can do things whenever I like, but I'm still on a schedule. A schedule that seems to be filling up even more than before. What with NaNoWriMo starting last week and me being back at Greenhouse, I just don't know how I'm going to keep up with everything. I think we all could use a lesson on juggling. By writing, sometimes I can figure it out and happily, I've compiled a list I think is actually helpful.
Anyone like my connection between juggling and multitasking? Actually it isn't my own, I think it's a pretty common expression. Anyways, I learned to juggle over the summer...sort of. I can only do a couple rotations without dropping the balls but it was a start and I got the feeling of it. I think there's something to be learned from the process of learning to juggle. Here is a rundown of the steps it took to get there and how we can apply it to life.
The first thing I learned when starting off, was that I needed to take it one step at a time. My juggling set included a paper with five instructions on it. If I had tried to start with the last step, I would have failed. In fact I'm sure I did try, because failure is sometimes a prerequisite before realising we need to start from the beginning. If we'll only start from step one, it will make the later ones easier instead of trying the hard over and over and getting frustrated. Sometimes it will take longer to get through the steps, sometimes it won't. What I found with juggling was that getting to the last step was easy, mastering it was not. Which leads me into the next point, making a schedule.
I must confess that this is the reason that prevented me from saying I can juggle. The fact that everything worth doing takes practice, and can't usually be learned in one day, or even a week, depending how hard the task is keeps many from finishing. Consistency is extremely helpful in this area. There are three other components involved in juggling. Timing/rhythm, focus, and rest. It takes focus to get the timing right, and rest to be able to focus. Often I find that the third is forgotten but it might even be the most important.
It's probably pretty obvious how this ties in, but I'll elaborate anyhow. First I want to change something around a little but. I think that perhaps it is wiser to make the schedule before taking one step at a time. Then you can set goals to achieve in a manageable manner because you know what the goal is. Finding rhythm might go along with that--pick a time that's good to be consistent and aim for it every time. Then you must focus, because if you don't, it wastes time and doesn't accomplish anything. If you can't focus, then that probably means you need a break. Even God took a rest after creating the world, on Sunday. It wouldn't be a bad idea to simply set everything aside for one day a week to rejuvenate. I don't know why we do it, but humans seem naturally convinced that if we stop for even a minute, the world will collapse because everything we do is of vital importance. Stop telling yourself you're so busy. I know that personally, the things I worry about aren't that important if I thought about it. It's nice to get things done but when it gets in the way it only ruins other things.
We can't make time, but we can find it. Strangely, the less time you have the more you get done. I'm fairly certain this is universally accepted. We put things off so often it's ridiculous. I have one piece of advice in this area. Use your waiting time wisely. I'm willing to bet that I spend half my time waiting. If that's true for you, then that is where you can get extra time. If you can't be actually doing it, you can at least be thinking about it, planning for it, wherever you're at. Unless you're having your rest time, thinking would be more useful than zoning out because otherwise the time was wasted.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
