You know the scene.... An acquaintance stops you and asks you if you're available to help with a fundraising dinner for a group that you're sort-of involved with. You feel guilty saying no... You pull your calendar from your purse, and you see that you have no conflicting commitments on the date in question. How can you refuse? There seems to be no way out. You cannot say no without looking like a complete heel. Then the week of the fundraising dinner arrives, and it's chaos. You truly wish you had turned down the request to help this time, but now you're committed. By the end of the week, you feel like you should be committed.... to the nearest asylum! 
Time is such a precious commodity these days. In my opinion, it should be guarded more carefully than our money. Families are pulled many directions, often causing them to be divided between different activities on any given night of the week. Family dinners are hard to come by because of busy schedules.
But what's a mom to do?
You can try what I do .... Leave your calendar at home. I know, it sounds crazy. How will you coordinate calendars with friends and family as they ask you to be part of different activities?
I've found leaving my calendar at home to be so freeing! It allows me to jot down the details of an activity and then get back to the inviter to let them know if we're available. I love being able to say "Let me check our calendar and give you a call."
Then, when I get home and actually check the calendar, I don't just check the date in question. I check the entire week around that date. Do we already have three other commitments that week? Would this new activity add more chaos than joy to our week? If so, then I can call the inviter and let him or her know that our schedule does not permit us to participate. If the activity works with our schedule, then we gladly accept.
Our family time is precious. It's too valuable to be spent on the run every night of the week. We guard our time very carefully, and that means that we can't overcommit to activities. Leaving our calendar at home allows us the time and privacy to decide what is beneficial to our family. It works for me!
For more great ideas, visit Works for Me Wednesday sponsored by We Are THAT Family.
3 comments:
Great idea! NOw if I could get dh to do that, we'd be good to go. Unfortunately, his is on his blackberry so he is looking at it all the time.
I totally agree! I stopped using a planner book and switched to a Google calendar. Then I buy myself time to get back to them about before I overbook myself!
:)
Don't you just LOVE technology, Sherry? :) Sometimes it makes our lives much easier, and sometimes it's easier to do without it!!
Niki, I'd never thought of the Google calendar. That would be a great way to not have access to your calendar when you're out and about. Unless you get a Blackberry like Sherry's hubby!
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