Focus...

I wanted to write today about something that I find myself struggling with more and more. Lord knows I am not the organized type. But lately, I am finding my thoughts to be so unorganized that it's affecting my drive and my efficiency. We have been busy...yes. And more and more of our time is spent outdoors where to-dos do not get done. But I need to find a way to sort my mental trinkets.  I'm feeling very overwhelmed and unfortunately, when I'm feeling this way my tendency is to turn off...completely...and as a result, I get absolutely nothing done. So instead of chipping away at my tasks, they start to pile up.

Lately, I have been feeling a strong need to focus. As a mom, my life is constantly being pulled in multiple directions. I feel like I have been trying to do everything at once and, as a result, getting very little accomplished. I crave the feeling that comes with finishing a task. But how do you focus? And once you decide to focus, how do you determine where to put that focus and which task to finish first? And what's more, how do you turn off those voices suggesting that you need to be elsewhere {mentally or not}.

I would really like some input here. Do you have a system that works for you? Do you make lists, schedule days, plan tasks? What has simplified your process when it comes to getting everything done and still having a little time for yourself?

Here are some of the things I am thinking of doing:

• reserving certain days for certain tasks {however, the rigidity of this makes my anti-conformist bones cringe}
• making weekly lists and making sure to complete one task before starting another
• focusing on only the kids {really, it could take up all my time..but then who will clean my house and cook my dinners?}
• getting a planner {but seriously, I would need someone to teach me how to utilize such a thing}
• sell everything I have so I don't have to take care of it anymore
• let things go and worry about them when they become so that they cannot be ignored {like the stench in our bathroom that I absolutely HAD to obliterate this morning}......okay, prime example of my lack of focus is that after writing that line, I remembered that I had our shower curtain in the wash which needed hung on our line and I went and did that...do you hear me? NO. FOCUS.
• have a set schedule for the day which allowed certain time blocks for certain activities

These are just some of my thoughts. Have any of you done any of these? Have they worked for you? Do you have any suggestions, links, books, etc. that might help me. I'm an artistic, free spirited, creative type who likes routine but dislikes rigid structure. Please help me!!!!

Finding Om

Well, Wednesday means a couple of things in this house: First, My eldest doesn't have pre-school so the little birds will most likely be in their jammies until almost lunch time (it's just a battle I choose not to fight.) Second, I have to work but tomorrow I have off so I can at least see a little light at the end of this day. Third, it's mid-week so all the things that I put off so far saying "well I have the whole week to get this done" are going to need to start getting crossed off the list.

I'm having trouble keeping my motivation and inspiration levels high again this week so I'm thinking that I'm going to have to make some deep rooted changes in my habits and behaviors to help me stay focused, motivated, and creative. I think the biggest challenge will be to ease up on my addiction to TV crime dramas! I firmly believe that watching extended amounts of TV sucks a tremendous amount of energy and creative thinking from our brains. I've seen this first hand with myself and my children yet there I sit, from 9-11pm most nights watching a group of oddly beautiful people solve these intensely disturbing murder mysteries. So not only am I creatively depreciated, I'm also quite tired seeing as how the little birds awake at 6am no matter what time I close my eyes at night.

I also think that I need to be eating more foods that aid in healthy functioning of all organs, including my mind. I recently read an article in Yoga Journal saying that certain foods like onions, meat, garlic, coffee, hot peppers, and salt can "increase dullness or hyperactivity." Looking over my diet the last week, even though I've tried to eat semi-healthfully, has included many of these clarity and focus killing foods and some in mass quantities. On the other side, vegetables, fruit, legumes, and whole grains are said to aid in keeping your "body light and your mind clear." I think the chances of my being able to give up my morning cup of coffee are significantly slim, however, I could definitely make a more concentrated effort to eat consume smaller amounts of coffee and other "tamasic" foods and more "sattvic" ones.

Hopefully these other changes will allow for longer, more peaceful night's sleeps as well which could also contribute significantly to a better focus and more enlightenment. I do have two small children though so a good-night's-sleep is often not up to me!

Lastly, I need to deepen and expand my Yoga practice. I know from experience that I feel my personal best all around when I am devout in my Yoga practice. My mind and body feel more at their optimum, sleep is improved, and my emotions are much more balanced. I recently joined My Yoga Online where I can access a multitude of Yoga classes at various levels and styles at any hour of the day. Having this much opportunity at my fingertips has encouraged me to practice more than I had been but even my devotion to this could use improvement.

I think I will forever be looking for ways to make myself a better person. Inside, outside, my life situation...I've never accepted less than what I thought should be. That would have to be the one thing that I don't ever aspire to change about myself!