What’s Saving My Life

Because we can’t do it all

We’re squeezing every last drop out of this last gasp of summer (that already feels like winter; what is up with the weather this week?!) AND preparing for the full-onset of the big, grey dark. Even if you don’t live in the Pacific Northwest, you’re likely in some version of summer recovery/back-to-school chaos. And it’s a lot! 

A few weeks ago, while we were playing with our babes on the beach, a friend said to me, “I do not know how you’re doing it all and working full-time.” 

It’s true, I am doing a lot of things. But let me be very clear. I am not doing it all! There are plenty of things I am not doing! And I am doing plenty of things halfway or just enough. I’m getting quite good at knowing which balls to drop, embracing good enough, and lowering my expectations where it makes sense. 

All of this makes it possible to protect the most important balls I’m juggling and maintain high expectations where it really matters. And this is saving my life right now. 

Are you wrestling with which balls you can drop? Or are you wondering what tangible action you can take to make it easier to protect your most important priorities? Do you want to save your own life during a chaotic season? 

Here are some tools and habits that are helping us survive over here: 

• Sleep: More often than not, I am choosing to sleep instead of many other options; it is a decision that pays me back in generous dividends. Sleep is our body’s most powerful way to repair and if we want to fully show up for the things that matter, we simply have to be well rested.

• Grocery delivery: I love going to the grocery store but it is one of my most time-consuming chores (mostly because I love it so much). Outsourcing it has reclaimed so much time (and money) for us! 

• Meal rotation: We have a small list that we rotate through each week, which requires minimal decision-making while also allowing for slight variation so we don’t get absolutely sick of one single thing

• Outfit repeating: During Q2, I took a selfie every morning to document what I actually wore from my closet (part of an effort to get rid of clothes that are unnecessarily taking up space). From this experiment, I identified what I’m most comfortable wearing and am now leaning into the fact that it’s a pretty similar thing most days. 

samples from my OOTD experiment in Q2

• Breakfast prep: Mornings are frantic around here and I am prone to hanger soon after waking, so a high-protein breakfast getting into my belly in minutes is key. Typically, I’m eating something that someone else prepared and packaged (these breakfast burritos and overnight oats are two current favs), but if I have the time, energy, and enthusiasm, I’ll make a double (or triple!) batch of this oatmeal on a weekend morning for the whole fam and portion it out for the week ahead. 

• Community: Other people are key, ya’ll! This summer, we had a block party on our street every Wednesday night. It was low-key potluck – people would show up with whatever they had or wanted to contribute. There were usually snacks of some kind (pirate’s booty, veggie straws, chips), something sweet (fruit, popsicles, muffins), and often pizza. Someone nearly always ordered pizza – a whole bunch of pizzas for anyone to eat. I nearly always ate pizza for dinner on Wednesday nights despite rarely contributing to the potluck spread. Our community has shown up for us in marvelous ways recently and we are so grateful. 

• Making the bed: Our house is often a wreck – dirty and untidy 🙃. We have a toddler and a dog and I’m not convinced I could keep up even if I vacuumed every day. We clean with an irregular cadence (often right before a babysitter is coming over) and rely heavily on the imperfect Roomba to capture all the dog hair. But we do make the bed every morning. It takes 30 seconds and is a little cocoon of peace and cleanliness in an otherwise chaotically messy house. Climbing into a beautifully made bed helps me shut out the chaos from my day or the rest of the house and move my brain toward sleep. 

“...Life offered few pleasures as affordable as a well-made bed.” - Mercury Pictures Presents

• Taking walks: The concept of a regular exercise or running routine is lost on me right now (busy work schedule, unpredictable baby sleep, injured foot, etc. etc. etc.), but taking a walk outside is easy, free, and can be done in whatever time block I have available. Accepting this as my regular exercise and recognizing its benefit to my days (mentally and physically!) has been enormous. 

• Frozen mango: Mango is my absolute favorite fruit, but I have never mastered the skill of slicing a fresh mango. And learning that skill is definitely not something I’m making time for right now. But eating mango on my morning oatmeal feels so luxurious! I buy it in bulk, let it thaw in the fridge, and then eat it throughout the day. This is one of those things that makes me feel like I’m getting away with something – I’ve tricked the system! What a treat! And it was so easy! 

In case you still think that some people are doing it all and you’re getting left in the dust, I want to reiterate that no one can do it all—absolutely no one can! It may look like some people are doing it all, but they are definitely dropping balls that we can’t see.  

There’s a house on my street that is half grey and half white. They started painting it ~ two years ago and are making very slow progress—slow enough that I don’t remember which is the new color and which is the old color. They’re doing it! But they must be prioritizing other things more urgently, and I love that. Every time I walk past, it’s an encouraging reminder to consider what I want to prioritize.

We have the capacity to do so many things! But not all of the things. 

What do you want to prioritize? What balls can you let drop? What’s saving your life right now? I’d love to hear from you! 

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Hi! I’m Liz. Thanks for being here and reading my journals on the journey. If you’re new, learn a bit more about me and this space here and consider subscribing to my weeklyish posts.

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