We Got No Time!
Apologies for the lack of updates – again! This is partly because I have been horribly busy and partly because the horrible busyness means there hasn’t been much wedding-related malarkey going on. We have, however, booked our honeymoon; Cyprus for two weeks. I don’t know whether I’m more excited about getting married or spending two weeks on a beach. Is that bad?
Alright, so going off on a tangent… Marriage and weddings are exciting, nobody is disputing that. However, I have never really planned my wedding before, it’s never really interested me as a little girl and it’s not that I’m not taking the whole “til death do us part” thing seriously or looking forward to joining forces with Paul, but rather than the defining event of my life, I see it as a legal consummation of our relationship as well as the celebratory bit afterwards.
And really, if you think about it, a wedding is rather bizarre when stripped right down to basics. You sign a legally binding document but wear what is essentially a costume and sing songs during the whole ritual. You wouldn’t do that when selling a house for example, though I would love to dress up and sing House of Fun in front of the solicitor.
Anyway, one of the reasons there hasn’t been much planning going on has been because Paul and I work very different hours. Consequently, he’s asleep when I get up and by the time he gets in, I’m in bed. We only really talk face-to-face at the weekend, and although I’ve always maintained that it’s better to miss someone than be sick of the sight of them, it is odd to only realise that you are living with someone by the fact that the dishes have been done while you were out – or not in some cases!
It has been extremely difficult at times; my job is less demanding than Paul’s; I sit in an office all day, but I also have two Open University courses to study and a gym to go to. After weeks of struggling, this is the advice I can offer if you’re short on time but not on things to do:
- Lists and schedules help. Make lists of everything. Make lists of lists. Tick off items on lists – feeling like you have accomplished something makes you much less stressed out and much more on top of things.
- Plan ahead to save time in the future.
- Make a housework rota; when the responsibilities are clearly divided and both partners do their bit, there’s a lot less resentment on everyone’s part about “doing everything while you just sit your fat arse on the couch and play CoD/watch Project Runway”.
- Make a meal plan for the week. If you have a slow cooker, use one liberally. If not, buy one – they’re only a tenner from Tesco at the moment and you can chuck everything in it before you leave for work, meaning you don’t have to cook when you get in. Presto – more time to browse cufflinks/work out/have an impromptu wine tasting evening with the fiancee.
- If you’re really crap with organisation then buy a page-a-day diary and set yourself a schedule.
- Self-discipline is everything. If you were only going to spend ten minutes checking messages on Facebook, then what the hell are you going playing Frontierville two hours later? Turn it off and go do something useful, like a seating chart.
- Your mother told you to eat well, so do it. It might be easier to order a pizza but eating proper food and lots of fruit and veg gives you more energy. If you’re one of those people that can’t force a carrot down their throat to save your life, at least take vitamins. Holland & Barrett are always doing some kind of special offer or deal, so take advantage! Otherwise, you will get tired. Your gym membership card will get dusty at the back of your wallet. You will look like shit on your big day and regret being so lazy in the months leading up to it, or worse – frantically throw yourself into exercise a week beforehand, sprain something and have to limp up to the aisle.
- Take time to sit back and relax. One day a week when you can sit back and play the aforementioned Black Ops serves as a reward for all the hard work you have done during the week.
Anyway, that was a bit of a long one but hopefully you found it useful. If you have any other time-saving tips then please leave them in the comments!
Next time(s): Gym – what it is and how to survive it. Tattoos. Things you wanted to ask about bizarre female hairdressing.
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