Basically, being interviewed is like giving a deposition. Except without the lawyers and the imposing 12 foot dining table...
I kid!!! It was actually pretty fun although I did find myself struggling with coherency at times, although that is pretty par for the course with me. I can only hope that at the end of the editing process I sound as clever as I think I am in real life...
Anyway.
The one question that stumped me beyond all effing reason was this:
"How do you fit it all in? Running a barn is a full time job (plus overtime!) how does the running get fit it?"
Well apparently I have no idea. I had zero intelligent things to say about that because, it seems, this
has become such a way of life that I just do it. No fitting in required!
I gave this some thought post interview, since it had stumped me so badly.
I do have a lot going on in my day after all (but so do all of us...) So how DO I get all my shit done?
What I said in the interview is true. I get up kinda early. I am a terrible weekend friend (no late night drinking for me!) I would probably do an hour of some kinda dumb cardio daily anyway, so this isn't much different (well, with the notable exception of 3 hour long run days, and the fact that I rarely work out for less than 90 minutes... but who is really counting?)
Since I hear a lot of "I don't have tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime to exercise even for 20 minutes!!!" I decided that I would look at my daily schedule and see what I could figure out since clearly it can, and does get scheduled in to my daily life.
The key points!
It's about staying organized and somewhat on task.
It's about starting every day with some sort of plan, and sticking to it!
And it's about being accountable for your time. Don't "lose hours" surfing the FB and the Twitter.
I find that if I do things in chunks instead of a scattered clusterfudge of chaos it works well. For example, I don't ride a horse, run, clean a random stall, teach a lesson, ride again and so forth. My day usually goes a little like this, keeping in mind that it is not summer/camp season right now which would certainly change the structure of the day. (and the sun is still setting late enough for me to run in the PM)
-Get up. Ugh. Grumpy. Drink a coffee.
-Go to the barn, feed the equally crabby horses. Put them out.
-Eat my 1st breakfast and waste 30 minutes on emails, blogging, the twitter, the FB...
*side note. I get questions about what I eat. specifics to follow!*
 |
| Stuffing my FACE. Per the NORM. |
 |
| The world's smallest picture of me stacking the world's largest pile of hay. It's all in a days work.... |
-Eat lunch (like I said. don't judge.)
 |
| Luckily this is NOT my lunch. Well, it could be lunch 1 of 4.... Or a snack. Or half a snack? |
-Yeah, yeah I'll probably grab more food....
-Teach lessons all afternoon.
 |
| Teaching the future dressage riders of America! |
-Do afternoon chores, scheduling for next day, pertinent emails, texts, calls, bills.
-Go home, run. Run a lot. Run some more.
 |
| Running. A lot. |
-Shower. Eat more food. Talk to Eric about all the things. Read other people's blogs. Watch Breaking Bad. Wish that there were more episodes of Firefly. Talk to Eric about that, and transition into conversations about all things geeky/how we are the athletic power couple/future plans/how and when to pay the property taxes.
-Nightcheck!
-Chocolate.
-BED.
So that is how it gets done people. With many snacks, fashion, high fives and determination.
And it's really no big deal. I don't have 77 children. I don't have a high maintenance husband. I DO NOT have a clean house, whoops.
So make priorities, get it done and let the house get dusty and the laundry stay unfolded!!
I know that food!!!
ReplyDeletepoor andy. u can have one cookie.
DeleteI was looking for a picture of some horrible looking snack and knew that was IT!!!! So healthy, so filling, so questionable....
DeleteMmm... such a good 1/8th of a cookie and part of a chip!
DeleteAre the horses right at your house or close by? That is so convenient. I love that you make a living riding horses! A little girl's dream! So lucky. That being said, I could NOT do that job. The stall thing? no way. :)
ReplyDeleteThe horses are 0.2 miles away form my house which is perfect! I really don't mind the stall cleaning either. If I hadn't gone into my own professional stall mucking business I probably would have obtained a job doing it for someone else...! Go figure :-)
DeleteSara, I am finding working and going to school a total time suck. I finally folded my laundry today after it sat in baskets for 2 weeks and I got tired of going to the basement to find a pair of clean undies. Sleep? Want it, need it, finally get in bed and fall asleep, only to wake up super early thinking about all the shit I have to do. Blech.
ReplyDeleteI can go quite a long time without laundry folding.... It is pretty low on the priority list! Good luck getting some sleep, it can be really hard when you have a lot going on!!
DeleteLove it! I have a few friends that struggle with trying to be perfect and making time for EVERYTHING. But really it just doesn't happen. I love that you ended it - "So make priorities, get it done and let the house get dusty and the laundry stay unfolded!!"...totally my style! My priorities are my family, running/fitness, my home business and my faith. Not much else gets makes it into my schedule these days.
ReplyDeleteOh snap, perfect is a lofty goal! I settle for close :-) Hahaha but really, you are right on- we are on the same page with the priorities!
DeleteNo idea what you eat, but you live a "very active" life between heavy manual labour, riding, instruction (I presume you're on your feet and/or walking most to all of that yes?) and running, so eating lots is probably pretty much essential.
ReplyDeleteOh and I agree about there being nothing like enough episodes of Firefly (even counting the 3 graphic novels and Serenity).