Finding time for it all

This past week, the weather has been gorgeous, with the dramatic exception of Wednesday: We went from 50 or 60 degrees on Tuesday, to 30 and several inches of snow on Wednesday morning, and back up to 60 degrees on Thursday.  I found some extra time and managed to get out to the barn Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to enjoy the weather.

Unfortunately, the end result is that this week has been busy and stressful on both ends with lots of exhausting fun sandwiched in the middle.

I started off the week finishing up the previous week's work, as I'd gotten a bit behind.  As a result I shorted myself on sleep several nights in a row, and was saved only by the kid I take to preschool staying home sick on Thursday, relieving me of having to work.  I went back to bed the minute I heard the news, of course.

Then of course there was the weather, which caused me to binge-ride my horses three days in a row, Thursday through Saturday.  I was tempted to ride again today, in fact I even went to the barn to meet a friend, but I decided not to ride because I was still so sore and tired (both physically and mentally) from riding and my week overall.  Plus, I realized I had a ton of work to do tonight, stuff from Thursday and Friday that I'd put off to make time for riding.

I have been really happy to spend so much time at the barn, and I have not been making nearly enough time for riding over the last few months (or, if I'm completely honest, over the last year).  However, my binge-riding this week has also demonstrated how I need to make sure to balance riding with everything else I need to do in my life.  I have hope that I can continue to ride a few days a week while still maintaining everything else -- and honestly, it'll probably be easier to keep up on my work at the same time when I'm not playing catch-up from the previous week -- but it's my goal over the next few weeks to see if I can find time for it all.

How about you?  What hobbies do you try to find time for, and how successful are you?  I know this is something many freelancers struggle with, because it's so easy to fill up all our time with work when there's all that work waiting to be done!