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Savoring life in the Berkshires

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How I’m Trying to Save My Sanity This Fall

Published on September 11, 2012 By Emily. Updated on September 11, 2012

Just days after my commenting on the “Worst Summer Ever”, I had a tremendously awesome day.  It was the sort of day I’d intended to have all summer, before things got ridiculous.

By 1 pm on Labor Day, I had accomplished more that I felt like I’d accomplished all summer.  I made cereal bars, pizza dough, went to the gym, started prep for dinner, run to the supermarket and washed some dishes, among other things.  Most of this was done while listening to podcasts, checking my email and keeping an eye on Facebook.  It made me feel ready for the week, productive and relaxed.  I didn’t feel stressed out about the upcoming school year or other tasks on the horizon.  It was just me and the task at hand.

Brian was quick to point out that there were probably other opportunities for this sort of day during the summer.  Though I was quick to remind him of all the time I spent teaching and taking class.  Still, there’s not really a good reason why the school year can’t have these sorts of sanity saving days as well. 

So, in an effort to keep the good moods coming and not get completely stressed out, I’m trying a few new things.  We’re only into the first full week and I’m already struggling with some of these ideas, but publishing posts usually keeps me on track.

planning outfits and ironing clothes ahead of time – I’ll be honest, I’m already failing at this.  Getting dressed doesn’t take me forever, but it seems like a reasonable way to spare myself some stress and save some time in the morning.  I also have to convince myself to not change my mind about what I’ve chosen in the morning.

Google docs

actually using my editorial calendar – I have a Google Document that I use to plan and track my posts…but I kind of ignored it this summer.  Perhaps if I actually plan what I’m going to write about and then do so this blog will be in better shape?

cooking on weekends – One of my projects on the past 2 weekends was preparing as much ahead of time as I could for the week.  I made beans for tacos, cereal bars and pretzels for snacks.  If I can get parts of meals made over the weekend, I’ll be able to relax a bit during the week.

scheduling my afterschool time – I’m making both my gym days and my posting days Tuesday and Thursday this fall; I may even post on Saturdays if I have my act together. Hopefully the idea that those activities are always going to happen on those days will make them a little less negotiable and a little more routine.

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brainstorming breakfast and lunch – As I’ve mentioned before, I really like having “real food” and a hot lunch in the middle of my work day.  But that takes planning ahead.  This summer I started another Google Document that’s a list of meal ideas for breakfast and lunch that I can reheat, eat and transport without much trouble.  Having this list should make my meal planning simpler and save me the trouble of looking through all my recipes.

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making a “cooking projects” list – I save a lot of recipes, probably more than a person should.  Some of those recipes I save because I think they might be useful some day or they look interesting.  Some of them I save because I really want to make them.  Unfortunately, those recipes I’m most interested in sometimes get buried under the other recipes.  So I’m going to start keeping track of things I really want to try when I have the time, either in another document or using a new tag in Evernote. 

bringing home less grading – There’s no reason I should be bringing home every assignment I give to students.  This year I’m making a concerted effort to hand out less paper, have students correct their own work more often in class and maximize my in school time on school tasks.

using my freezer – One of my projects on Labor Day was making pretzels and pizza dough to store in the freezer for later use.  Again, if I can continue doing cooking projects when I have time and then use them later I won’t have to worry so much about weeknight meals.

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Filed Under: life Tagged With: organization

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Comments

  1. Jean King says

    September 11, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    Planning my work clothes the night before is a big one for me! I can’t think in the morning and decision-making is next to impossible!

  2. Beth M says

    September 11, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    I’m trying out a new time management structure. Condensed version: Divide life into four categories, Write important to-dos down on Saturday. Each day divide day into four parts, then try and accomplish things from each category of life every day. (I’m probably going to post on it later this month).

    My main goal was to eliminate fatigue at the end of the day (which leads me to sit around all night and say “i’m going to do ____ tomorrow anyway when I’m fresh. Surprise… never happened and I felt like I was running around all the time.)

    So far… it’s working. And it’s easier to let stuff go if I don’t get to it in the time slot I put it in. As long as I pretty much do what I need to, turns out the big list goes away by Saturday, or I realize what wasn’t important anyway.

    One practical tip though (which maybe you won’t struggle with.) I decided I was only going to clean/do dishes at two times each day: 8am, and 2:30pm. Because I’m home with Ethan most of the day, and he’s a champion mess maker, I kept getting de-railed in focusing on tasks by trying to pick up after him or trying to get the kitchen clean. This was a distraction when I was sitting down to work. Now, I don’t worry about it, because I’m going to do it at those times.

    I guess that’s similar to scheduling blog posts or going to the gym. :)

Trackbacks

  1. Dinner, in Brief » Relishments says:
    September 13, 2012 at 7:47 pm

    […] Dinner, in Brief  Posted by Emily at 7:39 pm Sep 132012   Apparently the first week of school is going to take a bit more out of me than initially expected, despite all my good intentions. […]

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New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
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It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
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2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
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New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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A few more photos from our most recent trip to Mai A few more photos from our most recent trip to Maine:
- a foggy afternoon at Ocean Point
- kid-free lunch at @shannonsunshelled, followed by beers at @footbridge_brewery
- watching birds from my parent's deck
- dinner at @bucksnakedbbqsteakhouse and dessert at @gelatofiasco
- a hot dog and Belgian waffle sundae from @wannawaf
- a visit to the Boothbay Railway Village Museum, featuring an impressive model railroad
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