Blitz At My House This Week

The past few weeks have been seriously low on the production scale as my kids have had the flu, and then I got it and have spent days this past week asleep.

So, now that I have awakened :0) I am seeing things with a new eye and really am motivated to spend this week with a focus on getting rid of the things that I have been hanging on to.

Since I've spent so much time in my bedroom, I must be getting sick of it (pardon the pun) as I had an irrestistable urge to change the furniture around.

In doing so I am also cleaning out a corner that has collected a lot of stuff, a corner that's been "on the list" for quite awhile.

While our pomeranian pup isn't going to be happy, it's her place that she goes when she needs privacy, I will be happy to get rid of it.

ACTION TIP

Make this week your blitz week. It's going to be spring soon, so why not celebrate by spending some time preparing your house for the days when you don't want to be in it.

Do your usual cleaning routine with an eye to the piles that you have been ignoring or putting off.

Also look at the things that you have been hanging on to for no reason.

Now is the time to get rid of them.

Have you got an odd sock basket? Sort it and get rid of it. That's a good start!

Magazines? Books? The library would love them.

Cupboards? What could you do with some extra space if you get rid of the old stuff you don't use?

Could you save on your groceries this week if you use up some of the items that have been sitting there for awhile.

I hope you join me this week with your own "Blitz".

Flash forward to next weekend. You'll be glad you did.

Happiness Really Is In the Small Things

I spend a considerable amount of time planning and waiting for this to be done and that to be finished etc etc, thinking at that time things will be so much better - various items in our house are yet to be complete, there is always a project that would make things nicer - that kind of thing.

I was soaking in the tub the other day and looking at a candle holder that holds about 8 candles that is beside our tub. I don't think that there is anything that I enjoy more than a nice soak in the tub. Back in "the day" I used to do it for an hour or more with a magazine and a glass of wine, I can't seem to sit still that long now, and I need the relax time these days.

Anyway, the only thing better is a bath with candles. Guess who hasn't had candles set up in the bathroom for who knows how long?

We have been sick with the flu that past few weeks, I am due for a nice candle lit soak. So today if I do nothing else, I am going to get the candles set up in the bathroom!

It is so small, yet such a big thing in the all around enjoyment of my life.

ACTION TIP

What do you have already that you don't use or haven't set up that can make your life more enjoyable. Or what little thing can you do right now that you have been putting off until something bigger is finished.

Think about it and do at least one small thing to improve your home and/or your life today. It really doesn't take much - it could be candles, flowers on your table or desk, a new bedspread or sheets (my other favourite thing, fresh bedding and a good book) It can be a nice table lamp for your dresser in your bedroom, or a nice floor lamp in your livingroom. It can be as easy as taking 15 minutes to spruce up a small corner of a room in your house - declutter something that has been bothering you and then add something nice to the empty space. Wash some windows or add a bit of paint to something.

The ideas are endless. Just do one for today and keep it done. It will make a difference.

Speaking of Lack

Starting the morning off with my new checklist designed to help me speed up by slowing down - laying out exactly what I need to do and giving myself time limits - a place to stop - so that there is an automatic boundary and place to be "enough", I found myself pondering once again the subject of lack.

Why?

Because I was repeating it to myself as I went along after an especially trying evening with my youngest daughter - "it will never BE enough".

It struck me right away that I was in a place of lack again, not lack in the manner of time, but in manner of me. The knowing that I doing my best, and that it is good enough and then some, but acknowledging the nagging fear that I am not providing "enough" - even though consciously I know that I am.

This is a treadmill that can make you downright miserable and is almost unbeatable unless you take it by the horns as soon as you finding yourself "going there". The best thing that can happen to you is that you become aware that this is what is nagging you. Then you can beat it.

Since it is mostly psychological, it will usually be proceeded by triggers. It will creep upon you when you are tired, when you are over scheduled and especially when people complain at you or treat you in a disrespectful manner - even if they are not justified in their claims.

What to do?

Remember this quote.

"I am what I am, Dat's all what I am".

It's from Popeye, the original self development guru!

Don't let this insidious sense of lack interfere with your productivity and happiness.

And don't forget to examine your boundaries.

This is huge. Are you allowing people in your life to treat you in such a way that you feel "less than"? If so, your productivity, your creativity, and your joy is going to fly out the window. And it will show in your environment - your house and the feeling of peace that you are trying to achieve.

ACTION TIP

When you find yourself wondering if "you" are enough, in what ever area of life it may be, remember Popeye.

And set your boundaries. The best way to do this is gently. A soft resolve. Draw the line and don't allow it to be crossed without consequences. Make it clear and stand firm.

Crazy Buzy?

Today I was pondering what the reasons may be for my continual sense of hurry and rush.

I haven't always been this way, at one time, many years ago it seems, I just lived. I rushed when I had to go somewhere as I almost always lost my keys or spent too long on my hair (like I said, a loong time ago!)

But I didn't have the mindset that I do now, the constant need to fit 110% into a 100% time slot.

I first noticed it when my first child was born. An herein lies the key.

That was when I first started getting interupted on a regular basis.

So I started rushing to get everything and everything finished before the next interuption. (and it never seems to stop, actually it only gets bigger - he's 16 now and called me at 9 am from school yesterday to bring his backpack that he forgot - my first much anticipated "office day" in some time. The school is 45 min away!)

Anyway, I just interupted myself :0)

After that, I had a daughter, the another daughter, then a home business, then another home business.

They snowball onto themselves until life is almost one big interuption with me scurrying in between to "do something".

The one thing that all of this has in common is that I now have an ingrained fear of lack.

I am constantly feeling a lack of time. Like "my time" has been taken away from me. It's a common Mom thing. We're doing something bigger, we need to keep site of that, but the fact is, our time... our life... is no longer our own.

The good news is that there are ways to make it better.

The first one is to step back and breath, on a regular basis :0)

Hurrying and scurrying becomes so much a part of us that we don't even realise that this has become our mindset.

Slow down. Life is not going to get away on you. Ironically, the more you chase it, the farther away it gets.

Tomorrow I will post a very easy and practical tool that you can use to change your mindset instantly. It works for me!

ACTION TIP FOR TODAY

Look at your mind set. What condition is it in?

Are you rushing constantly, even when you really don't have to. Are you always trying to fit one more thing in just because you can (or even when you can't) You need to step back.

Take a deep breath. It will relax you and energize you. And give you a moment to pause.

Do this as often as possible through out the day.

Remember - no matter how fast you go, there are only 24 hours in a day, you can't change that!
And they are a limited comodity. Better enjoy them NOW.

Maybe It's In the WAY That You Spend It

My daughter was getting ready for school this morning and was having a problem locating her backpack (which was supposed to have been located and loaded last night, rule #1, check for yourself that all is in order that is supposed to be for the next day – our new rule is no tv until everything is order for school tomorrow)

I wasn’t of much help because #1, I had no idea where she had put it and #2, she has two, one older one that is very similar to the new one.

It occurred to me – why does she even have two? There is a pretty good reason, the old one was still usable but it’s nice to send them off to a new year with new school supplies, so she got a new one in Sept. But it did get me thinking that she has far too many “twos” (or more)

Both of my daughter’s have “shoe collections”. When I was a kid I had one pair that lasted me the entire year, my "good" shoes for school became my play shoes for summer (besided winter boots and one pair of slippers)

So I got pondering why this is. We are not rich. When they where young, they got a lot of “new to you” things from relatives, but we never went overboard on shopping.

And it hit me. I never used credit cards back then. It wasn’t so easy to cave when they wanted something, frivolous purchases just where not the norm.

It is nice to be able to pick up some extras sometimes, but I think the availability of credit in our house has created a few problems.

Firstly, I just did bills last night, and we never seem to get far with our credit card payments. As fast as we pay, they are “loaded” again.

Secondly, there is so much more clutter than I ever had growing up. Because we just have too much. Mostly stuff that isn’t even used, or so junky that it breaks after a week or so.

It also does nothing to teach the kids that everything doesn’t grow on trees. My 2 older “pre credit card” kids seem to know this lesson and pay for most of their own extras. But my youngest resembles a movie star marching through the store - she'll take one of everything some days. One time I bought her a doll that she “had to have” and when we got it home I forgot to give it to her. She never noticed! Ever!

It was an eye opener for me.

I think that I am going to go back to cash when shopping at the mall in particular. Cash for groceries as opposed to the debit card also helps to cut spending. That’s a whole other story.

ACTION TIP

Think about your spending habits. Not so much what you spend it on, but how you are spending it. Look into the habit of using cash or the envelope system.

Get your shopping habits under control and the benefits will trickle down in many ways.

PS - I came across this handy tool that is the answer to a lot of the problems that I and many of us have with tracking our spending, especially when using credit and debit cards as well as cash.

It's called Budget Map, it works just like a check register only it includes your budget and/or tracking system for all areas.

It's very simple to use - my kind of thing (if it's not simple, it won't work for me!)

Budget Map - Makes it easy to keep it together for a change!

I have been making some changes in the KAOS blog world.

To make it a little easier to focus on your area of interest, this blog will be geared towards making home, family and your self happier and healthier through time management and organization skills and ideas.

My newest blog - Time Management For Work At Home Mom's - Everyday KAOS, is geared towards home business success.

Both contain the basic priniciples - practical application and advice in the areas of time management skills, organization, tools and resources that I like to use to make it all easier and more efficient and most importantly, more fun. We only live once. Really.

You'll be able to have a peek at my day to day experiences, my highs, my lows and everything in between and how I cope and even triumph some days. And how you can too.

You can check out Time Management for Work At Home Mom's - Everyday KAOS - as it happens!

Be sure to sign up to get an email subscription so that you don't miss anything.

You can do that on the sidebar for this blog as well (you need to sign up for both if you would like to recieve both blog posts to your email)

I will probably try to get on a schedule of posting to each blog on alternate days so as not to flood your inbox sporadically.

Both will contain the Action Tips feature, this is a section at the end of each entry that will give you a specific action to focus on until the next entry comes along.

Why? Because knowledge is nothing without action, period. And action is often the missing element. So I try to make it easy.

ACTION TIP

Subscribe to the blog of your interest or both if you work at home.

Access the subscribe box for this blog in the top right hand corner.

Access the Work at Home blog by clicking this link. Sign up box is in the top right corner as well.

Time Management for Work At Home Mom's - Everyday KAOS

It's Sad, but Sometimes We Bring It On Ourselves - I Know I Do!

I was contemplating how I dug in and stuck to my guns today, doing my BOOST Circuit as I was supposed to, to keep the house nice this weekend, instead of working on my far overdue bookkeeping. Have you ever been tempted by work when you had other obligations?

I had a shower and walked up the stairs to my bedroom, so totally relaxed in the feeling of peace and freedom that the clear and clean spaces gave me.

And it occurred to me how easily I could have spared myself a lifetime of guilt and feelings of failure but simply sticking to my guns, sticking to my plans, the ones that I made for myself!

It all boils down to self discipline, trying to get away with something, and trying to do too much.

I have always found it ironic when I would have people drop in and would be horrified at the mess, and know that these people are thinking that I’m a lazy sloth.

Nothing can be farther from the truth.

I have unbelievable drive. I jump out of bed at the earliest time I can wedge my eyeballs open every morning and work until I can’t keep my eyes open at night.

I seldom watch TV or do much of anything that isn’t “doing” something.

But sometime I still fall behind.

And I know exactly why. It’s because I don’t always discipline myself to do what I know I know I should be doing. This leaves me scattered. And that does not accomplish what needs to be done in the order that it needs to be done in.

I think that by plowing through that I WILL get it all done, and I probably will, but at what cost?

My kids get muddled and stressed with the mess, what kind of an example I am setting I shudder to think.

The feeling that I just can’t get it right on those days, and those days are the ones that stand out like a sore thumb.

All it takes is the pledge to yourself, to do what you say you will.

Do you ever notice that the people who have it “together” have an iron will of self discipline? The are in control and don’t let what they need to do be messed with.

Take an example from them. (The ebook by Carole Pagan called “Confessions of a Clean Freak” is an inside look on one of “those people”. Ever wanted to be a fly on a wall. Now you can!)

So…

Set clear priorities first. Every day.

Home and family are a must. And the basics are a neat and functional home. And proper meals.

That comes first – a little bit every day is all that it takes.

If you can relate, believe me, it isn’t hard, it just takes conviction to stick to your plan.

Make one today. Make it doable and stick to it. And be sure to make it consistant.

The feeling of accomplishment – that you have ARRIVED – is so energizing that you will blast off from there to get the rest done.

Your family will win, your business will win, and you will win, big time.

Start today.