First:
http://flylady.net/
Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate cleaning with a passion. But now I am inspired to get it done. One baby step at a time. The FlyLady says you can do anything for 15 minutes at a time. She also says that I am not lazy. Which is what I tell myself when I can't keep my house clean.
She says, "Your problem is that you don't know what to do first and when you decide on a course of action, you are continually spinning your wheels and unable to finish anything. By the end of the day you are exhausted, the house is trashed and you have accomplished nothing."
That is exactly my problem, I start something, see something else that needs doing (because I'm a multi-tasker) and start that,and so on. I don't get anything done, then feel as if there's no point because I like things done right and if it's not getting done right it might as well not get done at all.
FlyLady says to focus on one thing/room for 15 minutes a day. Eventually it will get done. She also says to focus on getting rid of clutter. Are the things we own blessing our house or just taking up space? We have so much crap around that doesn't need to be here. Also, when you buy something, throw out or give away something else. For example when you buy a new pair of shoes, throw out your old ones. We really live in a culture of excess - how many pairs of shoes does one person need?
Second:
For awhile now I've been asking myself if i'm genuinely interested in people's lives or just nosy. I check everyone's status, look at pictures and "like" people's comments etc. But do I really need to do it 5 times a day? Is this enriching my life?
Is it taking time away from other more important things?
I started by deleting some of my contacts or friends on facebook. People that I probably wouldn't talk to if I saw them walking on the street. I also (while in a bad, feeling sorry for myself mood) "defriended" the people who didn't write me or acknowledge my dad's death when I KNEW they for sure would have heard about it. Some of them I was very close to while growing up and felt that at least some sort of acknowledgement was necessary.
So now I am taking a FAST from facebook. For Lent. I might check my own profile once in awhile just to see if anyone has written to me but I am not going to snoop on others profiles or look on the Home page to see what others are up to. As my inspiration for doing this said, I am going to live in the real world for awhile.
So hopefully with my newfound skills at tackling and cleaning and organizing my house and the free time to do so because I am not constantly checking the computer I will also be a better mother and wife.
I will probably be blogging a bit more too:)
I like that 15 minutes idea - I've heard it before but haven't put it into practice. Maybe I should try to join you in that.
ReplyDeleteHave fun living in the real world! We should get together sometime for real conversation one of these days :)
Carol B. directed me to FlyLady, and slowly things are getting done around here---I needed someone to tell me what to do, and her daily emails do just that. It must fit with our life, and so with adjusting it to our lives, FlyLady works. Since I obviously did not pass on these skills to Dana (sorry, Dan) I will start passing them on to Delaney...she is already a collector like her sister and her dad.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on "defriending" the people who didn't acknowledge that you'd just lost your dad. Just send a note people. I know it's hard to know what to say, but how much harder is it for the person that you should be writing to. Or phoning. Or dropping by some cupcakes just to show you're there and you care.
ReplyDeleteI found facebook to be an extremely painful place to be right after Dad died. It's hard to see the world going on having fun. It's even harder when family members post pictures of the fun trip home to Saskatchewan for the funeral and call the album something like "Saskatchewan 2009", not even mentioning they were there FOR A FUNERAL.
And I'm getting all worked up again. Sigh. I wish I could wake up from this nightmare.
I'll have to check out the FlyLady. My mom has mentioned her to me before... I wonder if that's a hint? :)
(My word verification was "rantic". LOL.)
ReplyDeleterantic? I laughed when I read that. I'm going to make up my own definition for that one.
ReplyDeleteThat is BRUTAL that you had family that did that!Sadly - people just don't get it until you go through it.
I have actually found my dad's family some of the worst through this whole thing - I could write a whole post on that.
Yep - have a look at FlyLady! I feel better about my house already! Kim and Becky - you both have one more child than me. I admire you both!