Methods to manage morning madness

In my post ‘When your plans are derailed,’ I share my MO when the best laid intentions don’t quite reach fruition. Yesterday was one of those mornings. After a fitful night’s sleep, I started out five minutes late and it went downhill from there. I attempted to cram too much into too little time, couldn’t settle on an outfit until I’d tried on a half dozen combinations, managed only to skim through my devotions and shirked on my quick-clean routine. An obvious glitch in my ‘simple morning’ plans. Sunday night would’ve been the perfect time to jump start my Monday morning, but I putzed around with a puzzle and a movie instead. After a full weekend, it was okay to indulge in down time; however, I could have made better choices that would’ve added to, rather than taken away from, my workday morning practice. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait until Sunday night to try, try again.

What is one tactic you employ to keep workday mornings simple(r)?

Image courtesy of phanlop88 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Balancing the irons in the fire

[Image credit: Kittikun Atsawintarangkul]

A reader made a comment on a past post that sometimes you just need to step away.  Lately, I find myself doing it more often than not.  Because in my quest to fill the empty spaces, I tend to overcompensate with too many irons in the fire.  There’s nothing wrong with keeping busy, but to avoid getting burned (out), downtime is important too — the veg-out-in-front-of-the-TV kind or relaxing with the family over pizza and a game of Trivial Pursuit or whatever allows you to fuel up for the next round.  Although I didn’t get my swim in yesterday (it turns out my community pool isn’t heated), I did step back by stocking up on a stack of library books to help me stir up a healthy dose of inspiration.  I’m also reassessing the activities I’m involved with.  Although I’m excited about each and every one of the groups I’ve joined, I need to ensure which ones will best help me accomplish my goals.  It may turn out all of them are a piece to the puzzle, and I simply need to better manage both my busy and down times.  In any case, I don’t want to get burned.

What’s the secret to managing your numerous irons in the fire?