I have a habit of coming up with things I want to do while I am already doing something else.

I’ll be writing and remember the quilt fabric waiting for me. I’ll be looking through photographs and start thinking about putting some of them up for sale. I’ll sit down to read and remember a space I wanted to organize. Somewhere in there, I also need to spend time with my family, take care of my health, and go to bed at a reasonable hour.

The reasonable bedtime sometimes loses.

I have been thinking about balance lately. Between teaching, writing, family, hobbies, and health, there are a lot of things asking for a piece of my day. And the tricky part is that I actually want to do most of them.

Teaching takes a substantial amount of my time and energy during the day, but I try hard to leave the work at school. Other than my weekly lesson plans, I do very little schoolwork at home. I may still think about my students after the day ends, but I want my evenings and weekends to have room for the other parts of my life, too.

Then there is my author life. Writing the books is something I love, but publishing them has added a whole collection of other jobs. There are posts to write, readers to connect with, bookstores to contact, and a website that always seems to give me another idea.

I can sit down to work on one thing and find three more things I would like to try.

My hobbies work much the same way. I love photography, quilting, cooking, reading, and wandering through thrift stores and estate sales. I enjoy learning. I finished a master’s degree in history and promptly started thinking about what I wanted to study next. Apparently, my brain did not get the memo about taking a break.

These things make my life richer. They also require time, and I keep discovering that being excited about a project does not magically create another afternoon in which to do it.

And then there are my spaces. Books, fabric, photographs, collections, and supplies for the things I love doing all need somewhere to live. Organizing them takes time, too. Sometimes I start sorting and rediscover something I want to work on, which probably explains why organizing can take me a while. There are only so many free hours, and I can easily spend them making room for a project before I ever get to the project itself.

Then there is time with Len. Dinner together, a conversation, going out, or just a quiet evening at home. I want to make room for us to enjoy being together without always having something I need to accomplish.

And there are our kids and grandkids. I spend time with them when I can, working around their schedules and mine. This fall has included football games, and my grandson’s team made the playoffs. That means more football to look forward to! My oldest grandchild is already a senior in high school, which hardly seems possible. It makes me especially aware of how quickly these years go.

And my health needs a place in all of this.

It is easy to get absorbed in something and decide I will exercise later, or stay up a little longer because I am finally making progress. Eating well takes attention, too. When I am busy or tired, grabbing fast food is easy. So is reaching for candy or a pastry, especially when there are doughnuts sitting in the staff lounge. I am trying to be more thoughtful about what I eat and make room for choices that help me feel better.

One small thing that has worked for me is reading on my recumbent bike. I get into a book, and suddenly I have ridden longer than I intended. Two things I wanted to make time for fit together nicely. I appreciate that kind of cooperation from my schedule.

I am also trying to get more comfortable with letting projects wait.

The quilt can still be there next weekend. An idea for the website can stay an idea for a while. Taking a few days away from a manuscript does not erase the work I have already done. I know all of this. Remembering it when I want to do everything is another matter.

Some days, school gets most of my energy. Other days, I have enough left to write, cook something good, or spread fabric across the table and figure out what comes next. Some evenings are for football or family. Others, I am happy to sit with Len and read.

I am beginning to think balance has to leave room for those differences. I cannot give every part of my life equal attention every day. I can keep paying attention to where my time is going and whether I am making room for the things and people I care about.

I will probably always have more ideas than available hours. There will be another book I want to write, another quilt I want to make, and another stretch of road I want to photograph.

For now, I am working on enjoying what I am doing without mentally assigning myself three more jobs before I finish.

And occasionally going to bed on time.