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Post by hollyhock on Jan 1, 2018 6:28:32 GMT -5
Thank you RoadRunner. I see I didn't even write up a new list for yesterday, the last day of 2017. I think I was a bit out of it most of the day and didn't do too much. My goal was to get some paperwork going for 2018. I rewrote my brain dump list. And I wrote up a new list in my new Bullet Journal for Things to Remember Next Christmas. And I did my dailies, but that was about it. Actually I ended up sleeping a lot - mainly because my sleep hours are so off. I did try to curl my hair using a curling iron, but it only made my hair full of static and didn't improve the looks much. And I ate too much. (And not turkey that I had planned to roast but didn't.) May 2018 be a more productive year.
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 1, 2018 6:58:18 GMT -5
MONDAY January 1, 2018 Start of a new year, and my main goal is to get myself back on track physically. And the first big thing is to get exercising going again. And eat less - especially now that the holidays are almost over. I also decided to try a new zone system, instead of my previously planned project of the week, focusing on 1 room a month, I'm going to flow through my zones, changing weekly, and with each just slowly work around the rooms, starting at the door and moving left, and handling each drawer or tote or shelf as I come to it. (Exception will be the spare room, where I have a couple of totes still in the middle of the room (as a makeshift coffee table) and they contain papers etc that need handling first). I've decided that I will use the same sequence of rooms for both the weekly cleaning and the zone rotation - 5 areas. 1. Locker, coat closet, storage closet, broom closet, linen closet, bathroom 2. Bedroom and hall 3. Spare room (and paperwork) 4. Kitchen 5. LR/ DR, balcony So today's room is the bathroom, and the zone should be Zone 1, starting in the locker. I need to work on the locker to make room for the decorations that I will take down. I recently switched to a new locker, but I just moved stuff into it, and in the end I only used 1 out of 4 Christmas totes, so I need to assess what is in the others. But not today. Today I just plan to finish setting up my notebooks and files for 2018. DAILY: Dishes, caught up at least once during day 1 bag garbage out Make bed Vac around bird cage and entrance Bird care Self care Sort mail/ paperwork/ emails Exercise Quiet time/ craft - crochet blanket Evening 10 minute tidy WEEKLY: MONDAY: BATHROOM Windex mirror Scrub sink, tub, toilet Vac Mop Restock Empty garbage ZONE: WEEK !: Locker, Coat closet, Storage closet, Broom closet, Linen closet, Bathroom Start checking through totes in locker Mark totes for Christmas donation for next year. Look into wreaths and how many extras I have See if there is a tote with baking items in it Good wipe down of bathroom shower walls. LEFTOVER PROJECT: Sort loose papers, clip like with like and put in spare room Update Quicken and Budget book for end of 2017 Set up new Budget book for 2018 Empty 2016 files from fabric cube and move to front for 2018 Set up weight and exercise tracking pages in 2018 bullet journal CRAFT: Finish crocheting blanket for dgs ADD: Time in room with birds, to see if they want to come out. about 2-3 hours
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Post by RoadRunner on Jan 1, 2018 11:11:18 GMT -5
WTG getting getting your list together today!!!
Sound like you got some good planning done yesterday....KUDOS!!!
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 2, 2018 9:46:39 GMT -5
Yesterday I decided to give the birds the opportunity for out of cage time, and that took up almost 3 hours. (See blog if interested in Adventures of Baillie.) I got limited paperwork done while in there. But then I didn't get any bathroom work done. And as a result of her adventures I know that if we do this again, I have to get the totes of papers in the middle of the room out of there. Trying to figure out when/ how to fit that task in. In addition, I have AGAIN realized that I HAVE to be Type 4, so I need to do another closet switcheroo. Today? I plan to bring up the 1 almost empty Christmas tote from my locker, so I can remove decorations from each room as I clean them this week. TUESDAY January 2, 2018 DAILY: Dishes, caught up at least once during day 1 bag garbage out Make bed Vac around bird cage and entrance Bird care Self care Sort mail/ paperwork/ emails Exercise Quiet time/ craft - crochet blanket Evening 10 minute tidy WEEKLY: TUESDAY: BEDROOM, HALL Tidy (Changing sheets not needed) Dust Vac EXTRA: Switch Type 2 and 4 clothes in closets again EXTRA: Take down wreaths and Christmas plaques in bedroom, hall decor LEFTOVER: MONDAY: BATHROOM Windex mirror Scrub sink, tub, toilet Vac Mop Restock Empty garbage EXTRA: Take down small wreath and door decoration ZONE: WEEK !: Locker, Coat closet, Storage closet, Broom closet, Linen closet, Bathroom Start checking through totes in locker Mark totes for Christmas donation for next year. Look into wreaths and how many extras I have See if there is a tote with baking items in it Bring up almost empty tote to start containing Christmas items as I take them down Good wipe down of bathroom shower walls. LEFTOVER PROJECT: Sort loose papers, clip like with like and put in spare room Empty 2016 files from fabric cube and move to front for 2018 CRAFT: Finish crocheting blanket for dgs
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 3, 2018 5:28:00 GMT -5
WEDNESDAY January 3, 2018 I didn't do a lot on Tuesday, so I still have all of those leftover tasks to do. In addition I had a lot of soreness in my thighs from Monday's exercising. Now on Wednesday, I also have errands to do plus cleaning the spare room. I have decided (as of now at least) to make Saturdays into paperwork days, so that will be separate from cleaning the spare room and may lessen the planned zone tasks in the future. I'm also thinking that I may make Sundays into days to give the birds a chance to come out. Now I'm thinking that if I do paperwork Sat. and let the birds out (if they come out) in the spare room on Sundays, it might be best to follow through on cleaning the spare room on Monday, instead of the bathroom. However I did note in my blog this AM that I seem to be more inclined to do a chore if it's bigger. Like yesterday I kept putting off cleaning the bedroom because a) it seemed too easy and b) it seemed I just did it, and I procrastinated long enough that I didn't touch it. Am I more inclined to do something if it's a bigger job? Like cleaning 3 rooms instead of cleaning 1? I'm beginning to think so - so maybe making laundry days (inside days) also cleaning days might be my real answer - even though I missed my Tues laundry day this week. Anyway I will continue with my list, and see if I can work out these kinks. (I did manage to switch clothes around in the 2 closets again yesterday) WEDNESDAY January 3, 2018 DAILY: Dishes, caught up at least once during day 1 bag garbage out Make bed Vac around bird cage and entrance Bird care Self care Sort mail/ paperwork/ emails Exercise Quiet time/ craft - crochet blanket Evening 10 minute tidy WEEKLY: WEDNESDAY: SPARE ROOM Tidy Windex Dust Vac ERRANDS Write list Shop Bring everything up from car Put away purchases LEFTOVER: TUESDAY: BEDROOM, HALL Tidy Dust Vac EXTRA: Take down wreaths and Christmas plaques in bedroom, hall decor MONDAY: BATHROOM Windex mirror Scrub sink, tub, toilet Vac Mop Restock Empty garbage EXTRA: Take down small wreath and door decoration ZONE: WEEK !: Locker, Coat closet, Storage closet, Broom closet, Linen closet, Bathroom Start checking through totes in locker Mark totes for Christmas donation for next year. Look into wreaths and how many extras I have See if there is a tote with baking items in it Bring up almost empty tote to start containing Christmas items as I take them down Good wipe down of bathroom shower walls. LEFTOVER PROJECT: (New SATURDAY Project?) Sort loose papers, clip like with like and put in spare room Empty 2016 files from fabric cube and move to front for 2018 CRAFT: Finish crocheting blanket for dgs
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 4, 2018 4:36:13 GMT -5
THURSDAY January 4. 2018 I didn't get anything besides errands done yesterday. By the time I got home, I was feeling pretty sore - the pains from walking compounded by a flare-up of arthritic pain when my feet encountered my cold floors at home. Meanwhile my To Do list keeps growing! Today is an at home day, hopefully laundry and some cleaning. According to my continually revised plan, I had decided to clean the front of the apt on Thursdays as well as laundry, so I will start there. The back may or may not get done this week. In addition I still haven't even made it to my locker to start any sorting down there. The hallways here are super-cold, so I don't know how cold the locker room is. And my kitchen needs a lot of work! THURSDAY January 4, 2018 DAILY: Dishes, caught up at least once during day 1 bag garbage out Make bed Vac around bird cage and entrance Bird care Self care Sort mail/ paperwork/ emails Exercise Quiet time/ craft - crochet blanket Evening 10 minute tidy WEEKLY: THURSDAY: FRONT OF APT: LR/ DR - tidy, dust, vac Entrance - tidy, dust, vac, mop Kitchen - dishes, tidy, scrub counters, stove top, vac, mop Clean bird cage Water plants, deadhead LAUNDRY: Sort clothes , wash and dry , hang , put away , put away supplies EXTRA: Take down extra Christmas items except tree and Nativity, put in tote LEFTOVER: WEDNESDAY: SPARE ROOM Tidy Windex Dust Vac ERRANDS Put away rest of purchases TUESDAY: BEDROOM, HALL Tidy Dust Vac EXTRA: Take down wreaths and Christmas plaques in bedroom, hall decor MONDAY: BATHROOM Windex mirror Scrub sink, tub, toilet Vac Mop Restock Empty garbage EXTRA: Take down small wreath and door decoration ZONE: WEEK !: Locker, Coat closet, Storage closet, Broom closet, Linen closet, Bathroom Start checking through totes in locker Mark totes for Christmas donation for next year. Look into wreaths and how many extras I have See if there is a tote with baking items in it Bring up almost empty tote to start containing Christmas items as I take them down Good wipe down of bathroom shower walls. LEFTOVER PROJECT: (New SATURDAY Project?) Sort loose papers, clip like with like and put in spare room Empty 2016 files from fabric cube and move to front for 2018 CRAFT: Finish crocheting blanket for dgs
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 5, 2018 7:49:52 GMT -5
Friday January 5, 2018
I'm not posting a list today. I have not done well with lists this week, and I think right now my cleaning is on hold until I get the majority of Christmas down. Yesterday when I went to bring up 1 Christmas tote from my locker, I think I got derailed when I looked inside and it was something (linens) I hadn't expected. So I decided I needed to go through ALL of my totes and organize them better as I put away decorations. I had assumed that I could just 'dump' the stuff I used this year back into a supposedly almost empty tote and be done - but that isn't the case. So I have decided to bring ALL of the Christmas totes up here, empty them, reassess items, put them into categories, repack, and move them back downstairs. I have brought up 3 totes so far - 1 more remains plus 2 bags of things. (BTW this is just the stuff from the locker. I still have an angel collection (and other breakables), my current tree and decorations, 2 tabletop trees and pieces from 2-3 village that I keep up here in my storage closet.) So this is going to create a big mess before it improves. I'm not expecting to do more than the dailies and work on this - so there really is no list until most of this stuff is finished and back in my locker. I have no idea if it will take 1 day or more. Today SHOULD be a mini-grocery day, but I don't need anything.
Re exercising - my intent was to follow Leslie Sansone's Walk it Off in 30 Days routines, however after my first Firm 30 day, I hurt so much I could barely walk around the apt., and I hadn't gotten back to it. But after 2 'days off' I decided to restart at a slower pace. Yesterday I did 1 gentler mile from another DVD of hers, and I will work up. Today I will probably do the same mile, IF I still have enough room with this Christmas sorting. (To exercise I put the coffee table on the couch, so both have to be empty first.)
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Post by RoadRunner on Jan 5, 2018 8:58:49 GMT -5
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Post by purpleangel on Jan 5, 2018 18:31:51 GMT -5
hollyhockI was off the site for awhile and just caught up with you. Good job thinking through the plans for getting the house clean and back in order. Sometimes, what worked in the past doesn't seem to work for the present. Sending you good vibes as you sort, reorganize, and clean. My thoughts on DS and DIL (for what it's worth). Please forgive me if I've written this before - I can't remember. I really think there can be some sort of competition between MILs and DILs. For years I wanted my exMIL to love me, or even just lIKE me a little, but she just couldn't. In her eyes, I stole her son. She was delighted when my ex and I finally ended our marriage. Maybe DIL has her OWN ideas on how DIS should treat her and make her feel special. Any attention paid to you means less for her. Anyway, none of the reasons matter. I'm glad you let it go and didn't worry about New Year's. Good for you! It's hard to remember you can't change other people, only yourself. Good job with the exercising - sorry the first real time back you hurt so badly. Happy New Year to YOU, Dear Hollyhock. PS: I wish I could have some of your Chex Mix!
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 6, 2018 6:44:44 GMT -5
Thank you RoadRunner for the link. It seems this week I've been joining a few Facebook groups - something I've never done before. This one is still pending. I keep coming back to Leslie, and so many people report such great results, maybe I should just stick with her. Hi purpleangel. I have actually tried for years to figure out if my ddil was jealous, intimidated etc, and nothing just seemed to fit, but thank you for your thoughts. I think she's this way around ds too. I have seen her in the last 2 years with her family, and she rarely talks to anyone - but her mom and her sis are quite similar too. I know I keep going on about this Dressing Your Truth stuff (energy profiling), which I only came upon quite coincidentally in a comment on a fashion blog. This thing has been so enlightening to me. Ddil is a TRUE Type 4, and because of this I see and understand her actions more (finally!). (I too am a Type 4, but because my secondary is a 1, I'm not as reserved as she is, but her behavior is classic Type 4.) Very introverted, does not like a lot of stimuli and social interaction only when she wants etc. (I have often called her socially awkward.) I know I have tried my best to engage her, but she does not want to do anything with me, or her own mom I think. I think my son is a Type 2, and a peacemaker. Ddil is good to my son and my dgs, and that's what counts. Now that I see more, I'm just going to back off and let her be. She works some Saturday's and some evenings, and that's when ds and dgs see me. We are going out today. For myself as a Type 4, I just kept trying. For us it is all or nothing, and I was trying to give it my all. And then stressing myself out. And in the end, if the kids did come over for something, they'd only stay about 2 hours and I'd think 'all that work for 2 crummy hours, and she never even said more than 4 words?' So now I have resorted to the 'nothing' part. Initially out of pain, but now out of the realization that it really did neither of us any good. BTW at Christmas I said to her mom 'we should go to lunch some day' and she looked at me with a look of shock - you would have thought I had slapped her. So is this the same thing? We did waterfit 'together' but it was minimal interaction in the pool and afterwards it was always like she wanted to just get in her car and get out of there. Thank goodness I am now able to see this in a different light. No-one is wrong, and no-one is right, we are all just different. I can accept that now, and can back off.
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 6, 2018 7:12:12 GMT -5
Saturday January 6, 2018.
Yesterday I got the last Christmas tote, plus another smaller one, upstairs. Looking at the contents of the small one I think I had possibly set that aside as a possible donation tote. I used to have oodles of strings of lights, but now I vaguely remember giving them away (donating them) last year, so I guess I have been slowly doing this but not remembering. What was mostly in the small tote was rolls of wide ribbon.
Anyway, earlier I had wanted to 'empty' the spare room 'coffee table' (totes) in prep for the birds coming out more. So I moved THAT paperwork to my bedroom, under my desk. About 2 baskets' worth. It will be my first paperwork area to declutter, now that I've decided that I will handle paperwork on Saturdays. So once that was done, I used that surface plus surfaces in the DR/LR to empty the other 4 Christmas totes, entirely, sorting into categories as I went. At present, the totes are still empty, but should be easily packed up and moved back down to the locker. Hopefully this weekend. But it did leave enough stuff out that I couldn't exercise.
I did get dailies done, and the plants watered. Today then should be paperwork day. I made it (Saturdays) paperwork day realizing that a lot of Saturday mornings I spend time with ds and dgs (while ddil works). So even if I only do this every other weekend, it's still better than it was.
I had hoped my 'locker' tidying/ zone 1, wouldn't go past last week, but it is. In addition, the rest of the décor not yet down, will be stored in the storage closet - also zone 1, but I'm going to continue on it anyway since it's just a yearly thing. This upcoming week should be my bedroom, and I'll do what I can but won't get worked up if I don't accomplish much in there. I also still have not found my Christmas towels, so are they hidden in the linen closet (also Zone 1) or did I give them away? At this point I don't care, except when I find them I will add them to a tote of other Christmas linens.
Now just before I started decorating for Christmas, I switched lockers. And it was a rush job. I did it while my laundry was in the dryer, so in under 1 hour. I like this new locker, it has better lighting and shelves!!!! but things got put in in a rush. There are still 2 large totes in there that I want to assess before I put the Christmas stuff in. I think they may need to be put in front now. I also have 1 small tote in there that looks like it contains lots of things for painting and wallpapering, none of which I will do any more. (Ceilings here are too high for me to reach.) So I will need to go through those and get rid of them too.
But the main thing today will be seeing ds and dgs. They are picking me up at 9, and we are going for breakfast, then out to the final weekend of a semi-Christmas display centred around trains. Dgs may be too young yet to enjoy it, but we'll see. Then once I come home I need to try to pack up these Christmas totes.
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 7, 2018 9:10:09 GMT -5
Sunday January 7, 2018
Yesterday I was gone from 9AM until around 1:30. Had an enjoyable time with ds and dgs but it was super cold out, and dgs did not handle the intense cold well at all. (It was the last weekend for this display or we would have gone another time. I had mentioned it to ds back in Nov.) Later I watched a 9 hour movie marathon, and worked mostly during the ads, but got 2 totes packed up to take back downstairs. The contents for the remaining 2 totes are together, just need to be put inside them - and hope it all fits. I'd also like to go through the 2 larger totes in the locker. I think they contain very little, and I wonder if they could be handled differently now that I also have shelves in my locker. My larger wreaths do not fit into the smaller Christmas totes, so would be good if I could get them into one of these. So I hope to get all of that done today, and then I can work on the actual tree and then the village.
While trying to fall asleep last PM, I got a really strong thought on starting the 4 x 6 (SHE) cards now. I know I have mentioned it in the past - it has been nagging at me off and on for a while - and it seems like the beginning of the year would be the perfect time to start. In addition I could make out cards related to Christmas, that I could put in there as reminders for next year. So I may work on those this week.
Again I am not yet going to make a list. At 1 point yesterday I thought that I could go to each room and do ONE task in each. Then I laughed when I realized that that is basically what my dailies are - doing the 1 thing in each room that needs it the most. (Dishes, make bed, swish and swipe bathroom, vac around the bird cage in LR). The only exception was the spare room, but since papers tend to center around that room, I could maybe sort my various notes and printouts daily and move into there. However I also decided Saturday should be paperwork day, although none got done yesterday. (Paperwork Saturdays will also have an alternate option of spending time with ds and dgs (and ddil?).) Earlier in the week I had decided Sundays could be a day to give the birds a chance to come out of the cage. This MIGHT happen today if I finish up packing the Christmas totes. The contents of one are all over the spare room 'coffee table', and need to be put away first.
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Post by RoadRunner on Jan 7, 2018 15:36:51 GMT -5
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 8, 2018 7:03:36 GMT -5
Results of Sunday Jan 7/ 18:
I got the 2 remaining totes packed up - almost. Almost because I a) forgot about the stuff on my balcony - which I got inside, but set aside to thaw out/ warm up before I pack away. 1 tote is now possible outdoor decorations (mainly cheaper dollar store stuff due to high winds up here). And b) some Christmas salt and pepper shakers on the stove in the kitchen and a few Santa knickknacks I had under my tree. I'm so glad I found these before I took everything down to my locker.
I saw the 3 hour movie all the way through. I walked to the corner store for more bread. (I need to cut back on bread.) I wore my new earmuffs out both Sat. and Sun. and they help SO much. I am not a hat wearer, most are too large for me or create too much hair static, but these earmuffs are perfect!
And that is all except SOME of the dailies.
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Post by hollyhock on Jan 8, 2018 7:39:00 GMT -5
Monday January 8, 2018.
I have posted a lot on various threads about my trying to type myself according to the Dressing Your Truth energy profiling system. After much back and forth debating - with myself - I finally concluded that I am a Type 4, with a secondary Type 1. Interestingly, once I came to that conclusion, ALL of my obsessing about it stopped! Yay!
So now my thoughts are to use this info to help me understand myself more. And that applies here too. As a Type 4, I am a lower inward energy type, who likes balance, groundedness, routine, structure, and perfecting things. Thus the lists. And probably the inability to let go of some of the undone tasks on my lists (seeking perfectionism).
However, often my Type 1 secondary takes over. It is a higher outward moving energy and likes new ideas, fun, is random, unstructured, distracted etc. In other words almost opposite my Type 4 energy.
NOW I understand what happens to my perfectly planned lists that I post before 5 AM, when I actually try to do them. I get very distracted by any new ideas that come up, and it's hard to get back to the lists.
To semi-quote the DYT type experts - in a recent video I watched re Types 4/1 and 1/4, the type 4/1 person said she too does lots of lists and planning every day - but then something distracts her and she ends up derailed for the rest of the day. Yes, definitely me. And from another video I am recalling where the Type 1 expert says she only uses to do lists to keep herself on track. She has to keep going back to them to see what she is supposed to be doing.
So now, knowing that about myself, I can fully understand why I never made it through my too-long lists, even though my Type 4 intentions were there. So right now I am at a turning point, of where do I go from here?
I have not written a list here since Thursday, so for 3 days no list. I have slowly been accomplishing things, but maybe not as quickly as I'd hoped - but now I realize too that I built in some fun time - out with ds and dgs, and watching some movies. In addition I spent a lot of time reading blogs and Facebook groups, plus watching various videos on topics of choice, so I have been doing things I wanted to do too.
At some point in my life I had decided to give myself 1 goal per day to accomplish. If I got that 1 goal done, the day was a success. I think I need to go back to that. I'm not sure how to work in my weeklies yet. A lot of my breaking down of my weekly chores was based on the trying to keep those tasks small, and be able to fit in waterfit if I want, which just seems to come into the middle of the morning and an awkward time. Plus I was overthinking everything. Maybe if I get my SHE cards going I will stop over-thinking. But I need to figure out how to work out a goal for the day (which most often will be related to a zone), and a weekly - which I think I will call task of the day. And be of the mindset that things are 'good enough.'
Re my exercising, I keep coming back to Leslie Sansone's walking videos, so I think for now I will ONLY stick with her until I get myself on track at least, and then worry about waterfit later. I find many of her videos fun. And I just need to get back to exercising, period. I have not done much since I was sick about 2 weeks before Christmas. That and eating too much has not had a good result. (Up about 3 pounds on my very-hard-to-lose-weight body. And I FEEL it.)
So I guess I can make a mini list.
DAILY: Dishes, caught up at least once during day 1 bag garbage out Make bed Vac around bird cage and entrance Bird care Self care Sort mail/ paperwork/ emails Exercise - at least 1 mile Quiet time/ craft - crochet blanket Evening 10 minute tidy
TASK OF THE DAY: SCRUB: Kitchen Bathroom
GOAL OF THE DAY: Go through 2 totes in locker Finish packing up 5 Christmas totes and move to locker
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