Thinkin outloud

I've been doing some thinking about where I am in my life and what direction I want or need to go in, in the future. The question of what is more important, the here and now or the future has been bugging me for several days now. Do you think it's more important to enjoy life and do what you want to in the here and now even if that means not being sure of a secure future, or denying yourself things you want now to hopefully secure a better future?

I've been living a mildly hedonistic life since I've been working but that is most likely going to come to an end here soon. I've been able to spend a little money on some things that I needed and wanted and have some fun. With assured employment coming to an end soon I need to pull my head out of the clouds and get down to finding work again. I've been out of the design industry for what seems like so long now, I'm worried I will either lose the skills or be surpassed by college students that have learned all of the up and coming computer programs that I don't know how to use. So here is where my conundrum starts. Do I give up working on the creative things I love so much, like the quilting, and sewing and decorating my apartment for the seemingly boring task of teaching myself a computer program that I really should learn to use? I need to stay current with the design trends and the industry of green I want to break into. I've gotten away from all of that and got used to a life of doing what I want to.

This is where the question of time comes in. While I'm working there just isn't enough time in a day to do all of the things I need to and want to. I need to get my priorities straight. What is more important right now?  So yesterday when I was on my way back from my parents and stuck in traffic I started making a list of the things that are important to me right now that I want to achieve in the next (?) months. I haven't put a timeline to it yet.
So here is the list.... in no particular order.

1. Wash my face, brush my teeth and floss every night. 
Yes, I am admitting to the public that I don't do this every night. Sometimes I fall asleep on the couch or with a book and I'm so sleepy I just get up and go to bed.

2. When I eat meat, eat more sustainably, this includes turkey and bison. I also want to try to eat more in season and locally. 
This may mean spending more money or eating less meat, I haven't figured this one out yet. I just know it's important to me.

3. Exercise three days a week.
I already get to the gym twice a week, I just need to figure out how to fit in the third day of exercise.

4. Finish the quilt I just started last week

*5. Find a permanent job.
This one is a doozy and obviously one of the most important. And it has subcategories...

•     Attend more networking events and events where I gain knowlege about my profession.
•     Maintain and improve my technical skill level and level of expertise in my field. This means learing a new computer program or two.
  

*6. Meet a man and begin a relationship, or at least start dating more.
This one is important to me, and for some reason it's a lot of work and seems to suck up a lot of time. Oh, and I'm not sure how to go about it either.

7. Better my posture

8. Read more

9. Spend more time enjoying nature


Now, I've become pretty settled in my weekly routine, I'm definitely a creature of habit and I need some stability of schedule.  To achieve some or all of these items is no ordinary task and I'm going to have to mix things up a bit. Some may say I've bitten off more than I can chew but these are the things I came up with. Obvisouly some are more important than others and some are more easily achieved.

Achieving these things is going to take some sacrifice, I'm going to have to give up other things to achieve these goals. One I can think of right away is less TV. I don't actually have a huge number of TV shows that I really like that are worth watching. I can probably narrow my TV time down to about 5 hours a week, and that includes being able to watch things online rather than at the standard time when they are on TV. I'm a TV person so this might be easier said than done.

Another thing I can think of is just keeping my house neater and cleaner all the time. That way when the weekend roles around I'm not spending all day cleaning and straightening things up. I wish I could hire a housekeeper but that just isn't in the cards right now.

The last timesaver I thought of is that I could go straight to the gym from work without coming home in between. My evening would be freed up a little bit more if I do this.

Now, if I can stick to my guns and try to work on these things I think things will be better. I'm not sure how to get started other than little steps. Some things may fall by the wayside so I have more time to achieve the bigger more important goals, who knows. We'll see how it goes.

If you are an expert on any of these things, I'd love some input. Oh, and if you know how to increase my energy level that would be great too! You can make comments or email me if you have my email address.

Why am I putting this out there for the whole world to see? I guess it holds me accountable. If I just make a list for myself it would be too easy to lose it or forget about it.