|
|
Post by merrymaid on Dec 14, 2008 14:21:11 GMT -5
Last night, on the way to a Christmas party, I said to my husband, "tomorrow and Monday I'm going to stay home and clean all day both days." He told me I'd said that before, which is very true. Then he said, "sometimes I think you think about what you're going to do all day, then at the end of the end you feel as if you've done it."
I've been pondering on it this morning, and he's right. I make elaborate plans and work very hard on them. By then end of the day, I'm tired and nothing this done.
So today, I'm going to not plan, but just do, (or try to.) Please join me if Listzilla posting tadas.
|
|
|
|
Post by Arid on Dec 14, 2008 14:47:08 GMT -5
What your husband said--that DEFINITELY applies to me!!! What's more, it makes me tired just thinking about all that I need to do. . .
Arid
|
|
|
|
Post by merrymaid on Dec 14, 2008 15:23:23 GMT -5
Me too, Arid. It's exhausting! Positively Pickles, He tries to help me, sometimes I do get mad at his comments, funny though, when I do, I go into a cleaning frenzy! Sometimes I wish he would say things to P me off all the time, we'd have a very clean house then!  . You're right, a few small things are more important that the fantasy. Small things will add up and make the fantasy reality. |
|
|
|
Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Dec 14, 2008 17:05:36 GMT -5
- Fascinating.
This reminds me of what Margaret56 said on another thread:There is another problem with "I shoulds". That is the way our brains are wired, whenever you think about a subject and make some kind of decision about it ("I should clean the bathroom") your brain considers it accomplished. So in the short run, when you do this you stop fretting about the dirty bathroom but of course you don't do anything positive to actually move it forward. So it's just another way of more comfortably procrastinating.[/quote] So ... how does one plan and visualize ... but still stay in touch with the reality that tasks must be done?- |
|
|
|
Post by messymimi on Dec 14, 2008 18:40:41 GMT -5
This could be me.
It's one of the reasons I so seldom post in Listzilla, I think. I don't want to post a huge list and fail. I'm afraid to take the time to just post a list of what I have done -- one part of me feels it is a waste of time. I also feel that what I do get done is minimal and not worth bragging about.
CL_SS has brought up the question that has plagued me. How do I turn the plans into action?
I think I'm going to clean up from dinner now.
messymimi
|
|
|
|
Post by dayeanu on Dec 15, 2008 0:44:12 GMT -5
I have definitely noticed that I actually clean more and stay with it for longer periods of time if I don't think about what I'm doing, but instead if I can sort of zone out and mentally be a million miles away. When I "return to the present," I am often shocked at how much I have done, and how painlessly I have done it.
One time I did write down everything I had done that day. I felt like I had done nothing all day, but after writing it all out, I was really surprised at how much I had actually done. But it does take a lot of time to write it all out. I don't think it would benefit me to do it every day.
|
|
|
|
Post by razy on Dec 15, 2008 1:23:21 GMT -5
I love my plans and they work for me but I have noticed that there is always a gap between what I want to achieve and what I actually achieve.
Sometimes I say I want to do things but don't plan HOW or WHEN I am going to do it, sometimes my plans include things that there isn't actually enough time to do.
There are other times when I start something then go off on a productive, unplanned tangent. I like those times.
|
|
|
|
Post by razy on Dec 15, 2008 1:26:59 GMT -5
It's one of the reasons I so seldom post in Listzilla, I think. I don't want to post a huge list and fail. I'm afraid to take the time to just post a list of what I have done -- one part of me feels it is a waste of time. I also feel that what I do get done is minimal and not worth bragging about.
messymimiPlease post any little thing you like in Listzilla, it isn't bragging it is positive reinforcement. You are one of the most encouraging posters in Listzilla it would be good if you got some of that encouragement too. Give the rest of us a chance to pat you on the back too! |
|
|
|
Post by Script on Dec 15, 2008 9:54:29 GMT -5
I make elaborate plans and work very hard on them. By then end of the day, I'm tired and nothing this done. the other side of the coin: I don't plan AT ALL. I just putter. And sometimes I ignore the bad bits because I don't PLAN to tackle them. I am NOT able to re-join FlyLady (compy issue), but I find her concept of Zone cleaning helpful (focusing on one room a week: 15 minutes challenge per room) In November, I got a free calendar and mapped out zones and challenges just for December. It took forever, and was NOT FUN. Needless to say, I haven't done ONE of the challenge, or focused on any of the rooms/zones. In fairness, Xmas and Birthdays and Fibro Flares have taken a certain toll. I am going to Try Again for 2009. I bought a Flower Fairy calendar. I will mark ZONES on it: but NO CHALLENGES. Should be easier, and maybe I might actually do something this time.  |
|
|
|
Post by shabbychic on Dec 15, 2008 11:09:27 GMT -5
The one thing I find planning is good for is when I have more things to do than I can possibly get to, deciding which ones to do first - or which ones will get worked on today and when I will do the ones I put off. Otherwise I may dive into cleaning the refrigerator and forget that I have no clean work clothes. If I write it all down, I might use the "what if it doesn't get done" method to prioritize. If I don't clean the reefer today nothing will happen, but if I don't do laundry, I won't have anything to wear tomorrow. I can also see, if I write it all down, that it is too long and I'm unrealistic if I expect it all to be done today, or even this weekend. I use planning and lists to lighten my workload and prioritize, hopefully not to add to it. Writing things down in a list does have the hazard that they're checked off of my mental to do list. But also, once they're written down, especially if I prioritize, I don't have to hold all those things in my head. I don't have the nagging voice telling me to hurry up and do chore A because I still need to do chore B and C - I can tell that voice don't worry, they're on the list for tomorrow or whatever.
Shabby Chic
|
|
|
|
Post by dayeanu on Dec 15, 2008 12:07:27 GMT -5
There is one type of situation where making a plan or a to-do list helps me. If I have an absolute deadline, such as leaving on a trip on a certain day, I write down a list (on the computer so it can't get misplaced) of things that absolutely have to be done before I leave, and check it often. If I don't, I am so scatterbrained that 5 minutes before time to leave I will realize I don't have clean clothes. Or I will get 100 miles from home and realize I didn't fill the waterers for the chickens, or some other absolute necessity. So writing down everything that absolutely has to be done before my deadline saves the day.
Just for everyday to-do lists, they don't work for me. I will make the list, knowing full-well while I'm writing that at the end of the day I probably won't have done more than one thing on the list. Why? Because life happens, and it doesn't check my to-do list beforehand. Hmm. Maybe I need the gentle pressure of a pleasant deadline to make me get things done. I say a pleasant deadline because some types of deadlines (those I dread) can paralyze me. They used to motivate me. Now they freeze me.
|
|
|
|
Post by gottaproblem on Dec 15, 2008 12:34:35 GMT -5
 I am really, really good at taking the time to make lists and lists and lists. Unfortunately I hardly ever do anything, but make lists. Merry maid congratulations on moving forward. 
|
|
