Redefine and prioritize :: Redefinir e priorizar

As you probably know, I am a marine biologist working as a post-doctoral fellow at a portuguese university. This means that I have studied all my life, culminating last November, when I finished my PhD in marine ecology (just in case you're interested in learning more about my professional background, you can check my website).

Throughout my childhood and teen years, I always wanted to become a scientist -  and I did. I love my job and I wouldn't trade it for any other!

But my life does not spin around science, and I've always been involved in other activities, mostly sports and music (piano). About a year and a half ago, I discovered the amazing world of sewing and crafts. I fell in love with it and through many wonderful, inspiring blogs, I got myself really interested not only in living a handmade life, but I also realised how much I love interior decorating and photography. I opened my own Etsy shop with my sewn goodies and I have now this fantastic part-time activity - crafter.

In addition, I am a mother of two boys and a wife (well, it's a common-law marriage to be correct). I take care of my home and family, go to the gym, play the piano, have a full-time, demanding job, and I craft whenever I can - just because I like it and it makes me feel more fulfilled and plain happy. I'm obviously not in crafting for the money - as I said, I have a (payed) full time job that I love.

That being said, sometimes I regret not having enough time to craft more, to blog more, to take more pictures, to read more blogs, to learn more things other than phytoplankton ecology and ecophysiology (my research area)...

I want and try to do everything, but there are only 24 hours in the day and I do need to sleep at least 7 (how I envy those people who sleep only 3...). Many times I feel so overwhelmed with work and with all the other things going on in my life and I get easily frustrated for not being able to accomplish everything...

When that happens, I need to take a step back and stop, breathe, rest, stay at home for a day or two. I did it this week. I enjoyed my living room, the (hot) sun, and many, many cups of red tea. And then I'm again ready to redefine my goals and prioritize my actions and projects (now this looks like GTD talk - but, you know, I'm a GTD fan!).

So, enough with the smalltalk and let's get started with my priorities:

1. Family - no explanations needed, right?

2. Work - I just love it and it comes with a paycheck. However, we are constanlty being evaluated and it is not a permanent position, so I must work really hard to get there someday...

3. Gym - I just need it to feel healthy and full of energy.

4. Home renovations - when I finished the PhD, I started thinking about redecorating my home. It's a demanding project, though. A living-room, kitchen, office, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, three balconies, entryhall and corridor. This is one thing I'm going to share here in the blog, so stay tuned!

5. Piano - I love to play... and apparently my neighbours like to hear me playing, they say...

6. Crafting, blogging, photography - well, there's a lot to be said about this:

Crafting

Now I handmake everything I can for me, the kids, and my home. I love making bags, but I can not keep them all, so I sell them to friends, colleagues and on Etsy. It is not a means to make money, but to make someone else happy with a product that gave me so much pleasure to create.

Blogging

I learned everything I know about sewing on other blogs. So it is just fair that I give back something to the blogosphere. Besides, I love to write (although I'm more used to writing scientific articles, as you can see on my website) and to share my life with you - the same way I love reading about other people lives and be inspired by them.

Photography

I'm finding myself more and more into photography. I know very little about it, but I'm eager to learn (I always shoot in manual mode, though). Anyway, for me a blog post must always have two things: text and photos. So I hope to develop my photography skills in the future.

So, I guess these are my main activities and my priorities. Now the hard part is finding the right balance. More on that in a future post. 

Happy week, everyone!

(tradução para português em breve - é um post longo, desculpem, queridas leitoras portuguesas!)