I should write about our Ireland trip, but I don’t want to think that hard, so I’ll use the captive audience to talk about what’s been on my mind and heart for the last year or so. I find nobody much wants to hear me talk about how I’m working on organizing house and home as much as I have need to talk about it, so with baby in bed and husband out and about, I’ll have some quality time with the keyboard.
I’d love to write about all the things that I’ve discovered and am tweaking to serve my family, like GTD (Getting Things Done), the Tickler, Swish and Swipe (thanks to the Fly Lady) and more, but that would take too much energy, too. I had a somewhat “blah” day. You know, one of those days where you don’t feel like doing much of anything and things only get done that are automatic or unavoidable and you end up spending a good deal of time in quadrant four (unimportant and non-urgent) activities. A few years ago a day like that would have meant candy wrappers and dishes scattered on my desk, stuff spread all over my room, me stuck to the computer doing random things procrastinating going to bed because that would mean facing the consequences of wasting the day away: seeing the next day’s list of engagements and realizing that I’m unprepared for them all. Whether or not it would have been possible to prepare for all of them if I’d used the time well is irrelevant to the guilty conscience. I’m unprepared and IT’S ALL MY FAULT!
Thankfully, it’d not like that tonight. Amazingly, it’s not like that tonight. Praise the Lord it’s not like that tonight! The floors are swept, the dishes are done, the bathroom is clean, things are picked up and put away (okay, my desk is a little messy . . .), tomorrow is planned and I’m writing a blog post because I have a little card that lets me know I didn’t write on this week yet. All that happened on automatic pilot even though I had a “blah” day. I hardly had days like that a few years ago even when I was in a good mood!
But before this gets to be a long boring post, the most amazing part about today is that I made two phone calls and ran an errand that I’d been procrastinating on for one week, two months, and several months respectively. That would be impressive on a good day, but on a “blah” day? It only happened thanks to a tip about gambling. I’ve started keeping a die on my desk and a slip of paper labeled one through six. I write three things I’ve been procrastinating on and three things I like to do. Each day, or several times a day I commit to spending 15 minutes on whatever the die tells me to do. Not only have I started reading for pleasure again, but when the one finally came up today, I picked up the phone without letting myself think. Two phone calls and less than 15 minutes later (including interruptions from Joseph) my “Calls” list was empty! That’s quite a picker-upper for a “blah” day.
The errand got done thanks to a more old-fashioned reminder system: a kick in the pants from my husband. “Take Joseph, go for a walk, and visit the glasses shop.” I did. I walked in and they gave me an exam right then. That’s good because tonight my glasses finally buckled under Joseph’s loving (okay, so I sat on them a few times, too). Normally that would have been the frustrating kick-in-the-pants to finally get new glasses and it would have become an emergency, but this time it made me laugh. I’d already planned to go pick out frames with Stephan tomorrow!
Fine. It wasn’t short. That’s why I normally set the timer and don’t let myself go longer than 15 minutes!!!! And no, my taxes aren’t done yet, but we have an extra two months as overseas citizens . . .
We have an extra three days here, because today is some holiday that's only celebrated in Washington, D.C., but guess where the IRS is? Not that it helps us any, because Dad's overseas work meant he was forced to have our taxes done by someone else. The company pays for it, but it means they'll file an extension and who knows when the taxes will get done, and last time this happened the preparers made a bunch of mistakes, which if it happens again means having to file an amended return.... Fun. I like it better when it's all done in February.
And who says nobody wants to hear about your organizational efforts? Chopped Liver here, your #1 blog fan—not to mention the webmaster who deleted the nasty spam for you that was all in French and I had to read it carefully because it was written well enough that I had to be sure it was spam, and I don't skim French very well—anyway, as I was saying, I want to hear as much about your organizational adventures as you have time and inclination to tell! And probably more.
So thanks for the post! And CONGRATULATIONS!
Great blog post! I can totally relate to those "blah" days and I like the method you used to get things done that you would otherwise keep putting off.
Like your mom, I also like to read about your organizational tips. I just procrastinate putting them into place. Time to get the die out.
Glad you both can get something out of them. Thanks for the positive comments! One problem I have in expressing myself is that there are so many physical and mental benefits and changes that I feel that whatever I say won't be enough so I just keep on going. One other reason why I like the die roll is that if a favorable number comes up I get to procrastinate on the yucky things AND enjoy 15 minutes of something fun completely guilt free. Of course you can't put items that are time-critical on your die-roll list, but you know statistically you won't be able to procrastinate for ever . . .
I like reading it, too. So great to have so much done on a blah day!
(1) Where did you get the die roll idea?
(2) Tell us more about what you think of Fly Lady. I remember you saying you had signed up because it looked good but were immediately disappointed. I gather she's done something to improve your opinion.
I enjoyed catching up on your blog tonight! And I am very interested in hearing about organisational stuff!!
Re: Sursum Corda questions.
(1) Fly Lady sends lots of emails and I skim or don't read most of them, but I happened to read a testimonial from one lady who loves to gamble and shared a similar die roll technique.
(2) Fly Lady has much in common with GTD. I got the most helpful ideas in reading about them and once I dove more deeply the returns weren't as impressive. Maybe I came across them at the right time and so certain ideas really took root. I'd like to write more about what Fly Lady has taught me at some point when it's more integrated into my life. What GTD and Fly Lady have in common is that they make you think about how to set yourself up to win and make it easy for you later on. Since mostly I've been a "just get motivated" kind of person, it's been a fun challenge analyzing failures with an eye for making it easier for my lazy self to succeed the next time 'round.
Regarding the topic of organization in general, I'm touched that people are so interested. I'd be happy to talk about it any time, but it's one of those subjects where I don't know when is time to put the breaks on. So when you've heard enough just say so. I'll stop, but I'll be ready to go again next time you ask!
