One challenging thing about being at home so much these days, is that my eye catches every little thing I want to change about our home, which sends my brain into a panic wondering WHEN I’ll have time to change it. This is all futile since paint colors never stopped a pandemic and I have two kids at home and a full-time job, which demand 190% of my attention each day. Until last Thursday when Mike drove the kids to his brother’s house to help him pack for their big move. And suddenly I had a whole day open to do with what I pleased.
This has been such a strange time, filled with high highs (laughing until we cry at our kids’ antics) and low lows (holding back tears at their frustration, sadness, and confusion). One major perk of social distancing, though, is more time to paint.
Right now we’re in … week 3? 4? 1 million? of staying at home to hopefully flatten the coronavirus (COVID-19) curve and naturally my brain is on budgeting and finances. Whether you’ve lost your job or are just being intentionally frugal in the face of the unknown (and the general state of the economy, yikes!), you’re likely thinking about money too.
When I embarked upon my Leadership Illinois journey, I never imagined that the most poignant message I would come away with would be this: “I am meant for more than laundry.”
Last week I was back at work after two weeks off. I’m fortunate to have time off over the holidays and the return was a fairly smooth one. What I was not as prepared for was the busy pace our life assumes when everyone is going full-throttle towards school, daycare, work, and extra-curricular activities.
My phone started ringing at 4:45 a.m. this morning. It was M, calling to ask if I would check to see if he had shut the garage door when leaving for work. He had.
The early morning wake up call provided me the perfect opportunity to try out a recommendation I heard on yesterday’s How to Money podcast with guest, “5am Joel”: the 5 a.m. wake up.
I listened to an interesting podcast yesterday on how to recession-proof your finances. Fluctuations with the yield curve, above–it inverted over the summer, then un-inverted itself late fall–have business leaders pondering the imminence of a recession. (A special thank you to my M.B.A. Economics class for helping me understand that sentence. Especially given I could not have written it six months ago.) Chief among the suggestions in the podcast was making yourself invaluable in your workplace, followed closely by stockpiling cash.
Reading 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think has challenged me to think broadly about what I want for my life. I’m currently on a two-week break from work, which has freed up some mental space for dreaming, too.
I mentioned previously that this year I want to make progress on the things that matter to me: creating, writing, and painting. In a day and age when it seems like we’re being pulled into hundreds of different directions, finding time for what matters can feel like an insurmountable feat.
It’s a new year, a new decade. We celebrated with the same friends we rang in the new year with in 2019. Our kids stayed awake too late and have been little bears since, but all in all it was a fun time. This last decade has been busy: a marriage, two babies, buying a house, job changes, and more.