Okay, this is a weird post for me. Anyone who knows me will tell you – I am an organized person. I plan. I schedule. I get more out of a day than anyone.

That used to be true.

But then the pandemic hit. Our lives slowed. Shrunk. Plans went in the crapper.

And now that we’re coming out of it, I can appreciate that time when the world slowed, like I  couldn’t when I didn’t see it’s end. I appreciate my home and my husband more than ever. I got out in nature more. I took photos. I darned near stopped writing.

Yes, me.

But now I’m fully vaccinated, and Texas is wide open. Life is speeding up. I’m making bigger plans than running to the grocery store once a week. OH YAY!!!!

But going from 1 to 100 mph is making me dizzy. I’m out of practice. I went out the other day, ran three separate errands and came home exhausted. How did I ever DO this? I’ve made plans – people are coming to visit me, and I’m actually going to get on a plane in 8 days! My calendar is filling FAST.

And oddly, with it comes angst. How am I going to balance the travel with writing? My fun fishing summer with deadlines? Do I even remember how to pack?

How did I ever DO this?

Damned if I know.

So I did what I always do – I Googled it.  There were tons of helpful articles telling me to

• use a calendar
• prioritize
• build in down-time
• stay flexible
• yada yada yada yada

That’s when I realized – it’s not that I don’t know how to do this. I’ve been doing it all my life! I know once I get back into the swing of balancing 14 plates at a time, I’ll be fine. But right now, I’m anxious. And I don’t like it.

My problem isn’t lack of knowledge – it’s tools to deal with the angst.

So I turned to my second favorite resource: YouTube.

And I found this:

 

This is going to change my life. I’m going from ‘busy’ to ‘balanced’. It’s a way of actually enjoying whatever it is I’m doing at the time, instead of watching the clock and worrying about the next thing. I’m learning about white space. In my calendar, in my life.

W H I T E      S P A C E

I hope you have 11 minutes to watch the video – it may change your life, too.

Are you having angst about getting busy again? Share your tips with us!

FYI – I’m teaching my, First Five Pages class at Lawson Writers Academy in April!

Check out the info HERE.

Come polish those all-important first pages with me!