The next chapter

This week has been my final week of maternity leave, and seriously, where did those months go? What's more, how did my little girl get so big so quickly? Parents tell you how quickly things change, but until you see it for yourself you cannot comprehend how quickly your little person becomes equipped with the strength and skills they need. It's sad too because we all want our babies to need us forever. Thank goodness, little miss is young enough to need me for a hell of a lot longer yet.

The week didn't get off to the best start. I had a wisdom tooth extracted so, cue a day spent enjoying snuggles and soup. I've never had a tooth removed before and it wasn't as bad as I expected. Then colds did the circuit too with even little Miss getting it, so there wasn't really much we could do this week.

I can't complain, I've had the most wonderful summer with my family. Even the weather got the memo with weeks of glorious sunshine to walk my cherub out in. It's been perfect.

Despite wanting to make the most of this week, it's been difficult for my natural planning instincts not to take over and for me to start thinking of my return to work. I even did a dry run on my morning makeup routine to make sure it took me less than 10 minutes (it took 7).  I have enjoyed my last few lazy mornings though. 

October brings with it new challenges, and a new routine and the vital thing will be to make time for the important things. Here's to autumn...

Taking Back Control: Social Media

One of my favourite bloggers, Shannon Ables, recently discussed on her podcast, ways to simplify your life. The idea being that you can free up more time to do things which are actually important to you like spending quality time with family and friends or blazing through your knitting pile, or books to read pile.

Whilst all of the suggestions weren't necessarily ones that I wanted to adopt, I was keen on imposing some sort of restriction on my Social Media time. I'm sure I'm not the worst person out there, but, I do have a weakness for Instagram. I can quite easily lose track of time as I scroll through, which would be fine if I were actively choosing to do that. I don't though, it's a passive decision that then leaves me resentful at the time I've lost when I could have been doing something more productive, like writing this blog post. 

That's just the thing though, this shouldn't be a passive decision, time is too valuable a commodity to let it passively flitter by. 

This past week I set a notification on my phone. At 8pm there's no more social media for me! The surprising thing is that, while I sit there playing and laughing with my daughter, or knitting away happily, I'm not missing my time on social media at all. What's more, I'm spending less time on it even before 8pm, just dipping in and out. I find myself more present and more cognisant of when I am on it. 

The restriction was supposed to start as a 1 month trial, but 1 week in and I am already reaping the benefits of more time to do the things that bring me joy. I can't see myself going back. 

Social media is a fun place to visit, bit we must be the ones in control of how and when we spend our time on it. 

What are your thoughts on social media? Do you love it or loathe it? Do you control it or does it control you? Let me know in the comments.