Finish what you start!

We often feel that we have too much on our plate, or that our brain simply can not hold any more.  Well, how much of that are we doing to ourselves unknowingly?

How many books are you currently reading?  Are there numerous bottles of shampoo or other bath products in your shower?  How many boxes of cereal do you choose between in your pantry every morning?  How many options do you give your children for meals or wardrobe selections?

The old saying is still a good one and certainly applies in this modern day and age, "Finish what you start!"

In this crazy world of noise and pressure, and always being on the go, DO NOT add to it unnecessarily!  Finish what you start, and cut down on some of the clutter in your home (and in your brain)!

When Mom's Away...

I am having surgery, and spending one night in the hospital next week.  Recovery, I am being told, can be anywhere from 5 days to 6 weeks, WHAT!?!?!  Don't these people know that time frame is NO WHERE specific enough for me?  So, how do you prepare a family and a household for mom to be gone (or out of commission) for an undetermined amount of time?

I have a great husband who is an AMAZING father!  My girls really look forward to my Girls' Night Out times, it has become a special time with their dad, when they almost always eat beans and chips (why not, right?).

Many wives complain that their husband doesn't do enough around the house or with the kids.  Well, do you EXPECT them to, or LET them get involved?  Ladies, a 90% clean toilet done by hubby is WAY better than having to do every chore yourself!

Because my husband is well versed at cooking, homework, carpool, and chores, it allows me to concentrate more on my future recovery.  Some of the planning and scheduling elements are not his specialty, but I can do that ahead of time!

Not knowing how long I will be "out", I am planning on the entire month of October being a wash.  I have NOT planned anything extra, but I have a very specific calendar color coded and posted on the fridge for my man.  I have created a meal plan for the entire month, and have done all of the grocery shopping for those meals.  Milk, eggs, and produce should be the only things that he HAS to shop for.  Because he has had a lot of practice, I know that things will run smoothly in my "absence".

Time to prepare for the family to be fully functional even when mom is gone.  Even though it may not be exactly as you would do it, it will get done, and, it might even allow for a future girls trip!

Keep it in front of you!

Have you ever seen someone doing yard work in dress clothes, in the dark?  No?  Well, you haven't been in my neighborhood lately.  Yes, I have been known to do some tree trimming or weed pulling in heels and after sunset...why you ask?  Because that is when I thought about it!

Life is busy for everyone, and some times when I find a moment to squeeze an unexpected task in, I go for it.  Yes, that can lead to some strange timing, but, if it means that I was able to accomplish more than I thought that day, who cares?

I subscribe to the "do it when you think of it", and "keep it in front of your eyes" theories.  This may mean that I place an empty 2 liter bottle of my Diet Coke on my counter rather than the recycling when I am done with it.  This way it is visible and reminds me to put a new one in the fridge so I have cold soda ready for me when I want it. 

The next time you run out of shampoo, don't throw it away!  Keep it out until you remember to replace it with a new one, etc., etc. 

My husband has learned that I always do things for a reason, so he doesn't question me (as much) any more when he finds random things placed in strange areas of the house.  He knows that it was on purpose, to remind me to take care of something that I thought I would forget. 

Now, this does work, in large part, because I don't have a cluttered house.  If you have a lot out on counters already, this won't work as well for you!

Another "trick" that I use is my phone.  Have you ever been lying in bed and suddenly remembered a task or appointment for the next day?  Then, you find you can't sleep because you are trying to not forget it again?  Pick up the phone, put it in your calendar, with an alarm reminder, and get some sleep!

By keeping things in front of your eyes and doing them when you think of it, you may find yourself catching up on more of those, "I've been meaning too..." items.

It's all TOO much!!!

Overwhelmed, stressed out, confused, worried... do any of these words fit how you feel about housework, projects, errands, or organizing?  I find that by the time people contact me for help or direction, they easily fit into at least one of these categories.  Isn't it frustrating to feel immobilized by areas of our life that then lead to no progress, and the situation worsening?

My feeling is that doing ANYTHING is better than nothing.  I worked with a darling family at the beginning of the Summer.  They have three sweet daughters who had circumstances in their lives that led to understandable leniency from their parents in such things as keeping their rooms tidy and pushing them to get rid of things that were no longer being used.  Eventually it piled up.

With a family members help, and minimal direction from me, they were able to tackle their rooms.  If I recall, it took about 6 hours to complete, but their response was wonderful!  They were imagining that it would take the entire Summer to accomplish a task that actually took less than one day. 

Don't we all do this to ourselves?  We see and think the worst of things until it has paralyzed our progress.  RARELY is it as bad as we think.

This month, find an area that seems like "too much", and just start digging in.  One closet, one drawer, one bag of useless items in the trash, it is all a step forward, and certainly better than no progress at all.  Be kind to yourself, and celebrate any progress toward your goals!

Remember how to say NO!!!

What is it about this little word?  "No", is one of the first words that we learn as a child, and it is also one of the first words that we are taught to stop staying.

We come into this world with basic instincts, they are there to protect us and insure our survival.  A little child has no issues with telling you if they are okay with something or not.  They easily come right out and tell you to back off and give them the space that they need. 

Somewhere this "ability" becomes slowly trained out of us, until we agree to almost anything asked of us.  Oh sure, we are past the age of  "peer pressure" in the traditional sense.    There are however many places that we feel pressured in our lives and should be saying "no".

"Can we have my co-workers over for a BBQ this weekend?", "Mom I would like to start taking karate!", "Would you like to start a weekly play date group?", and it goes on and on.  None of these requests are bad things at all, but some times they can be the straw that breaks the camels back to a household already hanging by a thread.

I really enjoy being involved in my community, neighborhood, church, and extended family events, but I do not attend, help, or run all of them.  I try very hard to not overfill my schedule, or my family's.  Sometimes saying no can feel like the hardest thing in the world, but often times too many "yes" answers can exhaust us and leave us little energy for ourselves.

This issue seems to be one of the top two problems that people have who come to me for advice on clearing the clutter from their lives.  Why is it that we feel the need to justify ourselves and our schedules to others?  Simply saying "I am sorry, my schedule is too full right now.", can make a big enough statement to give us the space that we need.  It doesn't mean that we need to have a previous engagement at the exact time that we are being asked to "donate" ourselves.  Some times having too many things in the day or the week, is too much.  Don't we all need a down day?

Since this month we are working on things that we have been meaning to get to, try one that we all could use some improvement on.  Start saying "NO"!