{"id":4419,"date":"2012-09-12T12:23:18","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T19:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/?p=4419"},"modified":"2012-09-12T12:24:36","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T19:24:36","slug":"accepting-your-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/accepting-your-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"accepting your priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read a blog post this morning, and it really struck a note with me on what I wanted to tell you guys anyways. Even if you don’t have a family, I think this all applies<\/a> to work\/life balance. Or, in my case, work\/passion\/life balance.<\/p>\n

People often ask me how much sleep I get at night, because I do so much. In the lovely words of Liv Tyler in Empire Records, “My\u00a0dad\u00a0always\u00a0said\u00a0that\u00a0there’s 24 usable hours in every day.” However, for me, if you’ve known me any length of time, you know I need eight hours (really nine) of sleep or I am a cranky kid.<\/p>\n

Because of this, I have priorities that are maybe different than the average six hour a night person. I can’t stay up late, or I absolutely pay the consequences the next day, and the day after that, and the day…you get the idea.<\/p>\n

So what does this mean? If I am sleeping from 11 to 7:30 every day, when do I have time to do anything? First off all, I know my priorities, and accept them as absolute. I am always willing to reassess and negotiate, but they keep me in line when making hard choices. They are as such:<\/p>\n

My self.<\/strong> Am I happy? Are my basic needs being met? Into this goes working out, relaxing, and making sure Jeff and I are eating healthy.<\/p>\n

Jeff<\/strong>. As my partner-in-crime, I need to make sure that I am spending time with him, keeping my end of the bargain at home (chores, dinner, social commitments, etc.), and making sure that we’re keeping each other in the loop.<\/p>\n

My job.<\/strong> Luckily I love where I work, love my coworkers, and love my day to day. My company is committed to me, so I am committed to them, and make sure to put work first as often as possible.<\/p>\n

The blog.\u00a0<\/strong>After making dinner, which I deem most important (and which I sometimes can double for the blog) the next thing I do most nights is edit photos, write posts, check guest posts, schedule social media channels using HootSuite, or submitting photos to FoodGawker, Tastespotting. There is always more I can be doing for Garlic, My Soul, and because it’s so important to me, I make sure to give it the attention it needs to thrive.<\/p>\n

Friends, family, and the like.\u00a0<\/strong>Sometimes I struggle with this one, because the blog is my passion and because it’s so important to me. Have I left work early to do something important to friends? Yes. Have I stayed late at work to finish something and missed a friend’s event? Yes.\u00a0But usually it’s someone else prioritizing at work (a client, boss, coworker, etc.) For me, telling a friend that blogging is more important than them is hard, but sometimes it needs to be done. I may miss a dinner or a movie or an event, but at the end of the day, the blog is what makes\u00a0me\u00a0<\/em>happy, and so it’s part of the priority of “my self,” too.<\/p>\n

This means my day looks something like this: up at 7 or 7:30, work out, get ready for work, work until 6. Home by 6:30 or 7, then make dinner. Jeff and I catch up while we cook usually, and sometimes sneak in an episode of TV while we eat. After dinner, I blog for the next day if it hasn’t been completed over the weekend, trying to get ahead a few days. Then, usually around 10:30-11, I get ready for bed and spend a few minutes reading before heading to bed.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t always work this way: there are birthdays, and book clubs, and dinners, and drinks, friends to see, coworkers to celebrate, family visiting, and the like. And I accept those things into my schedule, minding my priorities and saying “no” when I need to. Jeff keeps me in check on my stress levels, making sure I am spending down time and having fun, and I remind myself I am not hard on myself all the time for not spending more time on the blog.<\/p>\n

For now, this works for me. It may mean I don’t have as much down time as I like, but it means that I get to work on something I am passionate about every day. And for that, I am absolutely appreciative. And absolutely happy.<\/p>\n

How do you prioritize your life?<\/strong> Do you have trouble keeping a balance between self and friends and family? How about a balance between home and work?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read a blog post this morning, and it really struck a note with me on what I wanted to tell you guys anyways. Even if you don’t have a family, I think this all applies to work\/life balance. Or, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,27],"tags":[1213,1425,1427,1118,433,1211,1212],"class_list":["post-4419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friends-family","category-random-thoughtslittle-things-to-tell-you","tag-blogging","tag-family","tag-friends","tag-garlic-my-soul","tag-jeff","tag-priorites","tag-worklife-balance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4419"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4423,"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419\/revisions\/4423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniepalluzzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}