By Anna Keller

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the all things I enjoy and how many of them just don’t fit into my life at the moment. At first, I gave myself a hard time about that, challenging myself to find time to squeeze everything in, but after a while I stepped back to survey the landscape and landed here:

It’s okay to have a “not right now” bucket.

After all, there’s no way to make everything fit if it’s going to fit well. And there’s no point in making everything fit if it’s at the expense of my health or happiness or ability to be present. And here’s the thing: Just because I’m not actively participating in something right now doesn’t mean a) I don’t still love it, b) it’s not still important to me, or c) it’s not something I can focus on again later.

So it’s helped me to think of this as almost a physical bucket that I allow myself to put things in. I can pick them up out of the bucket again — maybe next week, maybe a couple of years from now — but right now they’re safe and sound waiting for me.

This isn’t to say I’m not still busy. I’m still probably TOO busy, but it feels more manageable now that I’ve allowed myself this distinction. These days, the majority of my time is spent:

• with Kevin and Maggie (mostly at home, as we’re still enjoying getting settled into our new house)
• at work
• at Pure Barre (teaching or taking)
• working on Beautycounter (this doesn’t feel like work, but DOES take up my time, which I’m happy to spend growing my business)
• freelance writing (this both keeps my writing “muscles” strong and brings in some extra income)

So what all is in my “not right now” bucket? The list includes:

• Blogging. I kind of hate that this one’s in the bucket for now, but if I’m being honest with myself I know it is. I’ve been feeling kind of uninspired on the writing front lately and, more than anything, like it’s something I can push away for now and that’s okay. I know I’ll be popping in to post again more over the coming weeks (there tends to be lots of ebb and flow when it comes to motivation behind my blog), but for now into the bucket it goes. Also, when I started my blog back in 2011 I promised myself it would always be a FUN thing in my life versus one more thing on the must-do list. I’ve tried to remain true to that.
• Podcasting. See explanation above! 🙂
• Spending lots of time with friends. This one’s tough, because there are so many people I don’t get to see these days who I miss a lot. Although I’m still able to squeeze in lunch dates every so often, and Kevin and I love seeing friends at dinners and other get-togethers some weekends, most of my people-filled free time goes to Kevin and Maggie at this stage.
• Reading. Goodness, the days when I used to curl up with a book and just devour it over the course of a few hours seem like a lifetime ago. I still always have a book I’m slowly making my way through, but I’ve tried to remove any pressure to read a certain amount right now. It just doesn’t fit, so into the bucket it goes.
• Baking. If you’ve known me for a while or if you’ve been reading this blog for several years, you know I love to bake! It’s served as a stress reliever in many stages of my life, and has always been something that’s brought me joy. But I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve baked this year so far (probably in the past two years, even)! It’s okay — it’s waiting for me when I’m able to come back to it.
• Travel. Kevin and I love exploring new places together, and while we have a handful of trips coming up, most of them are short weekend-long events. That’s not to say they won’t be full of fun, but they aren’t true vacations.

It helps me to acknowledge each of these things and feel like I’m actually placing them to the side — using lots of care and making sure I know just where I’ve put them so I can easily find them again later.

What about you? Do you have a “not right now” bucket for the phase of life you’re in? What’s in yours bucket, if so?

Anna Keller is a wife, mama, marketer, blogger, Pure Barre teacher, freelance writer, and Beautycounter consultant. (She wears lots of hats, but the theme of connection is what links all these roles together for her.) Anna is an Atlanta native, but she and her husband, Kevin, moved to the Triad in 2011 and haven’t looked back. They love being part of this community, and are so thankful to be able to raise their daughter, Maggie, here. She has recently joined the TMoM team as a blogger, and you can see other blogs she has written for TMoM here. Follow along with Anna on her personal blog — curiouser-and-curiouser.com — or via social media. She’s on Instagram at @curiouserandcuriouserblog, or you can connect with her on Facebook at facebook/com/curiouserandcuriouserblog. 

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