Last weekend I was chatting with a friend at a birthday party, the conversation turned towards stress with teenagers at home and being full time working mom and lack of time. I dutifully as I of late doing, started about introducing meditation..about how a few minutes even 15 mts in the morning helps me to be aware of my temper..control my urge to loose my temper during stressful times be it with the girls in the morning rush or anything at work. I mentioned I actually find life be more smoother, not that it actually is but the practice helps me perceive it so. The friend I was chatting with was reluctant and well aware that I workout regularly so she popped up the question where do you get time for all these. This is not the first time I get this question, me being in awe of some other women, executives who juggle so many things including being in the board of some handful of non-profit organization on top of their day time job and being involved in their kids school etc.. I'm surprised I'm getting this question for the very little I'm doing.
I put little bit of thinking after she asked me on how I manage it, to be precise I do this as day to day activities just as we brush and shower. I think that is the simplest way to put it. What ever and how ever our day is going to be, we never forget to brush, shower or eat..that each of it takes time so naturally we calculate and build our activities adding the time it takes to do all these. We know we have to be at work or someplace at a certain time, so we calculate how long will it take to reach..at that point what we are actually doing is including the time it takes to do all the mundane stuff..and then think, ok I need to get up at this time in order to reach there at a certain time..without being too much conscious of the task we do. Same thing..once you get that the things you want to do regularly in to your routine, you will be able to push around things to accommodate with out being too conscious. But if you consider something to be a outside of your regular routine that's when you start becoming conscious of time and probably think we may not be able to do that.
It has become more a clock work for me. Give me a day and time, I might be able to tell what I will be doing or what I should be doing mostly..it has become so much so that I sometimes wonder I might have a mild case of OCD, because if I'm not doing something at a certain time I get anxious.
Weekday Mon-Fri I have the alarm set to 5:30. I get up at 5:45, finish my morning washroom duties and come down at 6:15. Start the tea, start packing lunch and breakfast for the girls. By the time I'm done the tea will be ready. Divya leave at about 6:55 and usually Mani drops her. That's when I sit down to have my tea and me time , usually its watching news and simultaneously checking whatsapp for 15 mts. thats how long it takes for me to finish my tea. 7:15 I sit down for meditation, approximately 7:40 but mostly 7:45 Sandhya comes rushing down, thats my cue to get up. I drop off Sandhya at school, come back home about just after 8. I prepare my lunch or semi prepare for dinner like cutting veggies so it is easier in the evening. Between 8:30 to 9 I login, sometimes there will be some early morning meeting that I attend, while attending i multi task and have my breakfast or check my emails and calendar for meetings for that day, I also list down To Do's both personal and work items carried over from the previous day. Once I'm done with that, 9 or 9:30 I shower and get ready for work. Of course having flexible work schedule and less then 10 mts drive to work helps a LOT. I come back from work usually around 5, if Mani is not available I check out at 3 pm to pick up the girls and then log back from home. Between 5 to 6 I wash dishes and prepare for Dinner. 6 I leave to workout. 7:15 I come back, take a shower, complete dinner. Clean up the dishes and kitchen and by 9:30 I'm ready to go to bed. I do my clean up meditation for 10 mts and some times even in the middle of it I'm half asleep.. If not I check my phone and watch couple of late night show or try to read a book and most probably I will be deep in sleep by 10:15.
In order to make the weekdays go smooth, I prepare and plan over the weekend, like the grocery, pre make ingredients so I can put together the food be it lunch for the girls or dinner for the fam in matter of 20 - 30 mts max. I for one won't boast I like to cook. I like to eat though, but I'm not a person who would toil in the kitchen. I most of the time keep the meals simple during the weekdays. To meet that I pre-boil Pastas and sphagetti and freeze, make a big batch of idli batter, Cook big batches of parupu which is the base for sambar or kootu or whatever etc over the weekend. So putting together a meal is a mere heating, saute some veggies and mixing with sauce or parupu. I'm done with cooking by 20 mts , clean the dishes and counters another 30 mts, I'm done for the night. I also pour my heart in my home. We rarely have social engagements over weekend, except for the girls activities, I do not go out except for grocery and gym or long runs early morning, 90% of the time I spend inside home. I do laundry for my own cloths and now the girls have at last *eye roll* taken up the responsibility of doing their own laundry..and Sundays before lunch dedicated time for cleaning the home..I spend a good 2-2.5 hrs every week vacuuming, mopping and cleaning the bathrooms. I have never employed anyone for home cleaning though lot of my friends around me have opted for gardeners and maids who come once a week. Mani usually takes care of garden and home fixes. So its a clock work like I said, if its 10 am Sunday you can guarantee that you can see me cleaning the home.
I know some people does not like to organize and plan everything, they go with the flow, like cook dinner what ever they feel like that moment, do laundry even middle of week when they run out of garments.. but I grew to organize ..I think this habit started after I had kids and during when I commuted to SFO for work which was more than 2 hrs of commute in a day, and with small kids if I were not organized, it was a struggle to come home and have the energy to cook a meal from the scratch and keep things moving. I stuck with that. And in the middle of all these comes all the family drama handling the teenagers :) It literally will be empty after 3 years. I will strongly be impacted with the empty nest syndrome once they move out to college. I know and I'm planning to take up more running, hiking and working out. Fingers crossed.
