Focus needed

Focus.  I need to have more of it.  It seems that I spend (waste!) a lot of time and energy because I lack clear focus.  Part of this is self-inflicted due to my tendency to procrastinate sometimes, but a larger part of it is just feeling so overwhelmed by all that needs to get done that I can't decide where to start and so everything ends up getting done in a flurry of panic-stricken mania rather than steadily at a manageable pace. 

Take for example, meals.  One would think after all this time, I would have this one down pat.  Wrong!  For breakfast everyone is on their own since we all get up at different times and not everyone is hungry at the same time, lunch is leftovers from the previous night or something quick and easy (pre-packaged), and then my intention is to actually cook a meal for dinner.  However, I tend to think about dinner about 30 minutes before we are actually supposed to be out the door to a game or practice or church or...you get the picture.  So this leaves me throwing together something quick (which usually means we will be late to wherever we are supposed to be) or driving through somewhere before or after activitie, which is unhealthy and expensive.  Since one of my resolutions this year is to cook and eat healthier, I am going to need to be focused on planning meals ahead of time and focused on time management so that I allow enough time to actually follow through on that planning.  Which leads to example number two: time management.

I am responsible for a lot of different things every day.  Some only take a few minutes (answering emails) and some take considerably longer (grading papers or driving to activities).  I have to manage (at this moment in time) the schedules of the 5 different basketball teams and 4 different practice schedules that all three kids are involved in.  I am the team mom for two teams, I teach three writing classes, and I am involved in two different homeschool groups.  We volunteer once or twice a month, are involved at church, and have a regular Bible study with friends and I attend a weekly women's Bibe study.  Plus there is schoolwork and housework that needs to get done and weekly piano lessons.   The most valuable item I own is my dayplanner because truly without it all would be lost.  To say that I need focus to keep everything going is an understatement!

The problem that I am trying to overcome is my tendency to split my focus into too many directions.  This results in grading getting spread over several days, leaving late for driving to activities because I just need to finish this email that I forgot I needed to send out, and then starting my Bible study only to realize that tomorrow is class day that I'm not ready for, and we are out of milk, and no one took out the dog because we left in such a rush earlier...and so on and so forth.  I need to focus on time management so that everything fits into a schedule where I can start and complete things one at a time within reasonable time frames that don't leave me running around like a crazy woman.

So the rest of this week, I am working on a time management plan to try when we start up school again on Monday.  I'm hoping by working on this one thing, other issues will also resolve themselves (see meal situation above).  So, if you would, please say a little prayer for wisdom for me as I try and sort it all out, and pray for me to be able to focus on the new changes long enough to come up with a workable system.