I woke up early determined to start my day right. I had a list of things to do before heading out the door at 9am. First-things-first: coffee. After I grabbed my coffee and fed the dog, I wanted to read and journal. Instead, I saw all the things I needed to accomplish. Last night's dishes needed to be put away. The laundry rewashed since we left it in the washer overnight. Coffee restocked. Iced tea refilled and set in the sun. I can go on but I stopped myself. I was wasting time doing menial tasks that absolutely did not need tending to right that very minute.
I have deemed this the summer of reset for myself. I was talking to my mom the other day about how we both tend to drive ourselves into the ground. We go and do until we have nothing left leaving ourselves depleted for our marriages and families or sick. I don't like that about myself so I decided this summer I would reset my life enabling good change to seep in.
I am a professional to-do list writer. I used to poke fun at my mom for all her lists. And then I became a grown-up with kids honing the art of list-making. I love a good list. I love it even more when I get to cross things off of that beauty. I have this blog on my list right now and you better believe I will cross that puppy off as soon as I am done writing and I will feel like I accomplished Mt. Everest all before 8am. Because I love the list, I have a difficult time stopping to rest or allowing space for other things until I accomplish the things on the list. I also can go to bed feeling defeated for the day if I haven't crossed off all the things. This is ridiculous and making me a little crazy.
In order to reset my life so I can actually enjoy it and make space for what God has for me in each day (imagine that), I need to manage my time. I am a fairly organized person so it was difficult for me to see that I don't manage my time well at first. I figured I have everything in order how can I be managing my time poorly. And then the heavens shown through the clouds and I awakened to all the ways I waste time.
~I have to have everything in order before I can sit down. This means the pillows on the couch need to be perfectly placed and coiffed.
~The kitchen needs to be clean and void of dirty dishes.
~Messes are like sparkly things to me. They grab my attention and need immediate care.
~TURN THE PHONE OFF. I am like Pavlov's dog when it comes to that thing. When it chimes I begin to drool and chomp at the bit needing to tend to it.
~If Fixer Upper or Pioneer Woman is on, time is lost on me.
This is only a short list of the things I use to waste time. I have made some very valid excuses as to why these things are important and should take precedence over other things (say, watching my boys play Minecraft or have a conversation with my husband) but I have realized that is absolutely ludicrous. Nothing should take precedence over time with my people.
In my new summer-of-reset-schedule I don't allow space for those time-robbers. I turn my phone completely off early at night and do not turn it back on in the morning until I have done my quiet time and any other tasks that is important to me (like making breakfast for my boys chatting with them as they eat). I have found myself turning it off during the day as well. I can try and convince myself that I won't look at it if I have it on silent but then I find myself getting lost in the dark hole of social media or pinning things to my Pinterest board that I will never use. Off goes the phone and man, it's been such a freeing experience.
I have also tried to determine what is important to me when it comes to cleanliness and organization. I have to accept that I am a tidy person and run best in an organized home. It is just who I am. So, I have to allow myself space for this but not make it steal my joy or my time. My solution is making sure the downstairs is picked up and orderly. The boys can have their upstairs. I don't need to go up there often so I don't need to see the mess that makes me twitch. Upholding this is not a difficult task. Scott and I have a rule that the last one out of bed makes the bed so I am not always held to do that. I make sure the kitchen is cleaned up after dinner so when we wake up there isn't a huge mess. Fluffing the pillows on the couch is a multiple time a day task so I just embrace it and fix them when I notice. The only other thing that can get a little hairy downstairs is the Nerf dart take-over. They are everywhere all the time in my house. ALL. THE. TIME. I can accept that they are forever stuck on our window ledges that are too high but I cannot accept them all over the downstairs. That's where the kids come in. The darts belong to them. They can pick them up. One less thing on my to-do list.
One last thing (of many) I have adopted to help me manage my time is utilizing my kids more. I have three boys. They will have wives one day (hopefully). I am determined to make those wives happy (It's kind of a secret ploy of mine. I would like to have my sons around when they are adults. I figure I can do that if I can get my daughter-in-laws to like me so I teach them to cook, clean, put the toilet seat down.). My boys are old enough and quite capable of helping around the house which lessens the time I need to spend doing things. Win. Win. The boys have a list of things they need to accomplish after breakfast. Before breakfast is fair game. Play all the video games you want you early risers. Mama wants to sleep and get her quiet time done. After breakfast, you are all mine. They have a chore to do three days a week (think wiping down their bathrooms with a cleaning wipe) while completing daily tasks: make bed, tidy your bedroom, clean the playroom. They also take out the trash, empty their dishwasher, and put their laundry away. I thought for awhile that my six and seven year old couldn't hang their clothes but I was proven wrong this week. Not only could my seven year old do it, he thought it was cool. Done and done. I had kids for a reason: to put them to work.
Time is precious. We all know this. Too often, however, we allow lists and things and chores and too many commitments creep in and rob us of our time thus robbing us of our joy. We are good at managing some time-related things as a family like allowing the boys to only play one sport at a time. But other things sneak in and steal our time without us even realizing it. And before you know it, We have lost 24 hours we can never get back.
Time management has been a huge part of my summer reset. I have to determine where I want to spend my time and what I am willing to let go of. Face-to-face interactions are more important to me than Facebook so I shut it down and call that friend to have coffee. A game of Jenga in the backyard with the boys is more important than the dishes in the sink. They will still be there. I can get to them later. I will even take one for the team and go on a walk and the scorching Texas heat to find Pokemon down by the lake because I get a hug at the end of the night from my ten year old son thanking me for playing with him.
Time. It's precious and needs to be managed well.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:15-17
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
Love & Blessings,
Meg
I have deemed this the summer of reset for myself. I was talking to my mom the other day about how we both tend to drive ourselves into the ground. We go and do until we have nothing left leaving ourselves depleted for our marriages and families or sick. I don't like that about myself so I decided this summer I would reset my life enabling good change to seep in.
I am a professional to-do list writer. I used to poke fun at my mom for all her lists. And then I became a grown-up with kids honing the art of list-making. I love a good list. I love it even more when I get to cross things off of that beauty. I have this blog on my list right now and you better believe I will cross that puppy off as soon as I am done writing and I will feel like I accomplished Mt. Everest all before 8am. Because I love the list, I have a difficult time stopping to rest or allowing space for other things until I accomplish the things on the list. I also can go to bed feeling defeated for the day if I haven't crossed off all the things. This is ridiculous and making me a little crazy.
In order to reset my life so I can actually enjoy it and make space for what God has for me in each day (imagine that), I need to manage my time. I am a fairly organized person so it was difficult for me to see that I don't manage my time well at first. I figured I have everything in order how can I be managing my time poorly. And then the heavens shown through the clouds and I awakened to all the ways I waste time.
~I have to have everything in order before I can sit down. This means the pillows on the couch need to be perfectly placed and coiffed.
~The kitchen needs to be clean and void of dirty dishes.
~Messes are like sparkly things to me. They grab my attention and need immediate care.
~TURN THE PHONE OFF. I am like Pavlov's dog when it comes to that thing. When it chimes I begin to drool and chomp at the bit needing to tend to it.
~If Fixer Upper or Pioneer Woman is on, time is lost on me.
This is only a short list of the things I use to waste time. I have made some very valid excuses as to why these things are important and should take precedence over other things (say, watching my boys play Minecraft or have a conversation with my husband) but I have realized that is absolutely ludicrous. Nothing should take precedence over time with my people.
In my new summer-of-reset-schedule I don't allow space for those time-robbers. I turn my phone completely off early at night and do not turn it back on in the morning until I have done my quiet time and any other tasks that is important to me (like making breakfast for my boys chatting with them as they eat). I have found myself turning it off during the day as well. I can try and convince myself that I won't look at it if I have it on silent but then I find myself getting lost in the dark hole of social media or pinning things to my Pinterest board that I will never use. Off goes the phone and man, it's been such a freeing experience.
I have also tried to determine what is important to me when it comes to cleanliness and organization. I have to accept that I am a tidy person and run best in an organized home. It is just who I am. So, I have to allow myself space for this but not make it steal my joy or my time. My solution is making sure the downstairs is picked up and orderly. The boys can have their upstairs. I don't need to go up there often so I don't need to see the mess that makes me twitch. Upholding this is not a difficult task. Scott and I have a rule that the last one out of bed makes the bed so I am not always held to do that. I make sure the kitchen is cleaned up after dinner so when we wake up there isn't a huge mess. Fluffing the pillows on the couch is a multiple time a day task so I just embrace it and fix them when I notice. The only other thing that can get a little hairy downstairs is the Nerf dart take-over. They are everywhere all the time in my house. ALL. THE. TIME. I can accept that they are forever stuck on our window ledges that are too high but I cannot accept them all over the downstairs. That's where the kids come in. The darts belong to them. They can pick them up. One less thing on my to-do list.
One last thing (of many) I have adopted to help me manage my time is utilizing my kids more. I have three boys. They will have wives one day (hopefully). I am determined to make those wives happy (It's kind of a secret ploy of mine. I would like to have my sons around when they are adults. I figure I can do that if I can get my daughter-in-laws to like me so I teach them to cook, clean, put the toilet seat down.). My boys are old enough and quite capable of helping around the house which lessens the time I need to spend doing things. Win. Win. The boys have a list of things they need to accomplish after breakfast. Before breakfast is fair game. Play all the video games you want you early risers. Mama wants to sleep and get her quiet time done. After breakfast, you are all mine. They have a chore to do three days a week (think wiping down their bathrooms with a cleaning wipe) while completing daily tasks: make bed, tidy your bedroom, clean the playroom. They also take out the trash, empty their dishwasher, and put their laundry away. I thought for awhile that my six and seven year old couldn't hang their clothes but I was proven wrong this week. Not only could my seven year old do it, he thought it was cool. Done and done. I had kids for a reason: to put them to work.
Time is precious. We all know this. Too often, however, we allow lists and things and chores and too many commitments creep in and rob us of our time thus robbing us of our joy. We are good at managing some time-related things as a family like allowing the boys to only play one sport at a time. But other things sneak in and steal our time without us even realizing it. And before you know it, We have lost 24 hours we can never get back.
Time management has been a huge part of my summer reset. I have to determine where I want to spend my time and what I am willing to let go of. Face-to-face interactions are more important to me than Facebook so I shut it down and call that friend to have coffee. A game of Jenga in the backyard with the boys is more important than the dishes in the sink. They will still be there. I can get to them later. I will even take one for the team and go on a walk and the scorching Texas heat to find Pokemon down by the lake because I get a hug at the end of the night from my ten year old son thanking me for playing with him.
Time. It's precious and needs to be managed well.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:15-17
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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