Fitting everything in

Spudsey

Help! I’m not sure if its just me (as I am very messy and disorganised, and move like a slug!) but I am really struggling with going about day to day life without at some stage getting very stressed out.

I work full time, and have an allotment of which I am the secretary. This has caused me a bit of grief lately but hopefully will settle down, however I do have some outstanding minutes that I need to type up which I just haven’t got round to.

I have both cats and rabbits all of which take up a lot of time, one cat is a house cat so I have to take him for harness walks at least twice a day, I don’t often have time in the morning and in the evening I’m normally eating my dinner whilst outside. The other is an occasional sprayer so sometimes I have cat urine to clear up in my kitchen which takes time, and the rabbits obviously cleaning out daily, and one of them makes a huge bl00dy mess everyday.
The allotment takes up a huge amount of time most days and at the moment feels like it is taking over my life!

My normal day is getting up and ready for work, feeding/walking animals,emptying litter trays, making lunch, topping up bird feeder and rushing out the door normally with a bag stuffed of paperwork hoping to deal with in my lunch break.
Come home, make dinner or snack depending on allotment, walk cat whilst eating dinner, clean out rabbits, allotment till almost dark, come home cup of tea, wash up, clean out litter trays, try and attempt some other small jobs but normally so tired end up in bed at which I have no trouble sleeping, as soon as my head hits the pillow I’m a goner.

I attempt a fitness class once a week, and some weeks I also go to my parents for a visit otherwise they’ll start moaning when they haven’t seen me, despite them having far more time than me!

I have a constant laundry pile, and paperwork that I never seem to get round to doing, I do surveys in my lunchbreaks for extra savings money which I quite enjoy doing, but my email isn’t at all organised so sometimes end up with too many emails as well.

Am I being too hard on myself!?

elsien

Welcome to the club - except I don't have an allotment, just the garden.
My house is permanently messy, and the pile of paperwork gets larger by the week. But it really depends on how you look at it and what's important to you.
I could do a lot more housework if I went down the whole flylady route. But I really don't want to, I'd rather be out in the garden or walking the dog. Or reading the paper. So as long as the kitchen and bathroom are comparatively hygienic, I don't worry about the rest of the house on work days, I spend one of my days off playing catchup. (Or not! Certain things like clean sheets I do every week. It's a good couple of weeks since the bedroom got dusted or hoovered. When I start sneezing is generally an indicator I've left it too long.)
If it gets too messy it starts to wind me up so I'll have a half hour miniblitz putting things away - just being able to see the settee again makes me feel better even if I don't get round to a proper clean.
Otherwise, life's too short to stress about a bit of dust - I only have myself to worry about most of the time. Ironing gets done when I'm watching tv, although over time I've discovered that there's a lot of things I used to iron that really don't need it. Paperwork I have a session at every month or so on a day off if the weather's bad and I don't want to go out.

What you need to work out is what is stressing you and why? If it all genuinely feels too much then you need to try to do something about it. If it's more stuff you feel you "should" be doing, then stop fretting about it and work out your own priorities. The way I look at it, is when I'm on my deathbed I'm going to be thinking about the things in my life I've enjoyed. Not wishing I'd cleaned the bathroom more often (unless I'm keeling over from diptheria or something.)

Spudsey

Thank you

I think one of my main priorities are my pets, I'm always worrying about their welfare especially as one is a house cat and I would like to spend more time being able to play with him so he gets some fun/exercise during the day. I always seem to be rushing about.

I just feel tired and worn out alot of the time, work is always busy, home life is busy and i just feel tired, I fell over on holiday a couple of months back and now have an inflamed tendon which seems to have caused my whole arm to ache which doesn't help (doctors booked), I sometimes end up having a day off work to catch up with things but don't like eating into my holiday but I feel better afterwards.

I just get annoyed with myself when I haven't managed to do stuff, would really like to get organised with my freezer but just don't seem to get round to anything.

I hit forty last week and that hasn't helped, I'm a right grump at the moment!

pigpen

You can't have everything as number 1 priority!!

do the rabbits every other day or every third day.. they won't die. I have a rabbit and he gets cleaned out maybe once a week.. sooner if he gets stinky.

Litter trays.. get one of the ones with the filter so you can quickly lift out the solid matter and reuse the rest.. or line with a carrier pick up and bin the bag and refill..

If the allotment is taking over then give it up for a while.. a small veggie patch in the garden would mean more time at home and doing the things you have to do rather than the things you would do with an extra couple of hours in the day.. Or just limit your time there.. if you sit there for 3 hours when you have important stuff at home that you must sort to keep your home running/pay bills etc that comes first.. restrict yourself to 30-60 minutes and if you have more time it won't be going anywhere.

get 2 or 3 laundry baskets and sort it as you take it off so you just have to empty one basket into the washer .. it takes a couple of minutes to stuff it all in the machine and turn it on and hang it up to dry while waiting for the kettle to boil for a cuppa. I'm sure you could catch up all the laundry in one day if you make it a priority and the paperwork could be done the same day.

Put all the paperwork in a pile and sort the top 5 items each day until it is gone.. next to the shredder is a good place to keep it!

Spudsey

pigpen wrote: »

You can't have everything as number 1 priority!!

do the rabbits every other day or every third day.. they won't die. I have a rabbit and he gets cleaned out maybe once a week.. sooner if he gets stinky.

Litter trays.. get one of the ones with the filter so you can quickly lift out the solid matter and reuse the rest.. or line with a carrier pick up and bin the bag and refill..

If the allotment is taking over then give it up for a while.. a small veggie patch in the garden would mean more time at home and doing the things you have to do rather than the things you would do with an extra couple of hours in the day.. Or just limit your time there.. if you sit there for 3 hours when you have important stuff at home that you must sort to keep your home running/pay bills etc that comes first.. restrict yourself to 30-60 minutes and if you have more time it won't be going anywhere.

get 2 or 3 laundry baskets and sort it as you take it off so you just have to empty one basket into the washer .. it takes a couple of minutes to stuff it all in the machine and turn it on and hang it up to dry while waiting for the kettle to boil for a cuppa. I'm sure you could catch up all the laundry in one day if you make it a priority and the paperwork could be done the same day.

Put all the paperwork in a pile and sort the top 5 items each day until it is gone.. next to the shredder is a good place to keep it!

During the winter I would leave my rabbits for longer, but I've seen a gpie die from flystrike and so during the warmer months I wouldn't risk it. I normally do the litter trays everyday and have a good sweep up of the run when it gets too much of a mess. My female kicks out the contents of her litter tray most days which is why I have to do it.

Thanks for the paperwork tip! I normally end up bringing stuff to work to shred, but if I get a shredder for home (used to have one but burnt it out ooops) that would instantly make things a bit easier!

I obviously need to chill a bit more!

elsien

Ah, now the freezer is one of the things I am organised with.
I ran it down to nearly empty to make organising it easier and now every time something goes in it (I buy a lot of yellow sticker meat that needs splitting) I write it on a list I keep in the kitchen, month by month. That way each morning I can look at what's been in longest/or just what I fancy and take it out for that nights tea. And cross it off the list. As opposed to the freezer I used to have which had bits of mince that had been hanging around for 2 or 3 years slowly going grey.
I have lists of jobs - not too many or it feels demotivating. Just one or two I need to get round to sooner rather than later. Better than a long list that never gets anywhere. And achieving something even if it's only as small as taking the paper to the recycling (I'd been falling over it in the sitting room for 3 weeks and it was a five minute job!!) makes you feel a bit more on top of things.
I also find that I spend longer procrastinating and putting off jobs than it takes to do them. I ordered my new bathroom blind at Christmas and put it up yesterday - it took less than 10 minutes yet I'd built it up in my head as such a big task. A lot of it for me does seem to come down to how I look at things. Small and often and do what you can is better for me than letting things pile up and having a megablitz. Whatever works for you.

Edit - and there's nothing wrong on one of your days off if you do feel tired to give yourself permission to have a day chilling and doing what you want. rather than what you think you should. If I do it too often I feel guilty, but once in a while when I really need to recharge my batteries I do a deal with myself - a "me" day today if I clean or do paperwork tomorrow.

Spudsey

elsien wrote: »

Ah, now the freezer is one of the things I am organised with.
I ran it down to nearly empty to make organising it easier and now every time something goes in it (I buy a lot of yellow sticker meat that needs splitting) I write it on a list I keep in the kitchen, month by month. That way each morning I can look at what's been in longest/or just what I fancy and take it out for that nights tea. And cross it off the list. As opposed to the freezer I used to have which had bits of mince that had been hanging around for 2 or 3 years slowly going grey.
I have lists of jobs - not too many or it feels demotivating. Just one or two I need to get round to sooner rather than later. Better than a long list that never gets anywhere. And achieving something even if it's only as small as taking the paper to the recycling (I'd been falling over it in the sitting room for 3 weeks and it was a five minute job!!) makes you feel a bit more on top of things.
I also find that I spend longer procrastinating and putting off jobs than it takes to do them. I ordered my new bathroom blind at Christmas and put it up yesterday - it took less than 10 minutes yet I'd built it up in my head as such a big task. A lot of it for me does seem to come down to how I look at things. Small and often and do what you can is better for me than letting things pile up and having a megablitz. Whatever works for you.

Edit - and there's nothing wrong on one of your days off if you do feel tired to give yourself permission to have a day chilling and doing what you want. rather than what you think you should. If I do it too often I feel guilty, but once in a while when I really need to recharge my batteries I do a deal with myself - a "me" day today if I clean or do paperwork tomorrow.

I have a normal sized freezer in my kitchen and a big chest freezer I could quite literally get lost in…..I did have a bit of a clean out but that was quite a while ago when I ditched some bags of broad beans that were too big when picked and had just built up so although I hate throwing food away they had to go. I go into the garage twice a day so should really have time to quickly check out the contents but I don’t , the garage is also a mess so I have to fight to get to the back of the garage in the first place!

I think I need to make more of an effort to empty it especially as I’ll be wanting to freeze bags of fresh peas soon! I found a pork leg in there at the weekend from Christmas! Perhaps I need to make one night a freezer night….and go with a list like you.

I have far too many lists….me and my partner have one huge one with literally everything we need to do, and I have scraps of lists on post it notes, backs of envelopes, sometimes I put just a few jobs to do in a little note book too which works better. I also end up storing info in my mobile phone, my lists are everywhere!

Note to self: Book another me day!

pigpen

Spudsey wrote: »

During the winter I would leave my rabbits for longer, but I've seen a gpie die from flystrike and so during the warmer months I wouldn't risk it. I normally do the litter trays everyday and have a good sweep up of the run when it gets too much of a mess. My female kicks out the contents of her litter tray most days which is why I have to do it.

Thanks for the paperwork tip! I normally end up bringing stuff to work to shred, but if I get a shredder for home (used to have one but burnt it out ooops) that would instantly make things a bit easier!

I obviously need to chill a bit more!

flystrike doesn't occur overnight.. it takes 7 days for eggs to hatch so missing a day or 2 is ok... my vet said so .

My boing is a messy thing too.. he bounces in his dish, sheds fur like there is no tomorrow.. I'm surprised he isn't bald! and flicks litter everywhere... He usually has a stack of paper he likes to shred too.. It stops him getting bored.

You could always burn paperwork if you have the means.. most of my post is lucky if it gets opened.

Gers

You sound so stressed - life is for enjoying mostly!

The allotment sounds the most stressful part (to me) so can you stop being the secretary, give up half your allotment to another gardener for a while and then start to do what YOU want with the rest?

Paperwork - I registered with MPS (mail preference service) which has stopped the addressed junk mail. And if anything comes addressed to me (naughty companies) I send it back with a large sticker on saying 'refused - unsolicited mail' and it's no more. Stuff which still comes is the 'occupier' or 'householder' mail (Grrrr - Virgin Media I hate you) which is more difficult to stop.

Animals - I had a cat many years though have now spent many many more without any animals so I have no advice apart from what others have said about not being too clean!

Housework - I have a syndrom called 'winter blindness' which means that when the weather is dark, grey and wet I am totally unable to see dust! Somehow the dust is filtered out of my sight until spring arrives with the light and sunshine.:rotfl:

Hope you can make a little time for yourself soon. Look after yourself as well as you look after everyone/thing else!

Spudsey

pigpen wrote: »

flystrike doesn't occur overnight.. it takes 7 days for eggs to hatch so missing a day or 2 is ok... my vet said so .

My boing is a messy thing too.. he bounces in his dish, sheds fur like there is no tomorrow.. I'm surprised he isn't bald! and flicks litter everywhere... He usually has a stack of paper he likes to shred too.. It stops him getting bored.

You could always burn paperwork if you have the means.. most of my post is lucky if it gets opened.

smart bot

I have a hand reared wildie, she needs a lot of entertainment otherwise she has a moody and pulls everything out of her litter tray or even her hay in her bedroom....drags it all out down the ladder and as far to the end of the run as she likes.....!

Thats just reminded me to give her a yellow pages to shred...keep forgetting

We sometimes burn paperwork at the allotment, but it stays in a bag until there is alot of it then its done. Going to definitely order a shredder I think.

Spudsey

Gers wrote: »

You sound so stressed - life is for enjoying mostly!

The allotment sounds the most stressful part (to me) so can you stop being the secretary, give up half your allotment to another gardener for a while and then start to do what YOU want with the rest?

Paperwork - I registered with MPS (mail preference service) which has stopped the addressed junk mail. And if anything comes addressed to me (naughty companies) I send it back with a large sticker on saying 'refused - unsolicited mail' and it's no more. Stuff which still comes is the 'occupier' or 'householder' mail (Grrrr - Virgin Media I hate you) which is more difficult to stop.

Animals - I had a cat many years though have now spent many many more without any animals so I have no advice apart from what others have said about not being too clean!

Housework - I have a syndrom called 'winter blindness' which means that when the weather is dark, grey and wet I am totally unable to see dust! Somehow the dust is filtered out of my sight until spring arrives with the light and sunshine.:rotfl:

Hope you can make a little time for yourself soon. Look after yourself as well as you look after everyone/thing else!

I don’t know why I am like this at the moment!

The allotment is lovely, just means you are up there quite a lot and it’s a rush when you get home to do what you need to do before you go bed. But its very peaceful and rewarding growing your own veg. There are times when my o/h goes straight there after work and then I go home and do what I need to do and then go back and get him, or help out with watering. That works well but we need to do it more!

I did actually resign from the secretary post on Monday evening but have had all the committee members begging me to stay for the last few days, I have been the only secretary to actually do anything it seems and they don’t want to lose me! However one committee member did offer her services on typing etc if I needed any help so that’s more positive.

Thanks for your positive comments though, that in itself and other comments have helped, I’m not wonder woman and I need to realise it!