So today I finally cleared something huge off my plate. We home school with a public charter school and the maddening year that I had gave us a bit of a backlog getting assignments for my two girls uploaded. Well... after 3 days of battles with my scanner to the detriment of all else (including my house), the scans are complete and my girls will start the new year FRESH!
I honestly feel like a weight has been lifted. Despite everything going on these past months that have prevented me from really buckling down and getting that done... the biggest obstacle was myself! Too bad I carried this weight around for so long!
I kept telling myself that I didn't have the time that day to fight with the scanner or get to those uploads. Sure, I really did have a ton going on....but I could have done ONE page even. Had I done even one page a day I could have gotten over half of my work completed just one page at a time.
Instead I let it pile up. Mostly due to a MIND game.
Isn't that the truth though? We kid ourselves about how long something really takes. I don't know about you, but I had nearly perfected the art of procrastination. I let dishes pile up because "I don't have time to unload the dishwasher". Let's be honest though... it takes like 3 or 4 minutes! So unload the darn thing so you can put the dirties straight in and save yourself the step. I let the junk mail pile up because I didn't have time to purge it.... well now I just open the mail over the trash can. I let the laundry baskets pile up in my room because I don't have time to put them away. Well now I sort them into baskets as I go according to who they belong to (I buy those cheap small round ones from sterilite for like $3 a piece that stack really well when not in use) and pawn them off on their owners. If their owners are too small, then I do them one at a time in 5 minute bursts.
Little changes can save you time, and a lot of the rest of it can be fixed by just being honest with yourself about how long something really does take.... or in recognizing that little 5 minute chunks taken out of a bigger job really DO add up!
Flylady tells us "I can do anything for 15 minutes!" That little motto there has been a BIG help in breaking my around the house habits that have interfered with cultivating a more organized home. She tells us to take a job that we don't care for or are having a hard time getting started on and set a timer for 15 minutes. It really helps to know that you only have to work for that 15 minutes and to challenge yourself to get as much done as possible.
So get that timer out! Take something from your list of things that are bothering you the most that we created and make a dent in it somehow, if only for 15 minutes. Let me know how you do!
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