There are certain times of the year that get very hectic. Times when several things seem to collide all requiring your attention at the same time. The end of the academic school year is one of those seasons.
WITS work is coming to an end and, as I shared in my previous post, I’m compiling student work in an anthology collection for my own classes as well as helping other writers with theirs. This in addition to the final lesson visits is already a crazy load, to which I am now adding a road trip. 
I have been offered the opportunity to spend four days in Beeville, Texas, teaching for WITS a fun, intense set of lessons to six graders. Of course, the following Saturday I have Copperfield Book Fair. So, after a week of out of town teaching I will return to help sell books at this fun event.
All of this in addition to just the regular work load of running Inklings Publishing and my volunteer work as head of the Houston Writers Guild. It’s a miracle I have time for me or my own writing and, in truth, this month will see the least amount of writing for sure.
Never-the-less, I love my life. I love the work with the students, the work with the authors, and the fast paced world I have created for myself. It amazes me that I am able to juggle so much. In truth, I seldom feel tired from the actual work load. When I feel down, it is nearly always due to emotional strains of a more personal kind.
When things get crazy like this, I like to build in moments of quiet to still my mind and refocus my energy. It can feel like a bad idea, what with so much calling out to be done, yet I have found that if I don’t make the space for a 5 or 10 minute meditation here and there, my ability to function suffers. Sometimes the down time I give myself is to free my mind with a meditation. Other times, it’s about resting with a movie or listening to some music, or even scrolling through social media just for fun.
A thing I always ask myself as I take on projects: Is this a productive use of my time? Will this help me attain the bigger picture goals? Will it help me attain a short term goal? Will it have a return on investment of the time I give it in some meaningful way?
These questions, and the increasing strength to say no to that which would not be affirmative responses to them, have helped me narrow my self down to the most effective, albeit heavy laden, use of my time.
Spare time? Does that even actually exist? My schedule is of my own making so I suppose I need to take responsibility and make some spare time for myself. Now, where can I squeeze some out?