My personal five

I've neglected my blog since Thanksgiving. So sorry! But today I'm imbued with the spirit of the New Year, and have decided to blog out my thoughts.
My entire family rang in the New Year with disgusting cases of the flu. Woot!
So we've all been sitting around, phlegmming, with plenty of time on our hands. And tissues on the floor.
And DayQuil in our guts. And germs everywhere. Stay away!
We've watched movies, played video games, read books, neglected housework, and snarled at each other for next to no reason at all.
Ah, family!
It's allowed me a lot of time for thought.
And here is what I've been thinking about: Getting back to my Daily Five.
My Daily Five is a philosophy I came up with a few years ago, and haven't been following much lately. The idea is that each day I must do something, no matter how small, to address each of five important areas of my life. These include: SELF; WORK; HOME; FAMILY; and FINANCES.
Under "SELF" comes physical health, spirituality, emotional well-being, romance life, self-improvement of any kind and education. Whatever I might deem just for me, or a bit selfish -- which I feel we all deserve.
Under "WORK" comes my professional life. The job I have and how I can do it better; future career plans; possibly continuing or advancing education; training I'd like to get; and in my case, writing on the side for fun or for pay.
Under "HOME" comes my physical living situation. This includes maintenance, cleaning, decorating, de-cluttering, and anything else that might come under the roof -- pun intended -- of my house.
Under "FAMILY" comes all I consider my own. This includes my children, their children, their spouses, my siblings, their spouses and children, my dad, my extended family, and my friends. How can I improve and maintain these relationships? Relationships I can't live without...and which must be nurtured regularly to flourish.
Finally, under "FINANCES" come all the areas pertaining to how the heck I plan to pay for all the rest, in perpetuity. This crosses over into "Job," and "Home," when you consider that I'd like to own my own again someday. Also, I'm over 50, so I have to wonder how and when I'll be able to retire. (Never?)
So how, on a daily basis, can I make "progress" on any or all of these areas?
Easy! Here's an example of a typical day in my life.
6:30 a.m. Rise and shine. Stumble into kitchen. Make coffee. Outen dog, feed dog and cats. Drink coffee. Read.
7:00 a.m. Nag kids out of bed.
7:30 a.m. Drive my son to school. Come home. Shower. Dress. Head to work.
9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Work. Deal with all aspects of work, as well as with family appointments such as doc, dentist, hair, etc. as possible and necessary from phone.
5 p.m. head home.
5:30 p.m. Grocery shopping once a week...a labor of love! Once home, outen dog, feed dog and cats, feed family.
6 p.m. several nights a week: Coffee with friends. (free group therapy!)
7 p.m. several nights a week several months a year: Play practice. Maybe with assorted of my kids. This is play time for us, and serves as a great emotional outlet, as well as being good physical exercise if dancing is involved. (laugh it up...I lost 15 pounds during my last play!)
9 p.m. Time to go home and relax, read, help with homework, watch a movie with kids, maybe do a household chore or two. Write if I'm working on something personal.
11:30 p.m. Bed. Sweet dreams!
House cleaning is a group effort, done every Sunday. Daily tasks such as dishes and laundry are seen to by all, and resented by all!  But they get done eventually.
So where, in that long day, can I fit my five? The answer is, everywhere!
I'll use today, a Sunday, as an example of seeing to my five.
I've had the flu for days, so I've neglected pretty much everything. This morning I got up feeling a bit better, so I took a shower, washed my face and gathered my laundry. I picked up dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen. I cared for the animals as usual..they don't want to hear about us being sick. Then I sat down with my coffee and a good book, and vegged.
Later in the day, I dealt with the matter of switching my insurance to USAA, an excellent company I'm eligible for because my dad is a Marine. This move saved me quite a bit annually. (This is not a sponsored commercial, unfortunately!)
Then I made a simple -- and I mean simple! -- meal for all the sicko kiddos, and decided to sit down and write this blog.
Note: Most Sundays I'd have gone to church (flu!) which would count toward my spiritual health, under the SELF heading.
So it's not yet 4 p.m., and I've done positive things for SELF (showering, gathering laundry, drinking coffee and enjoying book), HOME (gathering laundry, picking up dishes), FAMILY (making a meal, picking up dishes, gathering laundry and chatting with my siblings via text, which I hadn't mentioned previously), FINANCES (switching my insurance and saving money). The only area I haven't addressed today is work, but I'm on call at the paper if they need me, and after all, it is Sunday. Plus, I believe this idea could be worked into a sweet column, so there's WORK!
You see that the things I do for my five aren't big and dramatic? Well, the insurance switch was, but that's unusual. You also see how many of the areas cross over into each other. This is natural, as we don't live in a vacuum, and my five would also cross into the fives of people around me if they were playing this same game.
It's easy, and it makes me feel good at the end of the day.
So think about taking up your own personal five, and let me know how it goes for you.
By the way, your five areas may  not be the same as mine. Just pick the five areas of your life that seem the most important to you. And five is enough, by the way. Don't go nuts. You're more likely to succeed if you keep it manageable.
One, two, three, four, five . . . start!