Wants and Needs

There just aren't enough hours in the day. Seriously.

I'm trying to coordinate all the things I NEED to get done with all the things I WANT to do. Somewhere, something's got to give.

For instance, I NEED to take care of my my yard. The bonus is that I have my big beautiful flower garden that also needs to be taken care of, so it takes a little longer than just mowing the lawn and picking up sticks.

And see that little corner of my house behind? My house is about 70 years old, and that, too, needs to be taken care of, both inside and outside. The age adds to the entertainment factor when trying to fix things. Trust me.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I need to take care of my mom, and my pets, and go grocery shopping and do laundry and fix meals and that sort of thing. Never mind sleep and bathe and eat. It all takes time.

The key is prioritizing it all. Probably more important to have the roof not leak or the sanitary sewer actually drain than it is to take down the 30+ year old wallpaper in the hallway and paint it. Probably more important to have a working furnace and air conditioner than it is to get the beat-up hardwood floors refinished. That kind of thing. I find it easiest with this kind of stuff to make a couple of lists: one of the big things (like the roof and the furnace and the hallway wall paper) and then number them in order of importance. I do the same thing with the "all the time" things, like laundry and grocery shopping and such. Then I get them coordinated in there and take one step at a time.

But where, in all that, do you put the stuff you want to do? For instance, I have about 45 knitting and crocheting projects I want to finish, and about a hundred others I want to start. I have a lot of movies I want to see. I want to take a nap. I want to finish the book I've just started reading because it explains so much and just begs to be discussed. I want to sit out on my back patio in the morning and sip my tea and watch the dog toddle around in the back yard and the birds frolic in the bird bath.

You get the idea.

So, how do you balance your wants and your needs? What gives, where? And why that?

Inquiring minds want to know....