Good Idea #3: Non-Negotiable Priorities

I am a busy gal with a lot on my plate. I usually manage to keep about 3 out of 10 (or so) balls in the air and, considering how hopelessly clumsy I am, that's quite a feat. However, on an all-too-regular basis, important things slip through the cracks. Usually those are things that will benefit only me so they sort of get pushed aside, namely, my health and my spiritual wellbeing. My next good idea is to remedy the sweeping-under-the-rug of these important aspects of my life by making them Non-Negotiable Priorities.

1- My health: I work 40 hours a week as a desk jockey. I work 10 hour days with a 40 minute commute each way. After work, there is almost always something going on that requires my attention and by the time the weekend rolls around, all I want to do is sleep. In short, I don't get much exercise. Deplorably little, in fact.

In the past I have gone through spurts of furious gym activity, but they are invariably short-lived. I sat pondering when to carve out time for regular exercise: before work? I have done that for short periods of time, but since an AM workout requires me to get up at 4:30 am (the hour my husband affectionately calls "the buttcrack of dawn"), after a few weeks I am exhausted. After work? There are about 27.5 reasons that a PM workout doesn't work, I'll spare you the details. So when, me hearties, am I supposed to exercise? During the one glorious hour of the day that is mine to use how I will -my lunchbreak.

I am not going to train for a 5K (yet) or start pumping iron, I am just going to get out and walk. Walking is simple and requires no special equipment, and is easy to commit to. Basically, I just want to get in the habit of being active, so 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week is hereafter a Non-Negotiable Priority.

2- My Spiritual Wellbeing: For those of you that don't know me personally, you may or may not know that I am LDS. A Mormon. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (For those of you who don't know much about us Mormon folk, we don't all go door-to-door in white shirts and ties, that's only the missionaries. And I am and always will be my husband's only wife. That is all.) As a practicing member of the church, regular scripture reading should be a more important priority than it has heretofore been. I will read every day, even if I only have time for a few verses. I used to be really good about this but life has sort of gotten in the way. Not anymore. Now my scripture study is a Non-Negotiable Priority.

What personal needs do you have that are not being met? How would your quality of life be better if those needs were satisfied? My challenge to you is to find a need in your life and make the filling of that need a Non-Negotiable Priority. Maybe you need a creative outlet. Maybe you need more "me" time. Whatever it is, share it in the comments!