Carving Out Free Time

Last year for the first time ever, my kids chose to go to public school rather than to homeschool.  Knowing that their lives were about to get really busy, I decided to dive into work about six months before they started school last year.  Rather than teaching the two classes I had been teaching for some time, I took on four classes and six private tutoring students.  Yikes!!!   Let's just say I overdid it a little bit.  No, let's say I overdid it a lot considering all the other changes that were happening in our lives with school.  After eighteen months of this schedule, I have learned my lesson.  This school year I have four classes again, but only  two private tutoring students which opens up my schedule a lot.  I now have two and a half complete days off during the week.  (I teach three classes on Tuesday and Thursday and one on Saturdays.)

What I didn't do last year which I now see I really needed to do was allow myself to enjoy some time alone. Always being a homeschooling momma, I have never really had much time in the house alone or even time alone.  Truth be told though I never craved it that much.  I really enjoyed my time home with the kids and would repeat it all again in a heartbeat.  However, having the house all to myself the last month has been a delightful surprise.  For five hours (my son goes to high school part-time) there are no expectations.  No noise.  Nothing.  I can do whatever I want.  I can think whatever I want.  I can watch whatever I want. I  LOVE it! In fact, when these days are interrupted with appointments, I feel ripped off.

I am a hard worker, but I have never been a workaholic and I am happy about that.  I have always been pretty good about carving out down time or lazy time.  However, with the added work that came with very wacky hours, I had to learn to schedule time into my day to be lazy.  I think as mothers, workers, rheumatoid arthritis folks, and people in general, we owe it to ourselves to find time in every day to do something we enjoy.  Here's how I make it work for me.

1.  I schedule everything - morning walk and workout, house cleaning, school work, SUYH! projects, family time, and even my free time.  When I keep my schedule, I find that there is plenty of time for everything. When I don't follow the schedule, I waste time and then feel rushed and anxious.

2.  My free time is to be spent however I feel I want to spend it and never feel guilty.  Currently, that means making coffee (we will see how long this lasts as they effects have not been positive),watching Frasier on Netflix or reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

3.  I continue to walk.  It relaxes my mind and keeps me centered.  Walks give me a chance to see nature (even in a suburban neighborhood we have coyotes, skunks, deer, rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels among lots of beautiful trees and plants).  I take time to stop and watch ants scurry around, squirrels chase each other up tress, and my favorite - watch the sun rise.  This summer I have been collecting things I find in nature that make me happy. Here is one day's find:

4.  I set limits for myself.  If my week is really busy, I claim Sunday as a no driving day.  This allows me uninterrupted time to work in the yard, to read a book, to talk with family, or to do absolutely nothing.

5.  Turn off the computer. When I am on a lot,I tend to waste my time.  I think I will research one thing and then two hours later I am still there.  I have now set up consequences for being on the computer outside of my scheduled time.  Every time I get on, I have to do some type of exercise afterwards:  push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, dead lifts, etc.

6.  Two days a week I have 1.5 hours of downtime before heading back out to teach an evening class.  During this time I make dinner, enjoy the dinner at the table with my family, and if possible, sneak in a hot bath or a few minutes of reading.

How do you carve out time for free time and what do you do?

Active Release Technique for Trigger Fingers

    My two hands are very unique from one another. My right hand has suffered the most from rheumatoid arthritis stiffness.  It is the hand that went to physical therapy, but has never yet been able to make a complete fist again or pick up small items like coins or bobby pins and tends to swell up the most when going through a flare.  This is the hand that also has enlarged knuckles.  This hand requires that I frequently do mobility exercises to keep it moving.    My left hand rarely stiffens up.  It swells enough that I sometimes can't wear my wedding ring, but that's it. However, I have trigger fingers on this hand and to me, it is worse than stiff fingers because it really freaks me out.  When my fingers bend, they often don't want to come out of that position.  When they do, they make a popping or clicking noise and it feels that is exactly what is happening.  I often have to stop what I am doing and manually straighten my fingers back out.  My rheumatologist has warned me that it is not a good idea to do exercises with these fingers because it can just make the situation worse.  When they are at their worse, I should try to use them as little as possible. Her remedy is always to do a cortisone shot and to remind me that at some point I may need to have surgery.

A few months back, I was listening to a podcast and a question came in about trigger fingers.  It was suggested the listener have active release technique to help her fingers.  I contacted a local chiropractor and she said she has had success with ART and trigger fingers, but the treatment plan varies for each person.  So, before trying this treatment, I am curious if anyone else has tried it and if they have had success.  Have you done anything else besides shots?  That isn't the route I want to take.  I appreciate your feedback.  

*I did do a month of ART sessions.  While it didn't help with my trigger fingers, it did remove a cyst in my wrist and decreased some of the buildup around my wrists.  Unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover this treatment and the costs became more than I could handle.  If you can afford it, I would definitely give it a try.