Without Dash

People tell you: You should exercise every day, you should floss every day, you should do a self breast examination every day, you should take vitamins every day, you should take a nap in the afternoon, you should have quality time with your partner and kids every day, etc. Then there are a lot of not-daily chores that you have to keep up with, like your kid’s photo album, sending a postcard to a far friend, visit your mum, have your hair done, shave your legs, etc. But most of all, we need to work, eat and sleep.

Are you living in chaos? Do you still find time for yourself? Do you cut back on friends, fun and sleep? Do you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities at work and at home? Do you feel that you are capable of so much more, but can’t focus on goals? Do you have the “Can’t have anyone over Syndrome”?

It seems that a lot of women identify themselves with these issues. The pace of life in the 21st century is incredibly high and many of us feel that we cannot keep up any longer. And whether it is just being really busy and not organized and/or motivated enough to get everything done or if it is attention deficit disorder (ADD) that is up to a doctor to decide. I will write about personality disorders in my next post. The point is here that we have to say goodbye to procrastination and say hello to time management.

Our parents or grandparents knew very well how to manage their time. They definitely didn’t waste it surfing on the Internet and watching television, and above all they did manage everything without the modern day conveniences of microwaves, washing machines, and name all other electric appliances that you can see from where you are sitting. How did they always have a clean house, proper meals, and clean clothes, while raising 7 children?

Personally, I have found that it is not easy to sit down for an hour, create a weekly schedule divided into hours and half hours and then stick to it. Unexpected things are going to happen. Let’s say I have ‘dishes’ from 9.30 to 10.00 (no, I do not have a dishwasher) and my neighbor just drops in. Then I’m behind schedule. Should I skip the dishes, or run my whole schedule late, or rush a few chores to be back on track by noon? See what I mean? A schedule is just not going to work. It just creates more stress and chaos. A schedule should be a bit more flexible. That is why organized women stick with a routine. Yes, the secret is… routines.

Create routines for yourself. Daily routines and weekly routines and stick to them. If you stick to it long enough, you get a chance to optimize your routines and after a while you will do it on autopilot, saving you a lot of worries and hassling.

So, how do you get into a routine and stick with it? By taking it step by step and let the routine grow on you. Nobody expects you to create order from chaos in a single day. You are human, so please don’t expect yourself to do get into a routine right away. FlyLady suggests that you establish small routines first and then work up to more items on your to do list, starting with shining your sink until you can see your own reflection in it.

Even though personally I wish FlyLady’s website was as organized and clean as I would image she herself is, I do like her suggestions and have learned many things like swishing and swiping my bathroom to prevent crisis cleaning when visitors arrive. All the recommendations made on the website could have come straight from my mum. And I only can hope to turn into my mum one day, and turn all my to-do lists into Tada-lists!

Tags: self improvement