I read a post some time ago about a lady who had just returned from her holidays.

She said that’s the first thing she does – download pics from her camera and do a holiday (vacation) post on her blog.

Which got me thinking – what are the things that I do first when I’ve been travelling?

My to-do list goes like this:

1. laundry (I pack a separate bag for dirty laundry so I can toss that in the machine immediately)
2. unpack kitchen stuff and make tea
3. proper unpacking of clothes, etc.
4. kids fed and in bed
5. download and process emails
6. blog
7. photos about 3 months later

What are the things you do first when you get back home after a holiday?

P.S. The giveaway is still open for the Clutter Rehab book.

A few weeks ago I found myself going to bed at 12 – 12:30 every night. Or morning, as the case may be.

I couldn’t understand why, as life was quite normal, or so I thought.

Usually when I feel like things are getting away from me time-wise, I stop and take stock.

I have a couple of tricks – the same tricks I use with my clients – and this time I outlined a typical day in my life. In Excel

Do you know what I found?

Some days originally ended up having total of 24 hours (I think 2 of them) and the other days had 25, 26 and 2 days had 28 hour days.

I was trying to do way too much in a day.

It started because when I first went back to work after my maternityh leave, I was working a slightly shorter day.

As the children grew, my work day lengthened and I’ve been working a standard 8-hour day for nearly a year now but still trying to cram everything in. An extra 2 hours of everything.

Well, I worked that Excel spreadsheet and beat it into shape til all the days balanced nicely on 24.

I made sure I kept all my sleep time, all my reading time (these are the small and oh-so-necessary pleasures in my life) and I got even smarter with my business time.

For instance, I’ve always coached on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Saturday mornings, if I’m working with Australians or New Zealanders).

Monday is my writing day – blogs, newsletter, etc.

Wednesday is project day, whatever the current project happens to be in my business.

Seeing the evidence that I’m trying to do too much was a bit of a wake-up call for me and I’ve had to force myself to slow down a bit and lower my expectations of myself.

I’m not Superwoman and I can’t work a full day, come home and play with the babies, put them to bed, cook a meal from scratch, eat with Dion, do my business, blog, go to gym, etc, etc. every single day.

Some days I can go to gym but those are not the days I can cook from scratch.

It’s been freeing seeing the situation in black and white.

How about you though?

Are you also trying to be Superwoman?

Have you written down everything you try to do in a day and see how much time it all takes?

Let me know in the comments.

P.S. Thanks for all your great suggestions for the 40th gift. I think we’re going to go with an experience type of gift. I’ll have to do final investigation but I feel we’re on the right track. Now if it were me, I’d like a zipline experience in the Magaliesberg…

Remember the linen organising post?

I forgot to tell you one thing, a confession of sorts.

I have a thing for towels.

Oh my. It used to be really bad.

If I saw towels, I’d buy them.

Even if I didn’t need them.

I’m proud to say that the last time I bought a set of towels was last year (and they were really gorgeous hot pink ones), and before that, probably about 4 years ago.

When I started decluttering 5 years ago, I started donating all the older towels and then the ones that I really didn’t care for.

All of them went to my cleaning lady at the time.

I realised I was finally in a good space when a friend and her kids came over and the kids jumped in the pool.

I got them towels (normal bath towels) and she said, “don’t you have any ugly towels?” and I didn’t

I love being at a place where old things go immediately and we actually use our “good things”.

I still have to give myself The Talk when I see beautiful towels but it’s not as hard these days as it was in the early days.

So tell me, do you have a towel thing too?

Or what’s your secret household vice?

P.S. South Africans, have you seen the beautiful deep jewel coloured towels at Clicks? I am avoiding that aisle…

I had a great question from a reader about after-supper laziness.

I am honestly not the best person to ask about this since I count down the hours til I can sit after running around the whole day.

But I will say this -

I pack my lunch and the children’s food while I’m preparing supper since I can guarantee my energy will be 50% less after we eat.

I like to plan my day/ evening so that I only have low-key activities after supper, like computer work, so that I can be “lazy” with a clear conscience.

But if I do need to get some things done, I make a list because not much in life motivates me as much as crossing things off a list

Confession – this year I actually have a “reading night” on my weekly goals list because it’s that hard for me to relax and do “nothing”.

Now over all you clever (and normal) people…

How do you combat after-supper laziness?