Sometimes we get in a good groove of getting needed daily and weekly activities done. Other times we fail at them miserably. We are not naturally clean or organized people! Lately we have been out of the daily groove. We have fallen out of the habit of spending a bit of time cleaning up each night, vacuuming frequently, keeping up with laundry, packing lunches, getting groceries every Sunday, etc. Oh dearie me, it can feel like so much!How to get back on track?
Additionally, I must admit that not only are we not done unpacking, but that all progress that direction has stopped entirely, and in fact my husband even admitted defeat, telling a friend we don't see often that we were "as settled as we will get". I don't like that mind set at all! We have boxes that need unpacked still, and loads of projects, large and small, before I will consider us settled. I have flirted with having a house warming, but I don't feel like we have the house ready! Maybe we will wait and have a "one year anniversary" party next summer instead... we will see. How to get back on track and making progress?
Good question.
I have tried to "get organized" so many times. It was a massively failed New Years resolution a couple of years ago, plus an ongoing attempt without strict goals. The failed attempts have taught me one thing. Getting organized is an ongoing, drawn out, and very slow process. It cannot happen overnight. If you do manage to get organized quickly, you will likely fail at staying organized, which is the real challenge. You have to change habits, try and fail, take three steps forward and two steps back. I am not organized, but I am more organized than I was 6 months ago, so there is progress. So, two keys I guess. Baby steps and perseverance.
This week, we got a white board to keep on the fridge and list "to buy" type things on. Next time I am making a shopping trip I can actually know what we need instead of saying "I know there were a few items..." and then forgetting at least half of them. Its a small step, but its a step forward. Another small step - while my house is still quite cluttered, I have managed to make space and keep clear enough of the "banquet" in our Dining Room to display a beautiful quilted fall decoration my MIL gave me in September, and accent it with mini gourds that were also a gift. Small steps.
As for perseverance, that is the part where, despite the fact the past two weeks have been a wash, and we are out of all of our good habits, that we are going to regroup and go again starting tomorrow. Try to get back in those good habits. Maybe they will stick this time. Maybe at least one will stick. If not, we can always try again.
The bigger projects - unpacking and getting the house settled, require more thought. Any ideas?
1 comment:
Go back to the baby steps. Unpack one box each evening or something like that. I can imagine how overwhelming it is, especially if you can't take a day off of work to make some progress (you couldn't, could you?). That's what DH and I will do--we'll get the momentum started with a day off of work without kids, work hard all day, and want to continue.
We are NOT organized by nature, but have started to teach ourselves. Is the dining room table still covered with stuff? Yep, but it's in piles that mean something, so when we're ready to put the papers in their own spot, at least we don't have to sort them again :)
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