Making time to journal: Priorities

There just aren't enough hours in the day. Therefore, I cannot journal like I would like or what I would need. 

Busy! Hah! You wish you were just busy. Busy doesn't quite describe your life, does it? 

Does this sound familiar?

How do we find more time to journal in an already full day--never mind all of the interruptions that get thrown at us?

First and foremost, I think it is critical we look at our priorities. Do you even know what they are in your life? List them in order now. 

If it took you longer than a minute, I suggest stopping and really thinking about this. Your priorities should be so fresh in your mind at all times that you can list all of them in priority order in less than a minute.

Why is this important?

It's important to know your priorities, and the order of them, so that you can play your day, week, month, quarter, year, 5 years out, 10 years out, and 20 years out. 

And, if you know your priorities, if anyone asks you to do something, you can go through your priority list. If it fits in line with your priorities, you can say yes. If it doesn't, say no. But, if you say yes, does it push any of your other priories out of the way and shuffle the order of your priorities? If so, think again  you might want to say no. Your priorities must stay the priority and keep in the order you have decided. The top three to four always come first. Period. End of discussion. Your other priorities  you can cut a little slack with and not be so anal about  But, your top three, you must keep the top three--except in life and death situations. Other than life/death situations, you should keep your priorities. Period. 

Your priorities dictate everything you do. 

Go ahead. List them now, if you haven't already. Then, put them in priority order.

Now that you have your priorities straight, and in order, I have a couple of questions for you.

Do you believe in God? Is he number one? He should be.

Are you married? Do you have kids? What priority order did you put them in?

If your kids come before you spouse, you need to rethink your priorities. Who will be there, after all, when the kid leaves home? Who do you go to bed with at night? Who did you make a commitment to--by choice? Just saying.

Also, did your kids or spouse come before you in priority order? If they did, think again.Who was there when you were born? Who will be there when you die? Who is with you all the time? You are.

I am not saying to put yourself first in a narcissistic way. No. Rather  self-care should be the part of yourself that comes here in the priority order. If you don't take care of yourself, you aren't any use to anyone or anything else. 

So, your priorities should read something like this:

1 God (if you believe)

2 Self-care

3 Spouse

4 Kids

5 & on... Work, family .. Or whatever else you have. From here down, it's very personal. 

Journaling is part of self-care, by the way. As a matter of fact, journaling is the best part of self-care you can do, besides eating right and exercise. 

If your priorities are in order then your time should be filled with more free time than busyness. Why? Most busyness is because we forget what is important in our lives. We suck up too much of our lives with the unimportant and the things that are not our priorities.

Let me give you a hint as to how you can tell if you keep your priorities straight. If you open up your calendar/planner/schedule, it should reveal what your priorities are. If your calendar does not reflect your priorities, changes need to be made. Start today. Do not delay. This is critical. 

That being said, if you haven't kept your priorities straight, it will take a little bit of time to eliminate the unimportant from your schedule. Put your priorities on your calendar now. Go out a year with them. Then,in another month, go out another 6 six months. In another month, go out on your schedule another 6 months. Do this until you have a minimum of 5 years planned--where you are keeping your priorities straight. 

I know. How can you go out 5 years when you don't know hat's going to happen in 5 years? It's easy., If you are keeping your priorities straight, and are living them, you have at least a couple of hours of free-time in your schedule every day. On the weekends, you have at least three or four hours of free time. That's how you can make these plans out 5 years on your calendar. 

Then, keep your calendar out at least 5 years from here on out. Every month, add at least a month on your calendar so you can keep your priorities.

So, how do you make time to journal? See all of the above.

But, until you can devote an hour at least per day to journaling, you need to start to add it in your schedule--until you can devote at least an hour each day to it. So, how do you do that?

I said it before and I will say it again: Start with one sentence per day this week (at least). Then, next week, add another sentence per day. Then, the following week,a dd another sentence per week. Keep adding a sentence until you are writing pages per day and at least an hour per day. 

Another secret is to steal time. Did you know that each of us has 30-60 minutes per day of wasted time... And even more than that if you add commute time. We wait in line, we wait on hold on the phone, we sit on porcelain, we wait for an appointment, we drive, we have breaks during our workday, etc. Journal at these down times. We can write in a journal or speak into a voice recorder. Use your commute to speak into a voice recorder for some journaling. Then, type it up when you get home or on the weekend. 

Just adding those times can add pages of journaling each day. 

There was a time when I worked full-time, wrote full-time, and helped a friend raise her two boys and watched them for four to five hours a night, and I was still able to journal pages per day. It all depends on your priorities. 

I know if I journal, I have far more to offer those I love and to do the things that are my priority. After all, I am healthy and more energized. I can think clearly and am far more content. 

How do you journal more? Keep your priorities straight and steal the time. that's how. 

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

* My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013: Journaling & Memoir

* The Journaling & Storykeeping Encyclopedia of 2013

The Journaling Path Blog Network: http://thejournalingpath.blogspot.com

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

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