Stop Procrastinating - Just Start

No, this is not a Nike commercial, but the message is the same (just do it). If you wait for everything to be just right, you will never start. Start!

I know, you are probably thinking, "That's easy for you to say," but it's not. This is something I am learning right now. If I want to change things in my life, I just need to start. This blog is about everything I am starting. I know that I need to accept that I might start the same thing more than once or I might start something and change my mind all together. All of that is ok. Each step I take will get me closer to my goals. I am going to focus on crossing the river one stepping stone at a time.

Let's do it!
1. Pick something you want to improve, start, or change in your life. 
Just pick something. Don't worry about being too narrow or too vague or using just the right "goal setting language." Choose something and write it down. I could make a VERY long list here, but a few of my biggies are:
-better time management so I can do what I need and still have time to do what I want
-better meal planning so I can manage my weight and improve my overall health
-better home organization strategies

2. Start! Take one small step.
I frequently find myself overwhelmed with all of the things I need/want to do. This includes the day to day items that involve managing my life, and the projects that I fear I will never start. I have decided to take things slow and focus on starting and making progress little by little. Here are some examples.

• I need to eat better. I have planned my next 2 meals and written them down. I have to write everything down because I tend to forget things. 
• I need to clean out my basement. For now, I have committed to filling 1 trash bag per week. I can do this while I am switching the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer.
• I need to develop evening routines to maintain a semi-neat home. I am focusing on getting everyone in my house to put all dirty dishes in the sink and all food items away each day. This includes myself. 
• I need to do SO many things to get my life "in order." I am writing down all of the things I want to work on so I will not lose track of them and I can develop plans little by little.
• I have wanted to start writing for a LONG time. I decided to choose one of my many topics and begin developing ideas (this blog is the result).

3. Celebrate your success and plan the next step.

I know this is two steps in one, but I need to do them at the same time. Knowing I have a plan for the next steps lets me relax and enjoy my accomplishments to date.

I love to use pictures to celebrate my successes and I love to post them on Facebook. This is my own way of patting myself on the back. Before and after pictures are also a great way to celebrate your success. Even if you only keep those photos in a folder on your computer, you can look at them and find inspiration to keep going. Don't ruin your celebration with "BUT" (sure I organized the bookshelf in the playroom BUT, the rest of the room is a mess). Just celebrate the victory. Let your next steps wait until the time is right. I know it is tempting to spend the entire day organizing the playroom after you clean off the bookshelf, but if you have other things to do, you need to walk away and come back later. Take a piece of paper and write down all of the ideas/thoughts that are going through your head, hang the paper on a wall or door near your project (on the door of the playroom) and walk away. If you put all of the next steps down on paper, you might drop into the playroom and knock off the things on your list in 10 minute bursts. Here are some of my next steps.

• Improved eating habits -planning an entire week of meals.
• Clean the basement - sweep the floor and make my laundry area better.
• Evening routines - work with the family to "schedule" our evening time.
• Getting my life "in order" - develop a time management system that works for me (in the research phase now).
• Writing - schedule time for writing and research, develop a plan for organizing ideas, research blog writing.

Is it working?

I have found that taking small steps is actually more effective. Not only am I able to get things done, but I am actually changing my behaviors. Let's look at the messy playroom as an example. In the past, I have had to take a day every few months and organize/clean the playroom. Once I am done, I wag my finger at my children and tell them to keep the room organized. As you can probably guess, the playroom does not stay organized. The last time I saw the need to organize the playroom, I only tackled one aspect. Barbies. I brought my daughters upstairs and we sorted, organized and tossed. We all worked on the system together so they are doing a better job of keeping the system going. Instead of saying, "Go clean the playroom," I give specific instructions. "Go pick up all of the barbies and blocks," or "Go spend 10 minutes picking up toys in the playroom," gets better results. Taking small steps is helping me with long term maintenance.

I know that there are more sophisticated was to set goals and motivate yourself, but don't worry about perfect...just start! Choose one thing and take one small step. What will you choose? What is your small step? Comment on this post and share what you are working on.

 

Laundry System Update

I have been working on much more than laundry lately, but I wanted to give an update on the new laundry system.

The new laundry system

It is Sunday and I have had the new system in place for a few days. I LOVE the new laundry sorting system. Before I started this system, I would let the laundry pile up in baskets until the weekend. The baskets were usually overflowing and I usually ended up with piles of dirty laundry on the floor near the overfull baskets. With this new system, the dirty laundry has a place to go and I am not the only person to take there. I have trained my entire family to use my new system for sorting laundry and I had my children sort their own dirty laundry for the first time ever (yes, my 5 1/2 yr old sorted her laundry).

Washing remains my job. My older daughter does know how to move a load from the washer to the dryer and start the dryer, but I rarely have her do that for me. I am a bit paranoid about accidentally putting something in the dryer that will shrink. I have done 2 loads during the work week and 3 loads this weekend. I did one load Saturday and 2 loads today. I do not put my clothes in the dryer, so I decided to wash the delicates on the weekend so I have time to hang them up. That means I will probably do 2 loads on the day I wash my clothes.

I took this picture today, and you can see that I could easily do a few more loads because I have 2 full baskets and 1 basket that is almost full. I will wash one of those tomorrow and one on Tuesday. I thought it would make me uncomfortable to leave these loads unwashed, but it is actually quite freeing. 

Sunday always comes too quickly and I do not ever have time to do everything that needs to be done. Today, my goal was to wash the delicates and get them hung on the line to dry. I did that. My children have clothes to wear to school tomorrow, we have towels, and we will get through tomorrow just fine. I was free to focus my energy on other things. Having a plan in place to get the laundry done means I no longer have to waste my mental energy on worrying about full baskets of dirty clothes.

I like this new system and I think I will stick with it. I still have not mastered getting the laundry folded and put away, but I will figure that out later. If you were to come to my house right now, you will find 4 laundry baskets full of clean clothes hidden in the office. My husband is in charge of putting away the laundry because I know I am not very good at that job. Perhaps I will tackle that problem at another time. For now, I am happy with the progress I have made.  Now I just have to bring this success to other areas of my life.

What makes you laundry system work? How are you managing this chore? Post a comment and tell us.

Managing Laundry - A New Laundry System

One change that I am trying to implement now is changing how I do my laundry. I currently do laundry on the weekend. We all gather up our laundry until Saturday morning and then I take it down to the basement to begin the sorting and washing. We are a family of 4. I generally have 5-6 loads to do a week. I don't consider the laundry to be a burden because I do not "do laundry" all day long. I run downstairs to put in loads and put things in the drier. Folding takes place at another time. I know this is not the best way to manage laundry, but it has been working. (sort of)

I would like to find more time to be with my family on the weekends and then actually find time to relax and do something for me. I am starting with the laundry. Here is the new plan.

• I will do one load per day. This includes washing and drying. It might include folding and putting away in the future, but I am not sure about that at this time. I am hoping to put some laundry away each night.

• The family will now bring laundry down to the basement (my laundry room) and sort it into the proper baskets.

•  There are now 6 laundry baskets spread out on the table by the washing machine. Each basket has a label inside of a plastic sleeve so everyone is clear about where to put their dirty laundry.

•  When a laundry basket is full, I will wash that load.

• The 6 baskets are for darks, lights, work clothes, towels, delicates, and assorted items.

The plan is to make laundry become something I do in my spare minutes. Today, I took the full basket from the hall down to the basement and sorted it while I was waiting for my coffee to brew.

About Me

I am not an expert at ANYTHING. I am just trying to figure out how to live my life the best way I can and I am going to share what I learn in this blog. I am a career woman with a family and I struggle to find balance in my life. I am not an expert in any of the things I am going to write about. I am simply sharing things that I find to be helpful. When reading this blog, please keep the following in mind:
1. This is not an expert's report but rather an explorer's journal. I consider myself to be on a journey that will never end.
2. When trying anything new, adapt it to meet your needs. I always implement new ideas on my own level.
3. Use the "shopping cart approach," take what you like and leave the rest. All of my ideas will not work for everyone (some will probably not even work for me).

Why am I writing this blog? Being a writer has always been a secret dream of mine. If I am ever going to realize that dream, I have to practice writing. I have wanted to start a blog for quite a while, but I never found the time. I have decided that it is time to make time. I always thought I would write a technology blog because I work with technology in my day job, but self-improvement is a passion of mine. I am always trying to learn new tips and tricks to help me find balance in my life, so I will be writing about the things I learn along the way.

Welcome to the Beginning

What is this blog about? A little bit of everything. I was inspired to start this blog by watching Clean House on the Style Network. This show and its amazing cast comes in to help a family that has mountains of clutter in their home. The homes that are cleaned up are usually unbelievably filled with clutter and filth. I enjoy watching Niecy Nash and her team turn a nightmare of a clutter into a nice organized space. This show is entertaining and motivates me to de-clutter, but I can only relate to very small parts of this show. I admit, cleaning and organizing is not always my first priority (for that matter, it isn't usually #2), but I would never qualify to be on one of these shows.

This got me thinking of all of the reality TV shows that are out there that set out to fix or highlight extreme situations. Most of us are not living in these types of extreme situations, but we can benefit from a little help here and there. This is what inspired me to start this blog. Stepping Stones refers to the fact that we could all live better lives if we had a little help along the way. Instead of trying to cross the river by wading through the water, we would be better off if we could cross on stepping stones.

My perfect reality show would be about regular families (I know...ho-hum). These families would agree to total disclosure of all of their personal information. Finances, family issues, eating habits, time management skills (or lack of), school situations with children, and all aspects of their lives would be open to inspection. In addition, cameras would be installed in all living areas of the house for observation over a period of time. After sufficient data was collected on the family, a team of experts would come in and conduct "mini lessons."

The team would identify the areas where the most help is needed, and educate the family. These pearls of wisdom are the "Stepping Stones" to a better life. It is my opinion, that most of us simply need some "Stepping Stones" to make significant improvements in our lives. These "Stepping Stones" are the bits of advice that we can apply to our lives in order to live a better quality of life.

While I do not have my own reality show, I do have this blog. I find this sort of fitting. Not everyone can have their own TV show, but anyone can have their own blog. Not everyone can/should be on The Biggest Looser, but everyone could benefit from some attention to their eating and exercise habits.

I welcome you to come on this journey with me. Together, we will cross the raging river, not by wading through the rushing water, but by using the "Stepping Stones."