Daily Mantra - an effort in consistency

"things go horribly wrong despite my best intentions." - This part of Monday's blog has me thinking. After all it is kind of the crux of it all. Why would things continue to 'go wrong'? Unless of course I perhaps am not doing one of the below things, like expecting the best of myself, and giving myself reasons why I CAN do things, believing in myself.

william paisley‏@YourPocketGuru20h

If you always expect the best out of yourself & life you will get it! You are worthy of having it all... never forget that! #ypg

Organising Energy‏@OrganisEnergy20h

@YourPocketGuru and always believe in the best of yourself - I find I need to believe, not just expect, I am the best me including quirks!!

This conversation went on to discuss how if you don't believe, then its not expecting, its wishing. Quite the interesting thing for me to contemplate. I think I have a very strong tendency towards 'wishing' and calling it something else altogether. To check out the conversation, follow me @organisingenergy on Twitter.

Fitness Motivator‏@Fit_Motivator23 Jun

Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't I give myself reasons why I CAN.

Something I saw on twitter suggested that I should believe in myself more - believe that I can be the best me I imagine - that's worth thinking about!

a comment...

Organising Energy‏@OrganisEnergy24h

“@Fit_Motivator: Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't I give myself reasons why I CAN.” good 4 when inertia strikes 2 get you moving

(yes the graphics are clumsy, but its midnight!)

I also said that "I feel like I need a plan, or a mantra and a plan." So my mantra for the week is to make an effort daily to give myself reasons why I CAN, to expect myself to be able to, and believe in myself. Maybe that isn't quite a mantra, but I'm sure I'll get there with some fine-tuning. 

 

What I'm finding is that just having recognised the need to be mindful of my attitude is helping me.  Today despite not feeling particularly positive, through the whole day, I have simply kept going doing what needed to be done, sometimes slowly, sometimes with a great deal of energy.

 

And I'm proud of my efforts, I have a somewhat sorted toy space, I've scrubbed a floor, looked after the animals, and I've even had a lovely chat about the very sad state of politics in this country.   I'm filling in my little spreadsheet daily, and doing whatever is required to get over the little (and big hurdles) that life throws at me.

 

Here's a pic of today's cleaning up efforts. As you can see I'm big on practical, light on for image, with very haphazard labels! Might get pretty ones to replace it if I could be stuffed going to the shops.

 

 

 

On another note, a funny thing happened to me on the way home from Tai Chi tonight, I ran out of diesel going up a hill!  I was only about 2.5 kms from home, and aside from the first 500m of steep dark hillside, the rest was on my regular walking route that I cover in about 10 minutes from home.  So I simply turned off the engine, hopped out and walked briskly home (my mobile phone wasn't working so I did feel a little bit of need to be hasty). It was the best feeling to be able to just do that without thinking twice! Bruce Springsteen and the ESB have had such a big influence on my whole life, not only am I fitter, and calmer but I'm more insulated against the negative than I realise!  I am finding a whole new level of intolerance for negativity that I believe is self-preservation kicking in, allowing me the emotional space to deal with my own problems!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings in the way of successes and challenges; so far I feel like I'm doing great with my routine, especially regarding the children and getting them regular with brushing their teeth.

Challenge Day 2 - found here

Challenge Day 1  - found here

(I am experimenting with ways to make this blogging process more navigable for myself here, so far no breakthroughs)

 

Labelling the world

One of the mysteries of organising for me is the label.  Personally I don't need labels. If I decide where something goes, then that is it's home and there is no question of needing to put a sticker on it saying so.  My husband on the other hand, simply cannot function without a label, and it has even been suggested to me he requires the 'post-it-note' system of labelling reminders of jobs to be done around the house.

The only labelling exception that I understand is that of labelling food when it is stored in the freezer. I've become quite lax at this lately, however for a good 12 months had a terrific system of using simple masking tape and a marking pen to label the date of freezing and contents.  Not glamourous but effective as masking tape stays stuck when frozen, and the felt pen writes on the papery surface of the tape easily without wiping off.

A funny anecdote about the difference between my husband and myself involves our clean laundry sorting drawers.  I simply had the drawers arranged in age order, mine at the top, then hubby, then the children from eldest to youngest. No labels. He could not function with this, and essentially refused to use the drawers.  One night he got enthusiastic and printed labels from MS Word with our names on them.  He stuck them on with sticky tape and proceeded to help sort laundry for at least two weeks after that!

I also enjoy labelling children's toys with bright pictures.  My favourite way to do this is to cut and paste from magazines, e.g. for a box of play food, stick glossy pictures of food on the outside of the box.  Another way is to clipart the objects into a label, like the one below.

What I am yet to experiment with is the art of post-it-notes to organise or 'label' jobs to be done.  Apparently it works really well for people who need visual aids. I'm hoping to hear more about it from someone who uses it soon.  My organising friends suggested that in order to get  through the work necessary to complete our new 'family bedroom' upstairs that I needed to put post-it-notes on all the spots where hubby needed to contribute, with a date he needed to be finished.  At this point where I have finished my part of the room preparation, that idea is very tempting!

I recently went on a shopping trip for organising, and had limited results from my label purchases.

These food labels have proven themselves long lasting, however I didn't use removable marker on them so the contents labelled once need to be recycled the next time; e.g. I have one container now for 'rice'!

These labels I bought specifically for hubby, but they're still hiding in my 'house' folder waiting for him to love them.

I will admit, since blogging, that although I personally feel no need to label, that there is a connection between labelling and being prepared. No extra thought is needed, or longwinded explanation, and the act of labelling is in itself an act of being publicly organised. Electronically I am now better at labelling photographs for instance, as I organised them by year and month into directories.

It will take time, but I am convinced of the need to use labels around the house.

Organising tools ahoy!

Hello, a quick update today about yesterday's shopping trip to Officeworks. I was out, child-free for a change and while in Officeworks found these funky tools that I'm already getting great use from.

This little A5 zip-up folder is to put in my handbag as a portable office. I am too cheap to pay freight for FlyLady's "Office in a Bag" so I'm having a go at the version for under $10! It already has some medical bills for my Dad in it that need to be delivered to Medicare.

This groovy little sideways piece of plastic is to go on the wall beside my computer. I'm going to store current bills in it. Previously they went into piles, which grew and grew towards the ceiling. With this slender wallet on the wall there will be a limit to how many bills fit in at once, so I'll be forced to keep up to date. I really need this kind of visual reminder.

These very boring looking magazine holders are already seeing use. Back in December I photographed my cousins's sorting system where she kept these all decorated up as sorting systems for school and extra-curricular activities for children. At the moment I've already stocked 2 of them, one with my daughter's school notes, tuckshop bags, and other important documents relating to school. The second one is what I call "home and motivation" and it contains my dreams workbook, housecleaning notes and other nifty house organising references.  Once I have the system working I will decorate them and re-post.

I'm doing well with side-ways pictures today! These labels are for storage in our fridge. We are often confused about whether food has been 3 days or 5 days - which can make a difference. If we label the leftovers I figure thats one more part of life we've saved time and made easier. We both share cooking so its easier to be able to open the fridge and see whats in it. Especially good for my husband who finds it difficult to think about anything once it is inside a container unless there is a label.

And these little beauties are re-useable labels for anything. I figured my husband who loves labels can find a use for them.

What organising tools do you use?