Life Is Like …

Life is like … a game of tetris.

I hear you say… what? Huh? Has she gone crazy? I’ll get to the tetris analogy in a bit. Stay with me.

This has been on my mind a bit lately. I’ll see people write in their Facebook status, or hear them say that they’re bored of late. Bored? I haven’t been bored since January 1990. I honestly don’t think I have. I don’t remember a time when there hasn’t been something to do. I multi task, I fill my time to the brim. I would love to be bored.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with being bored. I long for boredom. I long for blank time. Everything on my to do list crossed off, and just nothingness. I long for it. I know I’ll never have it. It’s not in my nature though. I quite enjoy the challenge of seeing how much I can fit in, and how much I can get done.

People often say to me, You must have lots of spare time to do what you do (which I assume is blog, make things etc). To be honest, I don’t have lots of spare time. I get up early to blog. Most of the time I have to blog on the weekends and schedule them for during the week. I make things when Lacey is sleeping or while she’s playing next to me on the floor. I jam it all in, often in five minute spurts.

When I read the tetris theory, I nodded. It was like one of Oprah’s lightbulb moments. I thought, how true!

I see time management as like a great tetris game, with all these things you need to do raining down. The key to getting the most out of a day is working out how to slot all those tasks together so there’s no gaps, so you have the right opening for the right sized task. This means always anticipating what’s coming (to make sure you don’t get caught short by those funny looking clusters) but also having a ready list of things that can be shoved in at short notice to fill an unexpected gap.

Whilst I live the tetris life, it does leave very little down time. Areas of my life miss out. My house stays messy for longer than I would ideally like. I’m trying to do so many things that those things get half done, and somethings never get completed properly or as well as I would like. This is living the tetris life.

I’d love to know what you think? Is living the tetris lifestlye part of modern life as a Mum or life in general? How do you fit it all in? What are you little tricks to making it work?


The tetris analogy is care of
Sooz. She wrote a great article in Issue Five of Mix Tape Zine. I have more to say on this topic… but typically Miss L is about to wake and I have things to do. So more on this next week. xx

12 thoughts on “Life Is Like …”

  1. I have been thinking about this of late. I found myself stressing about all the things I needed/wanted to get done every day and for the next 3 months that I am on a break from work. However the last few days I have just decided to NOT plan but rather tackle one thing at a time as I feel inclined and NOT feel guilty about all the things I have not yet done. One day it will get done but if I keep stressing/feeling guilty about this stuff then that is what my life will be like every single day forever!
    p.s. Life is to short to worry about keeping your house tidy xx

  2. I'm loving the tetris analogy. To be honest, who wants to be bored anyway??? I think the challenge is ensuring you're not cramming in stuff that is just “noise” but that you're doing what you feel truly passionate about and want to do rather than what “should” be done. Personally, I'm a huge list writer as there is such a sense of accomplishment when you tick things off the silly list! It's the struggle with all the Mama's I know, me included. You bring sunshine to a lot of people's days and should be proud of what you fit in – besides, we can't see your house! 🙂 Keeping playing that game of tetris!

  3. It took me years, but learning to say “no” is one of the things that has helped me recapture oodles of lost time. I was constantly taking on too many projects and spreading myself too thin so that it was hard to maintain my passion for the things that I was truly passionate about.

    Good post.

  4. It's part of life in general, not exclusively part of being a mum, because Mum I am not…

    My life is one big game of tetris. So much so though, I don't often realise that I am cramming so much in. It's only when my lovely Grandmother points out that she worries about me and how much I do, that I stop and reflect and realise that my incessant lateness to appointments is solely associated with being frantic all the time. I crash and burn at night and can't wake in the morning…

    Even when I'm not actually doing much, my to do list is forever long, there is never a time I can do nothing without thinking about what else I should or could be doing, even if it is other recreational pursuits!

    I'm solely responsible, and it's how I like it. Busy busy. Sleep when I'm dead! With the family history I have, that could be sooner rather than later, so live life now.

  5. Great post. I am the same way! I live and love the tetris life. I've have always been this way. My husband always jokes that if I see open time available, I start thinking of all the things I could do with that time. And yes even though I may cram a lot into a day, I really enjoy life. I also appreciaye the down time I do finally get.

  6. I love the theory, and it *is* true about trying to get the most out of your day.

    But it is possible to be bored, and still have plenty to do! I seriously do get bored out of the monoteny of day to day tasks. I get bored with washing. I get bored with deciding what's for dinner. I get bored with chopping vegetables. But I do have to try and find the best out of every day, and try and make these things slot in around the fun things.

  7. OMG – I could have written your post! I work from home, run my house as well as raise my 1 year old and my baby boy is due in 5 weeks – my life is hectic! I dont remember the last time i watched something other then Playhouse Disney (wait it was last night Project Runway!) or the last time i just sat and did nothing. I love being a mum and wouldnt change it for the world – I would rather be busy then sitting around all day twiddling my thumbs. Its just hard finding the right balance. ATM im looking for MORE things to do….Crazy or what!

  8. oh yes! That is me too! I fill every minute of the day much to my far more relaxed husbands amusement.

    But it works.. I get lots done! And am blissfully happy 🙂

    xox

  9. I loved reading all your responses. Thank you for sharing.

    Katy – I totally agree. I do get sick/bored of doing the same things, for sure. But the kinda bored that I meant was where I have time to fill, and nothing to fill it with. I guess free time?

  10. Great post! There's a saying that I like. It is: “Give work to the busiest person and it will get done the quickest”.

    Hayley

  11. I completely agree – that is such a good way to think about it – finding the right thing to fit the right slot of time. I'm sure I do it subconsciously a lot of the time but I'm going to think about it more to make sure I do it right. I do wonder if half finished things are part of being a mum because we are constantly interupted with urgent things eg. help on toilet, vomit, waking baby, hurt child, etc or it is just me changing from one thing to the next. Anyway, great post.

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