Short on time

[valancy_jane]

Unfortunately, most days go like this:

- Baby wakes. Breastfast for her. It's 5amish.
- Get to work by 6.
- Work until 5, 530.
- Make dinner until 6, sometimes 630. (Takes full hour or more as many baby interruptions. Fussy time starts around 5.)
- Eat dinner until 6:45.
- Get baby ready for bed/nurse to sleep 6:45-7:30/8.
- Clean up house, dinner 730-830.
- 30 minutes to self, then bed.

In this 30 minutes, sometimes hour if I'm wild and stay up late, I try to writeeditreadcleanorganizeplan. Then I brush my teeth and wash my face and go to bed and start over.

Sometimes I get stuff done by simply staying up until midnight and working on virtually no sleep. But that's rare. I like sleep. Mostly I just wait for the weekend, where I might get 2 hours a day to myself when she naps.

I'd like to write interesting things, but as you can see, pretty much every spare bit of time and talent I have is spent elsewhere at the moment.

I'll be back when I can be.

Comments

[rinue]

Just wanted to reassure you that this is normal because she is still only 4 months old. She feels like she has been around forever and you're lagging way behind and things should be stable by now, but actually it hasn't been very long, and it will be much easier in another few months when she will need to eat less often (particularly as you can introduce solid foods) and will be less fussy (because she'll be more able to self-soothe and more able to do simple things like sit up by herself instead of having to ask you to help).

I know some people are afraid that "oh no once the baby starts walking, it's over!" but actually once they're entertaining themselves and wearing themselves out it requires less attention (in that you have to follow them around, but can be carrying a notebook).

Really, don't worry about it too much. I mean, yeah, don't lose your sense of self, but don't panic and think that this is forever and things have to get done now if they're ever going to. Think of it like vacation or having a broken computer; hard to work, or temporarily unimportant to work, but doesn't mean you're a loser who will never amount to anything.

And for another bit of perspective, I know tons of people who have loads of free time and still don't do two hours of creative or interesting stuff a week.

[minim_calibre]

You're doing Important Things! Also, this part will ease up in a few months. Then she'll learn to suck your time in other ways.

[knaveofstaves]

Speaking from far more personal experience than I care to dwell on: Be careful not to over do the skimming free time from your sleep time thing. Even if you make sure to get extra sleep on days you don't work, your body will eventually rebel and you'll basically pass out for like 24 hours. At least, that's what's happened to me before.