Lists

This picture has nothing, really, to do with this post.  In fact, I’ll probably put other un-related-to-this-post pictures in as I go, just because I like them and haven’t used them but want to.

The post is, instead, about all the things that I’m trying to tie together.

Sort of in the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, Spring Cleaning, and any other organizational reference you can think of.

I don’t make resolutions any more.  For one thing, I am rebelling against peer pressure.  Or imagined peer pressure.  I’m not making resolutions BECAUSE everyone else is.

I also don’t think resolutions HAVE to be tied to a specific date on the calendar.  I think each day is a chance to start a new habit, a new way of living, a new way of thinking, a new way of being. 

But that doesn’t mean that the beginning of January doesn’t bring thoughts of “fresh start” and “organize stuff” and “lose weight/eat better/exercise” and “write every day” and “stop eating nachos for breakfast” to the front of my mind. 

Yesterday I read this thoughtful and thought-provoking post on Di's Kitchen Notebook, and it got me thinking, of course, about what my one little word might be.

I still haven’t figured out the word, but that’s okay.  It’s the thinking about it that matters to me.  Plus, though it resonates with me on many levels, I don’t want to take Di’s word.  That feels like cheating.

Anyway, these are things pinging and spinning in my head lately.  These, among others.  That’s part of my problem.  So many things bouncing around in there.

I got annoyed with Julia this morning because I’d asked her to do something and then she got distracted by something Alex said or did, and I was trying to get them packed up and off to school, and I just wanted them to DO WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO!  STOP GETTING DISTRACTED!  Then I felt horrible, so I took a deep breath and spoke in a nicer voice.  Mean mommy….

Yeah.  How about taking a look in the mirror, Jayne, before you go getting annoyed with anyone else. 

That’s what happens.  Daily.  Especially at home.  I have so much I want to do, need to do, should do, could do…and I freeze and don’t get much of anything done, or I wake up in the morning and totally forget the game plan I’d made for myself as I fell asleep the night before.

I need to write my stuff down.

And I need to schedule it. 

You know how they say you should schedule workouts the same way you schedule dentist appointments and business meetings?  I need to schedule all my little bits and pieces of life like that.

And then – the secret – stick to it.

I’ve got a daily planner book for 2012 that I bought in August, I think.  It’s an 18 month calendar, so I was able to start using it right away.

And then, at some point, I was clearing up the clutter in my kitchen and I must have gathered up that book along with everything else and dumped it in a box to sort through later.

Yeah, right.

I didn’t realize I’d done that, either, and so all along I thought it was in a bag that hangs on a hook by the door.  An overlarge messenger bag sort of thing that I don’t use a lot but I keep it handy for when I DO want to use it.  It’s gray denim and slouchy and has lots of pockets and compartments. 

Anyway, when I looked in there the other day, my planner wasn’t there.  Just some pens, some loose change, and old swim class newsletters and other scraps of paper.

I know…I could use my cell phone to organize myself.  But I don’t.

I like real paper and real pens.  My fat thumbs take too long to type stuff in the calendar on my phone, and I just get annoyed by the whole process.  My fingers, working with my fat thumbs, can hold a pen and write stuff in a notebook.  So I am more likely to do it.

I just need to find the damn book.

I will continue working on that a bit later today.  I NEED the book.

And my plan, my non-resolution, my thought, my…something…is to get better at scheduling my things-to-do.  And then to adhere, for the most part, to that schedule. 

And then I can truly start crossing things off my list.

Wish me luck!

Comments

[Roseann]

Why on Earth would you want to stop eating nachos for breakfast?! I am much more a proponent of "everything in moderation" and sometimes one just needs a little "calorie comfort". ;)

[Jayne]

Moderation is fine, daily is another!

[heidi]

be gentle with yourself.

[Donna B.]

I am with you - my life revolves around a series of post-it notes scattered around my kitchen and computer. I'm a tech-savvy person, but I am not a phone-savvy person... there is a difference! Hehehe.
And I must say, I did like the photos that went with this post, the words all matched then the photos matched... they didn't correspond with eachother - but they were still a coherant group of photos! Nice work! Hehe!
[saying all this while eating pretzel sticks dipped in grape jelly... don't ask... ><;;]