Anti-Procrastination Week

I'm still very much a work in progress, but I've been trying hard (well, harder some weeks than others) to follow Flylady's method for keeping my house out of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). I need a method like Flylady's to keep me on top of my game when it comes to keeping up with things around the house (and, no, I'm not aiming for a perfectly clean house all the time. I know that isn't realistic for our lifestyle, but I would like my house to be better kept than it is most of the time, and I know I can do that!). Flylady's method constantly encourages me (mostly through email reminders) to get up and get things done. Her method also reminds me that I can get things done even if I only have a little bit of time (a big part of her method involves spending only 15 minutes on a task).

I say all this to mention that this week is "Anti-Procrastination Week" on Flylady's website, and it is certainly a kick I need - I'm the queen of procrastinating! Procrastinating is one of the BIG reasons that things around my house aren't in the order I'd like them. I've been guilty on more than one occasion to simply "let things go" so that I can have a marathon cleaning session rather than taking the few minutes every day to keep things in order. Things would be so much less stressful if I'd spend a few minutes every day rather than letting things get backed up. One email encouragement from the Flylady this week issued this challenge: If a task is going to take 5 minutes or less to complete, do it right then! Don't put it off! Such a simple concept, but I'm guilty of putting off 5 minute tasks all the time. When you put off all your 5 minute tasks, 5 minutes turns into 30 minutes or an hour or 3 hours. I have been trying to make a conscious effort to do my 5 minute tasks the moment I realize they need to be done, rather than putting them off. I think it is a good start to getting rid of my procrastination habit!

Flylady's anti-procrastination week hasn't been just about keeping the house together, but also getting other things done that you might have been putting off, like running errands, making doctor's appointments, writing thank you notes, and even pampering yourself. She's been sending out "pampering missions" all week - one of which is to paint a fresh coat of polish on your toes. I'm SO bad at putting off painting my toenails. It is even worse now because painting your toenails when you are 8 months pregnant is an especially daunting task. But, I will paint them today! :)

Getting Back in the Groove of Things

A little over two weeks ago, I vented about my frustrations with not being able to keep my house in the condition that I wanted. At that time, I also mentioned Flylady . . . and her methods have really changed my way of thinking! When I started with shining my sink, I instantly felt better - like I was starting something that was really going to change how I kept up with my house, as well as my attitude about cleaning in general. The next week I spent time clearing out some hot spots, and doing general cleaning around the house. Then we got really busy, and by really busy, I mean really, really busy! We were so busy that I felt like I barely had time to breathe after I took care of Ella, worked, ate, and went to the workshop. I complained to my husband that while I was so thankful for why we were so busy that week, that I felt like I had lost my groove and my energy that I had been so excited about the week before.

Ah, but now I have no more excuses. That busy week is past, and it is time to get back into the swing of things. It is time to get that great energy back and get busy with Flylady's suggestions. While I have yet to read anything specific about laundry on Flylady's site (although I'm sure it is there, I just haven't gotten to it yet), I did spend the day doing LOADS of laundry. It sure did feel good to get through that laundry - it is amazing how much laundry can pile up in a week. And even though I still have quite the pile of laundry, I did make a BIG dent in it today!

So, speaking of Flylady's suggestions, I'm going to attempt to do one tomorrow that I have resisted for a long time (the idea in general anyway): getting dressed to the shoes. The idea is to get up and get ready (all the way to the shoes) before you do anything else. I have been known (cough . . .cough) to hang out in my pjs all day. After all, I'm working from home, so no one sees me right? Well, first off, my husband sees me, and I'm sure he'd appreciate it if I wasn't always just lounging around. Secondly, I think it is really a general attitude change I need to make. With all that said, I know for a fact I won't have my shoes on tomorrow during the day. BUT I do plan to be ready otherwise! :)

Is my sink still shiny?

Why, as a matter of fact, it is!  (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out this post.) I will freely admit that my mother-in-law was in over the weekend (she wanted to see Ella walking!), and she helped out around the house (which was wonderful, especially consider how awful I felt from my morning sickness this weekend), but I have also kept up on my own for a few days. ALL the dishes are done in my house and I'm not usually great at keeping the dishes done, but it sure does feel good.

On top of my shiny sink, I've taken Flylady's advice and tackled some hot spots (areas where stuff gathers and becomes an endless mess) around my house, starting in the living room/kitchen area. We have WAY too many hot spots in our house, and I have needed to get these areas under control for a long time. In the past couple of days I've gotten rid of three major hot spots in our main living area. And, following Flylady's advice, it actually wasn't hard or too time-consuming to get the areas under control (and these were areas I was absolutely dreading cleaning). Here are pictures of the "after" of two of the hot spots. I should have taken "before" pictures, but I wasn't thinking about it at the time. If you've been to my house before, you might not even recognize the first one of the cabinet in my dining room. The main shelf and the very top were overtaken with clutter, but not anymore!

The ugly flash in those pictures leads me to a final thought . . . if you aren't using swagbucks yet you should be! 

Over a few months my husband and I have gathered enough swagbucks to redeem for a decent amount of Amazon giftcards. In fact, those Amazon giftcards helped in the purchase of my newest piece of photography equipment - a speedlite. I cannot wait for it to arrive!