So I was chatting with a customer about my thoughts on opening store number two. She was enthusiastically in support of my plan but said very directly that I”already looked like a was stretched thin.” It saddened me to hear that. I have so much I want to do in the world, learn guitar, speak Spanish, inspire my kids, open a new cafe, build a mommy relaxation empire! I can't already be at my limit? I can't stop here! Maybe , I thought, I just didn't have any lipstick left on at 3pm and so I did not look fresh and alert. Or maybe this perfect stranger saw my inner truth. That I was at my limit and if something did not give I had to stop dreaming of what would be next. That to me would be a fate worse than death.
So what was gonna give? Not my time with my kidlets. I want them to have more of my time not less. Time with hubby- see previous answer. Delegate everything? -not as easy as it sounds. Lucky for me I had a good friend come in who does so many amazing things and has 4 kids. His motto is schedules and rituals. Those 2 words might as well be water boarding and nails on a blackboard. Seriously, entrepreneurs are often wild thinkers. Wild thinkers do not like predictability. At least not this one.So what's an adrenaline junkie do to get a grip on her life so that she can do more more more? An experiment, that's what.
For 2 weeks I will attempt a time budget and keep you posted on my progress. To some of you who actually already live your life this way this may sound downright silly. Something that is familiar to you may not seem like a challenge but if you are a predictable, scheduled, bills always paid on time, ahead on your volunteer hours kinda gal, picture yourself running a cafe for kids where everyday is completely unexpected. Take a hold of your own terror at this moment, and know that that is how I feel writing out an actual schedule.
But it must be done. I am a brilliant multi-tasker. So brilliant that it masks the fact that I don't use my time well. I can take an order, pull a shot, and wipe down a table before you have decided what you would like to order. I can update, twitter, facebook, my blog, my website, order biz cards, schedule the employees and balance the books all while talking to the repairman who is fixing the broken freezer. But does that mean that I SHOULD do all of this just because I can. Am I doing any of these things well. And more importantly-I am NEVER EVER done.I used to think that if I just go a lil faster I will see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light shining over a Hawaiian beach, with my pile of cash, and Mai tai by my side. The tunnel is dim Jim, very dim.
I gotta have fun right now and not wait for that elusive, 100 mile, curvy, bumpy, detoured tunnel.So I have sat myself down and logged every home and work task that I have done in the last 6 months. I put together an average time for each, including moments of downtime, dates with my husband, and time with my babies. I have a bill time, and a social networking time, a grocery night and a date night. I'm getting up an hour earlier and getting home earlier too.I really don't know if I can pull this off but I have so much that I want to do so I'm trying a new approach and seeing if the benefits outweigh the terror, and the schedule.
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