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)

 

Motivational Thursday (Bruce!) - the results

I was surprised at how easy it was to get stuck into the Entry just the way my friend suggested!

Here are the results of what I called The Motivational Thursday Project.  For anyone who missed it, this was motivational Thursday.

Part way through. Still quite a bit of chaos.

This was moved from the main wall to make room for the new Expedit shelves.

Wall waiting for shelving.

Front corner less chaotic, and with temporary curtain!

Voila! New shelves filled with all our stuff! (and a bag packed ready for  the trip to Melbourne!)

Today I steam cleaned the rug and tidied the last junk off the pine hutch. It feels great! Inspirational music today was Shackled and Drawn.

Getting Advice - the upshot of motivational Thursday

So last Thursday, which will now be known as 'motivational Thursday', one of my lessons learnt was that I needed to seek feedback in order to succeed. Today I put that part of the key to success into action!

Very recently a friend said to me "You are your own worst enemy when it comes to cleaning up". Harsh criticism. So I thought that was the ideal place to begin my quest for feedback.

When clarified, her statement about being my own worst enemy was indicative of the way I get sidetracked, and don't stay on task. Personally the only reason I can agree with her, is through this blog, I see myself constantly swopping 'jobs' around, not finishing or focussing on what I intended to do.  I still get stuff done, but I don't get the thorough results from staying on task.

So, given that I was inspired to clean our entry beyond my typical mop the floor so its all done type of clean, I jumped right in and asked advice on what she would do in our entry to improve it. In a state of half pride I had to explain that the floor was free of clutter and there was currently nothing in the room that glaringly didn't belong! (that is embarrassing to admit!)

Her thoughts were thus:

Get in a Expedit bookcase like this one:

As it turns out I bought a very similar thing from Bunnings! Looks pretty much like the one above. I think my husband bought white.

To store all the knick knacks, schoolbags and sports bags and other gear that we need within easy access of the front door.  This means that the hutch we already have in the room will have to go, and I'm going to try this on for size, because, as the article says, success requires focus and feedback.

So the plan is to get on top of all the current things (at the moment mostly that is the pile of clean clothes); and get stuck into transforming the entry.

We'll see how I go, another project to keep everyone posted on. I think this kind of proves my friend's point about not sticking to one project!

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?

Keeping up with correspondence and other paper issues!

Or, paper is my nemesis! I find paperwork the single biggest cluttery mess of all time. Recently, cleaning out a box that had been sitting idle for 3, yes THREE years, I managed to reconnect with a schoolfriend, who'd written me a letter and included her email address. With the wonders of facebook we were soon chatting online, just as we used to in primary school :)

Which leads me to posting about what tips and tricks I have learnt about keeping up with paperwork and correspondence. Its absolutely a work in progress, as I'm still learning!

1. My first tip is to find somewhere to store all the 'outgoing' correspondence stuff. Thats the stamps, envelopes, notepaper and cards. I love cards, and like to keep cards for all occasions on hand. A large part of my difficulty with corresponding is the sheer volume of child-unfriendly stores I need to visit to successfully send anything! Here's a pic of my storage box for correspondence. You might prefer yours labelled.


2. Write seasonal birthday greetings. I started this a few years ago, and it has been my most successful method of sending greetings yet. Instead of writing a card the week before individual birthdays, because of my organisational challenges, I send 3 months of cards at one time. I still phone or email, or whatever is normal on their birthday but at least then they also get a bit of a bright card too, because its nice to receive letters in the post. Its much easier to sit down once to write to a few friends and family than to find the time every week. You might find it perfectly easy to do weekly, or perhaps once a month is a good time. For me, its every 3 months. I know I can fit it in 4 times a year. I use a recycled Elephant Poop Calendar to keep track on a perpetual calendar for all birthdays. You can get something similar, minus the poop here. Or you can make your own, using a funky free download from the lovely Avie Designs Stationery




3. Incoming mail. I always open the incoming mail and immediately sort it into a. rubbish; b. filing and c. to pay - I no longer have a 'to read' pile, as the one I started sat 6 months unread and growing. In the minimisation effort that is my house, as I open it, into the bin, filing cabinet or 'bills' pile it goes immediately. I have even taken to paying bills when I open them in order to have all paperwork immediately in the filing cabinet or bin!


4. information from schools, doctors etc is my current disaster when it comes to paperwork. Generally these things need keeping for reference. Many people find a decorated magazine holder for each type of information e.g. school, doctor. works for them. I am beginning to go paper free - I answer school notes immediately, just like opening bills, and I use my phone's calendar to immediately enter in any important appointments or dates and even reference information so that I no longer need the note from school in its physical form.

5. Birthday cards and mementos - I have a single box at the moment for each child as their memory box. At the moment its small and plain plastic because its a relatively new addition to my organising regime. After display on the birthday, the cards go into their box. Achievements at sport go into an album, as do school reports and other school related certificates. At the moment school certificates and awards for my daughter are in a simple binder from Officeworks.