Really, Really Prioritizing

I keep thinking I should blog about prioritizing Important Life Things, and then I think, is that boring? But I love to read what others do so that they can make room for what really matters to them, whether it's family or time to exercise or whatever.

So here goes.

The Field Museum humor just never gets old.

As you know, I had a real eye-opener last semester. Taking two lit classes on top of All The Jobs was too much. G and I never saw each other. I had to c-r-a-m in time with friends, which was just as stressful as it was fun. I never worked out. Lit Society practically collapsed until Nat King Cole threw in the towel and focused on Virginia Woolf...

And every Wednesday night I was on the verge of tears, not from stress, but just from exhaustion: mental and physical. I had too much to keep up with. And even though it was all - well, mostly - good, it was still too much.

So this semester I'm down to one class. And thank heavens, because it's a doozy. I worked on it at night during our Chicago weekend; I worked on it in the airport; and I worked on it during the plane ride home. Hours and hours. In the middle of the flight, I had this moment of WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF?

Homework on planes. Is there anything worse? No. There is not.

And the answer is: because this is what I want.

No, I don't *want* to do homework and grade all the time, but I love my job(s) and I'm actually doing something I'm good at! And I'm helping people! And I feel like I'm actually making a difference! And I'm learning! And progressing!

I'm also the type of person (hello, Type A! *wave*) that will just hole up and work on things until they're done. I'll forsake the tv and books and friends and the husband and the bunny and the hobbies and all of it. I go into Frantic Mode. And the only way out is to schedule the fun. As crazy as that sounds, it works for me!

So how do I prioritize? I schedule the fun things and treat them as if they are as important as my work. Although they're not as important - they're more important.

Every week I have a standing happy hour with a (much younger) friend from work who has kind of inadvertently become a mentee. How am I old enough for this? I guess that's fodder for another post.

Every week I have a standing date night with this guy.

For the next few months, we have exciting travel weekends planned.

And, just about every other day, I make myself exercise. I either force myself to get up early (very, very, stupidly, insanely early) or I force myself to grade/read while skulking on the treadmill. Hey, at least it gets me moving.

I treat each of these things like it's non-negotiable. And every time I'm about to go out for drinks or dinner or a weekend trip away, I have a freak out session. I think to myself that this time, this day, this week, I just can't do it. I just have to get some other stuff done. And I take that little voice in my head and stuff it where the sun don't shine. I go out and I have a blast every single time.

I never regret it.

That's how I prioritize: Forced Fun.