Planned Neglect

Came across this via the Action for Happiness FaceBook status / page:
http://ranchobernardo.patch.com/articles/five-ways-to-stay-present-and-appreciate-your-kids and I have reprinted the article by Abi Cotler O'Roarty on my other blog at: http://grumpymumtobe.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/5-ways-to-stay-present-and-appreciate.html

However, the article mentions Planned Neglect: I once asked an octogenarian artist Abi Cotler O'Roarty says, how he managed to produce so much art over the years. He told me about something he called “planned neglect.” He said that he had to force himself to ignore some of the household chores that needed to get done every single day in order to prioritize his art. All these years later, nothing bad has happened to him as a result of letting laundry and dishes pile — and the work he had to show for this seemed stunningly fulfilling.

As a stay-at-home mom (the article goes onto say) I find one of the biggest challenges to staying present with my kids are of the demands of the home. But lately I’ve been trying to lower the standard of what I need to have done each day in order to feel that I’m taking care of my home. Sometimes breakfast dishes don’t get done until I am cooking dinner. Sometimes the house is not all the way picked up at the end of the day. Becoming more relaxed about domesticity has really helped me not feel like I need to constantly pull away from the present moment, whatever it holds.

I think Planned Neglect is something; that as a writer and a mother, I could really get used to!!