Attending college, homeschooling my kiddos and teaching preschool has definitely been an adventure this year. I honestly never really feel caught up. Everything that I do right now resets on Saturday or Monday and then I’m back in it for another week. Another week of papers to write and discussion boards to comment on, another week of teaching preschoolers, another week of lessons for my kiddos; it’s a vicious cycle at times. When I finish my week I am just days, or sometimes even hours, from everything starting all over.

This year my spring break from work and my spring break from college classes happened at different times. In the beginning I thought this was sort of crumby but now I see it as a blessing. My week off of classes I was able to take an extended weekend trip to Napa Valley, California and have a few days to regroup while soaking up some major vitamin D. That trip was just what I needed and I explain why here. Not having to log in and read discussions or make lesson plans for a week was great. Last week I had off of work but still had classes. Taking one of the three education pieces out of my routine was very refreshing.

Since I work on Mondays and all of my classes start their week on Mondays I have always felt like I am running on a treadmill. I love starting my week with 10 smiling faces but it’s so hard to get anywhere in the college world. I hadn’t frequently done much homework on Mondays because I didn’t really feel I had the chance but last week was different. Last week I started my spring break by logging in and making my initial post to all of my discussion boards. What a difference that made in how I felt for the week! The whole week I felt like I hard already checked a major item off of my to-do list and it was SO freeing!

Since I didn’t have to go to work I was able to do all of my assignments earlier in the week and finally get off of that treadmill I had been on. The change in my mental state was amazing and I was much less stressed for the week. Of course I thought this was only because I didn’t have to work and I couldn’t carry this through to the end of the year but I thought it warranted another try this week. Last night after the kiddos went to bed I made time to post to my discussion boards again. This morning when I woke up I was much less stressed than I have been earlier in the semester. I finally figured it out!! Although the semester will be coming to an end soon, I am so grateful to have found my groove in the balance of this crazy life of mine.

I suppose I should have figured this out earlier as my hubby is always talking about doing your biggest to-do of the day first but honestly sometimes I don’t listen to him when I should. Carry this “ah-ha” over into your own life. First make a to-do list so you don’t have to worry about trying to remember the 50 things you need to do in a day. Set your list in a visible spot so you can’t avoid it. Now try to tackle your biggest task first. You will be more focused at the beginning of the week and if your week gets away from you at least you will have your biggest task done and you won’t have to carry it into the new week. Doing this will give you a great sense of accomplishment!

Today is only Tuesday and there’s still time left. Next week you will wish you would have started today.