You read that correctly. I found. More hours. In. The. DAY. About five and a half to be exact. I was kind of floored by how I was able to do this. I wasn’t expecting it really, but…here it is…
We removed the TV from our living room.
I know. It sounds a bit off the wall, and my living room looks a bit empty, but here me out, y’all. Seriously. I’ve noticed for quite some time that I simply didn’t have enough time in the day to do what I needed to do.
WORK. I’ve got two businesses, forty team members, two assistants, thousands of guests and it never stops. Yet, I could never get on top of it all. I never had enough time.
HOME. I had to hire a housekeeper because I just could NOT keep up with the house, and cleaning and projects.
MOM. I found I wasn’t getting to spend as much time with my daughter recently and couldn’t pinpoint where exactly all of my time was going.
PERSONAL BALANCE. What’s that? Nonexistent, that’s what.
I knew I wanted to get back to the things that I had been doing before. I always seemed to have time to get all of my work done in about an hour or two, then clean for an hour, then mom it up in between with a bedtime story at bedtime.
But where had that time gone!?
I realized one day, as I was sobbing over my favorite blonde Dragon Queen, that’s where my time had gone! TO HER! I mean, it had also gone to Jon Snow, a few angry handmaids (still haven’t figured that out), a child doctor whose toys come to life through a stethoscope, a few doctors who always make out in elevators, some desperate housewives who are always involved in the wrong things at the wrong time, and then…my favorite…the stormborn, khaleesi of the great grass sea, leader of the andals and THE BREAKER OF CHAINS! WOO!
Y’all, this TV was taking up too much time.
Like, way too much. So, I chucked it. Not really. I moved it into Bee’s room. Her TV broke a few months ago and she’d been begging for a new one, so I gave her the one from the living room. The first few days were the hardest. I remember looking around and thinking, “Alright, now what?” I felt like this especially because Tuesday was my day off, and I usually spent it with my homegirl Daenerys and her dragons, whispering Meehsa and Khaleesi, and YAAHHHS Girl, Got ‘eem!
Now, several days in, I’m fairly chill. The best thing I’ve noticed is the time I’ve gotten back. I’m usually home by around 3pm. For 45 minutes, I tie up any loose ends at work and check my sales, etc. then at 3:45pm, I start cooking dinner which is usually done by 4:30pm. We sit down. We eat. THEN I CLEAN UP. (This blew my mind.)
I’m then able to read my books (you guessed it, either a boy with a lightning scar or my homegirl and her dragons. I’m a bit obsessed. #SorryNotSorry). Belle sits beside me, coloring or playing on her tablet. Around 6:30pm, it’s bath time, then bed at 7pm. We read a story, snuggle and by the time my tasks are done, it’s 7:30pm and I have 90 minutes ’til bedtime!
Before, I would spend that time with my Dragon Queen or the handmaids. But now? I plan my day, read the Word, and set up things for the next day. I wasn’t really sure when I had grown up, but apparently chucking all distractions was the key.
**UPDATE**
Yeah so…that lasted about three months. Disney Plus was released and so was my self-control. Guess who’s got her TV back!? The experience taught me that time can be made when you cut distractions. I’ve learned to make time for what’s important: Bee, work and me.
