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Post by better on May 6, 2015 2:34:44 GMT -5
I will cheer you on needmorecoffee, just will be offline for next hour and a half. Just focus on one 8 minute session at a time. It was good looking at things in terms of time, instead of tasks. I especially need to become more aware of how long things take.
Go, needmorecoffee, Go, one 8 minute session at a time !
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Post by better on May 6, 2015 4:44:02 GMT -5
How are you going needmorecoffee? I am putting dinner in oven to be ready in 35 minutes, and then will do one more 8 minute session.
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Post by dayeanu on May 6, 2015 7:03:40 GMT -5
A round of applause for everyone and all you are doing!
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Post by womble on May 6, 2015 7:14:51 GMT -5
Daye cheering you on tackling your porch, you are doing great x Better, bobo, desi, nmc and openwindows, great work! So much nicer get this done with company and so motivating reading your posts I started on my filing cabinet last night and got 3 x 8 mins done, surprising how much that achieved as I have a waste paper bin full of rubbish out of there, will continue later. When it's done I'm going to try 8 mins a day on my kitchen as I have a real block on cleaning it, but think 8 mins a day could work
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Post by dayeanu on May 6, 2015 7:55:57 GMT -5
Daye cheering you on tackling your porch, you are doing great x Better, bobo, desi, nmc and openwindows, great work! So much nicer get this done with company and so motivating reading your posts I started on my filing cabinet last night and got 3 x 8 mins done, surprising how much that achieved as I have a waste paper bin full of rubbish out of there, will continue later. When it's done I'm going to try 8 mins a day on my kitchen as I have a real block on cleaning it, but think 8 mins a day could work Thank you womble! (Takes a bow). A round of applause for the splendid job you did on the file cabinet! And a rousing cheer to try 8 minutes in the kitchen!
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Post by dayeanu on May 6, 2015 7:59:49 GMT -5
I love what better said: "8 is the new black!" ! needmorecoffee I'm truly impressed! What a plan! Working eight minutes in each room - I bet that yielded some remarkable results! I seem to have an extreme problem with inertia, demand resistance, and being overwhelmed by *the least little mess*. That's why I still literally take it one 8 minute session at a time. Of course by now, I realize that USUALLY - but not always - I will do more than one 8 minute session. But every time the buzzer goes off, I still ask myself if I want to go another round. I think that's what makes the 8 minutes work for me. Knowing I only must do just one 8-minutes. Everything more than that is gravy! Honestly, if I had looked at that sun room yesterday and thought I had to work on it for 45 minutes, I'm not sure I could have faced it. But every time the timer went off, I was so amazed at the improvement, it almost made me want to see what a difference just 8 more minutes would make. better also brought up a very good point. better said: "It was good looking at things in terms of time, instead of tasks. I especially need to become more aware of how long things take." This is so true for me. I have a VERY distorted sense of how long things take to do. Sometimes I put things off because I think, oh, it will only take a few minutes to do that, and I'll do it later....when in fact it's a much bigger and more time-consuming task than I had ever imagined. And by the time I've postponed enough of those, thinking each one will only take a little while, I end up facing a major squalor dig-out, because each of those tasks was a bigger job than I had thought. On the other hand, sometimes I look at a tiny pile of stuff and dread it, putting it off for later, because it looks so overwhelming and I imagine it will take forever to do - when in fact it's a 5 minute job. But by the time I let lots and lots of those tiny messes accumulate, then I've got a huge, time-consuming mess to clean up. So yes, it would be a huge help to me to be able to look at a task and make an accurate estimate of how long it will take to complete. But until then, it is a huge help to me to think that I only have to work for 8 minutes a day.
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Post by stevie on May 6, 2015 15:06:19 GMT -5
OK, so I haven't posted much recently because I've been working and also doing outdoor projects including building a new back yard pond. So I just got back from work and am going to uprise inside for 8 minutes shortly! My house really needs it. better makes a very good point about the time issue. Like dayeanu and probably many of us, I tend to overthink many tasks. I'll either feel overwhelmed at the thought of doing Task A because I start horribilizing all the other tasks and time it will create and don't get started, or I just put something off forever for whatever stupid reason, then do it and it took a painless few minutes and boom, done. Or - and I bet many if not most will get this - I fall into the All or Nothing trap. I must do it All from start to finish and it Must be Perfect or I am a Failure. The illogical part of course, is that I never get around to the task and then feel like a Failure for not doing it. Man, is that self-defeating, or what? You can't win at all with that attitude!
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Post by better on May 6, 2015 16:16:06 GMT -5
And 8 minutes is enough to make a real visual improvement-whether it is a quick tidy, fluff up, put away of whole room, or part of one room, or moving a stack aside- 8 minutes makes a visual difference which spurs you on to go for another 8 minutes. I used the timer on the ipod and just automatically pressed restart after it went off without thinking, because 8 minutes passed so fast. After I pressed restart I figured I may as well keep going- that too passed fast. Day I have my dreaded back room too- I'm really encouraged by your working on yours. Today I am crook with a bad cold, but will try to do lots of 8 minutes, with perhaps less energetic tasks, have my dreaded containers full of papers which I have been putting off for weeks, plus lots of other household things which need to be worked on. I am hoping to put in a good effort today using this 8 minute method. I am home so will post my progress today regularly to encourage others on too. At the moment I am also thinking about how short life is so that will also be another motivator for me today. I will try really really hard to just focus on each 8 minutes at a time. I will start my day off with a walk and get family out the door and then 8 minute timer time. stevie, day, and everyone else let's get to it. bobolink join in too!
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Post by stevie on May 6, 2015 17:14:26 GMT -5
Done!
I'm finding that a no-brainer 8 minutes is easy if you arm yourself with a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle of your cleaner of choice. Because there is always something to clean or dust or polish, amirite?
So that is what I just did, and along the way I tossed some trash and did some straightening up.
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Post by better on May 6, 2015 18:38:44 GMT -5
Well done Stevie, I think I'll make up a small pyrex dish of diluted bleach- to dip sheets of paper towel into- in case I need them they'll be quicker than frequent rinsing of cloth.
This morning I kept pressing the 8 minute timer. Results are: 3 times 8 minutes to get DD ready for school = normal routine 2 times 8 minutes was a bonus early start to my day- which I usually leave till much later 3 times 8 minutes was walk 1 times 8 minutes was extra bathroom basin, washing machine, small bits pick up and bin- forgot what else it just passed so quickly. Now the really challenging part for me really begins- all that hard nitty gritty, decisions, declutter, organising, sorting, big cleaning, fixing, real progress needs to happen. I have a great start to my day. Am taking a break now but please, please, please let this be a productive day for me- 8 minutes at a time. I will see what I can accomplish in the next 5 hours. I will post regularly. Hope someone else can join me using this 8 minutes at a time method.
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Post by dayeanu on May 6, 2015 21:33:17 GMT -5
better, I'll be working 8 minutes momentarily! I was in town all afternoon, exhausted when I came home. Took a nap, now I'm eating a late supper, and will hit the 8 minute timer when I finish. I'm using my phone, so it stays set on 8 minutes. There is one thing I want to mention about working for 8 minutes. We all keep posting here about how much we are getting done, and what a difference working for 8 minutes makes. When I first started, however many years ago, the depth and breath of my squalor was such that working for 8 minutes made no visual difference. In fact, hauling multiple large trash bags out of my house made no visual difference. I was always amazed at how much could go out in the trash, and yet the place looked no bettee. It was extremely demoralizing, and discouraging, to say the least. This was where working for 8 minutes and making a tic mark on a piece of paper for each 8 minutes, or tossing a penny in a jar for each 8 minutes, worked its magic and made such a difference for me. At the end of the day, I'd be worn out from desqualoring, yet nothing looked better. I could not see *any* improvement in the condition of the house. So I'd look at the tic marks on the paper. I'd focus on that, and marvel at how much work I'd done. I would not look at the results on the house - I would only look at the line of tic marks on the paper, and celebrate. For the longest while, I had to focus strictly on time worked, not physical results seen, for my positive feedback The tic marks were my "visual reward." And every time I worked more than one 8-minute round, I'd look at all the rest of the tic marks and brag on myself for how much I exceeded my goal. I know I would have looked crazy to an uninformed observer - sitting there in a huge mess, staring at marks on a piece of paper and feeling proud. And eventually the 8 minute rounds got my house to such a level that working for 8 minutes does make a visual difference!
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Post by better on May 6, 2015 21:42:10 GMT -5
Well ! Did 7 times 8 minutes, and not a dint- that was just bring washing in, hang out new load, clean up after my brunch (not including cooking or eating), clean part of one window. I actually found the timer a bit annoying when I was out back bringing in and hanging out washing but persisted. I think this 8 minute method is most suited to dreaded and most procrastinated tasks cos it certainly does get you off on a good start. Timing myself has made me realise how long these mundane necessities take. Anyway, I've discovered a repair needed NOW, which DH tried to cover up. Have to go get parts. Disappointing no one else joined in. Perhaps this thread should be moved to listzilla which is better for work along.
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Post by better on May 6, 2015 21:45:40 GMT -5
Hi Day, I must have been writing when you posted. Glad you joined in but I really have an urgent repair and must get parts. Will check in on you later. Love ticking them off- on calender would be good- then I could shove it under DH's nose too!
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Post by dayeanu on May 7, 2015 9:43:04 GMT -5
better, sorry I didn't re-post last night. IDK if it's my phone or the Proboard's problem, but I often get an error that says "AJAX PROCESSES", and I can't do anything at all until "AJAX" finishes processing! I did 8 minutes in my rroom before bed. This morning I did about 4 X 8 minutes cleaning out my truck. It's not due until Friday - that's my Flylady "car day", but I didn't do it last Friday, and things were starting to swarm on me in there. It's bad when you have a truck that will seat 6, but only the driver will fit in - and that barely! About the timer getting annoying....YES! SOMETIMES it is a nuisance. Sometimes I don't need it. Sometimes I am able to get mentally caught up into what I am cleaning and just keep going. I don't always use 8 minutes, which in a way is bad, because then when I do need it, I have forgotten about it and am out of the habit. By all means, if you can comfortably get up and work for a longer period of time, that's what should be done. The 8 minute method is for when you can't. When you think you can't face the pile; when it is too overwhelming; when you work and work and don't see progress. When you're really busy and "don't have time to clean", you can sneak 8 minutes in there. I've done significant cleaning while waiting for DGS to get his shoes on to go somewhere. Were it not for 8 minute cleaning, that time would have been spent pacing and getting irritated with him for being so slow. Thanks to 8 minutes, the time was spent productively, and I felt productile and good.
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Post by mouseanne on May 7, 2015 14:09:33 GMT -5
(snip) the smell of the old place clings to everything. Yesterday I tried hanging clothes in my closet and couldn't get past the smell of the hangers. I ended up wiping each and every one down. (snip) If you have a dishwasher, and your hangers are plastic, you can run them thru the DW. I wash so many things in the DW. Plastic Bins & Baskets Hangers Fridge bits Generally, I don't do full cycle. Have a clean area (counter/table) spread with a large, clean towel. I get them out after 3-4 minutes, if they're soapy, I rinse them and stack them to dry. With the fridge things, I run it a few min, open DW, scrub any icky bits, re run. Rinse, stack to dry.
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