I GOTTA GET BACK ON TRACK!

 What do you do when it feels like life is spinning out of control? How do you get back on track? Can you even recognize that it’s happening?

It doesn’t take much. You can have your whole life all planned out and everything seems to be going as it should. Then things happen. Something doesn’t follow the plan and suddenly everything falls apart.

It may be weeks or months later before you realize you’ve forgotten the goals you set for yourself. Dreams you had been working on are no closer to becoming reality. You haven’t been working on them.

That’s where I’m at right now. I was doing so well on a lot of things. I had goals set and a major writing project in the works. But, now, it’s been six months since I even looked at it.

I had health goals that have fallen by the wayside due to complications here at home. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get back to those. My sleep, my diet, and all of my health goals were put on hold.

It’s not that I didn’t want to jump back into them. They were always in the back of my mind. That made it even harder to deal with the complications that kept me from pursuing them. I wanted to get back on track but had no idea how to do it.

But this week, as I looked at the folder that contained the bulk of my writing project, and realized how long it’s been since I’ve opened it, I knew I needed to get myself back on track. Not just with my writing goals. But with all my goals.

I have a lot of potential in me. There are a lot of good things I can do for myself and for others. I have been too easy on those who have been holding back my progress. It’s hard for me to be tough on others. I know there’s no easy way to be firm with someone else. But, in order to do what is best for me, I have to be strong.

Now, I have to figure out how to get myself back on track. What new routines do I need to set up? What things do I have to prioritize and what things will I have to put on the back burner to achieve my goals? Changes are necessary for me to get back to where I need to be.

So I have to ask myself – what are the goals and projects I hope to work on? For me, that’s a HUGE list, so I know I’ll have to prioritize what is the most important.

First must be my health. So that means no more late nights, not even to “just finish this one paragraph”. Because I can never stop at just one paragraph. It means watching every morsel that goes into my mouth. It means getting back out there into the roses for exercise even on the days when everything hurts.

Secondly, there is my scam-fighting group. Not only do I enjoy hunting up those who prey on the innocent, I know that I can help others as I do so. My goals have been to write up instructions for others who are also fighting scammers, and to write easy-to-read handouts to be printed and shared by anyone who wants to learn. That’s going to take a good chunk of time but it can be done in short bursts.

Thirdly, there is my big writing project. I really want to get this finished for a number of reasons. But when I work on that I need to be alone with big blocks of undisturbed time, which has been hard to achieve. I have to find ways to get that time. This must be a priority.

Fourth, I need more time for my art. I haven’t picked up the paintbrushes in too long. And art is my relaxation time when I don’t have to think about anything. I can lose myself in the colors and the flow of the paint. I need that for my own peace of mind.

Fifth, I need to spend more time with my dogs and Dan. We don’t spend enough time together doing fun things.

Sixth, there needs to be enough time for my writing. Not just my daily journal writing, but random writing, and posts here in this blog. Lately, I haven’t even had time to make a daily journal entry. I’ve had to skip some days because I ran out of time before I was exhausted.

Seventh, I still need to make sure the responsibilities are taken care of: Giving Dan his eye drops, stocking the fridge with drinks, paying bills, balancing accounts, weeding, watering and spraying the roses, shopping, dishes, cooking, cleaning, and all the necessities of life.

Ok, so how do I get 48 hours in my day? That’s what I would need to get everything done daily. And obviously, that’s not an option. We can’t change the number of hours in a day, so we have to reconfigure how we spend them.

Here’s where the prioritizing comes in. What is the most important and what things aren’t as necessary? Is there anything I can give up?

Well, I can already tell you, there’s nothing I want to take off the list. So, I will have to figure out a way to try to fit them all into the time I have awake. What hours am I awake?

Since the dogs get me up with the sun, I can count on being up at about 5:30. That isn’t negotiable. I can try to tell the dogs to settle down for a while, but from experience, I know that it is futile. All I end up doing is yelling and making us all upset. So, I should count on being up at 5:30.

Now, if I know THIS is non-negotiable then I can figure out what time I need to be in bed to get sufficient sleep. The best option is to go to bed about 7:30 – 8:00. So, let’s make that the plan.

Now I have to figure out the days. The hours are adjustable. I realize that in order to get back on track I need to organize my week better. It’s time to figure out what days I will spend writing, what days I will plan to paint, and what days I can fill in with other things.

I can schedule a regular time each day for the daily things like the journal entry (before bed), the dishes (immediately after dinner), and even taking care of the roses (around 4:30 when the temperature and the insects are the easiest to deal with). I have to work around those to schedule the rest of the things. Some days I will do writing, and some days I won’t, other than the daily journal entry.

Obviously, it’s time for me to get back to using my planner on a daily and weekly basis. I have been using it to write down a To-Do list, but that list has been more of a dream than a plan. Now I need to take it seriously.

At the end of the day, I can check off what I accomplished and add to the next few days the things that need to be taken care of. In the morning, I can add in what I think I should be able to get done according to the pain level I wake up with and the amount of sleep I had.

Once a week I can plan the week and decide which days are best for writing, which days are better for art, and which ones will be wasted on responsibilities. However, one must never be so rigid that you can’t be flexible if something unexpected comes up.

This isn’t going to be perfect. There will be some days that won’t go as planned. I have to accept that and allow them to happen. If I am struck down with pain, I will have to accept that the day will be spent in recovery. But, if I wake up with extra energy, I can add a few more things to the list if I want.

The biggest key to getting back on track is to not get discouraged when things don’t go as planned. Instead of letting it get me down and sidetracked, I have to accept it and keep going the next day as if there was no interruption.

I think I’m finally getting back on track!