Swamped

I usually work from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. before I go to bed, and split the time between work and quilting. Work comes first, of course, and once I reach my quota I feel okay to play. About an hour before I go to sleep I try to mentally prepare for bed by clearing my thoughts. A busy mind makes falling asleep more difficult, and I always need more headspace before I can settle down.

Lately it's been tough to do that. Professionally and financially things are shifting again. My last project is proving to be quite successful, which is great but more pressure, too. I'm reaching the end of my first phase of the current project, which I want to do as well or better. That corner of my head is constant thinking and rethinking different aspects of the work. Meanwhile, I'm trying to stretch our budget to deal with the rising prices at the market every week. If they go much higher I'll have to find a cheaper place to shop, or shop at a bunch of different places to find prices we can afford. In March I have to do the taxes, which will add even more stress.

Personally I have similar worries. My guy has been having minor surgery, and now it looks like he needs a bigger surgery for an ongoing issue, so I'm worried about him. I'm almost finished hand-quilting the koi project, and still not sure how I'm going to embroider the center panel. I want to be bold, but I don't want to ruin the quilt after doing so much work on it. I want to blog every day, and try to post something new on Twitter every week, so I'm also thinking about my social media. Am I interesting enough? Should I even be worried about that? I answered a friend's e-mail four days late last night because I haven't been keeping up with my pals, either.

Basically I'm swamped. There just doesn't seem to be enough time anymore to do everything I want and deal with everything I must. Which means I need to simplify and clear out my head and deal with one thing at a time -- and focus just on that one thing. That's the only way I can drain the swamp and get back on steadier ground.