I am back in the office today after the holiday and, as usual after a break, after a couple of hours it feels as though I have never been away!  I tidied my desk before I left on Christmas Eve, no mean feat given the amount of paperwork that had landed on it during the previous few days, but I knew how good I would feel when I unlocked my door and saw the vast expanse of mellow, polished wood, bare except for my pc, filing trays, pen holders and telephone.  And I did! I also patted myself on the back for getting the Christmas present buying and wrapping all done and dusted with seven shopping days to spare! 

This is so unlike me.  I accepted years ago that I am one of those “last minuters”, one of the group of people who make organised folk hold up their hands in horror.  I could have a mountain of work to do or very little and either way, it will be finished with about five minutes to spare – there is always something else that needs doing, that seems more interesting.

I have been trying hard to understand why I changed, why my Christmas was more organised this year and why I was so determined to have a clear desk on my return to work.

I know I have driven my family mad on occasions, such as we are about to embark on a holiday and I have to go back because I have forgotten to pack something – toothbrushes usually.  Why was I not more organised? (Duet from husband and father here)  Of course I always resolved to change, but sadly it never happened. I always seemed to have so much to do though it all got done in the end.

My sister sent me a book recently, all about making more time for yourself. I read it and, as with most books of this type, thought how it would fit into my life.  I don’t come home from the office, after delegating goodness knows what, to goodness knows who, to find that the vegetables had been peeled and are waiting in water, or that a bath had been drawn and candles lit all around the sides!  But, the idea of more time for me, did stay with me longer than most.  Perhaps  my sub-conscious swung into action and, without realising why, I got the shopping out of the way, the house cleaned ready for guests and my office desk cleared for my return in the New Year.

Perhaps, also, I am my own worst enemy.  Maybe I have to accept that I can’t do everything,  that I am not Superwoman, but am instead a wife, mother and business woman who is just good enough!