Order is good, focus is better

A wee update on my goals to attain greater order in the joyous swirl of mayhem that is our homestead...

The three goals I set for February:

1) list all of our to-sell homeschooling books on homeschoolclassifieds.com

2) clear off the laundry room counter and find a home for every single thing

3) finish designing and launch the website

And how I (mostly randomly) projected to undertake these tasks:

homeschool book listing - 1 hour a week
laundry room counter - 5 minutes a day
website design - 2 hours on Monday nights, 30 minutes during my pre-dawn writing time each day.

I did work on the laundry room counter, but nowhere near as diligently as I intended (read: not every day).  I actually kept forgetting about it.  I am totally an out-of-sight-out-of-mind person. 

Homeschooling books... aack!  This I have not come close to getting done.  I refuse to allow piling books to sell to count, because that is just life-as-normal.

I have worked quite a bit on the website but not at all during the time I expected. Turns out I just can't plan anything for the evenings except reading to my kids and sleeping.  I have trouble even staying awake until 9:00 pm.  Might have something to do with the 4:00 am wake-up time! 

And here would be a good place to insert one other observation from my original plan:

"I am not really sure I am setting reasonable goals. I just really want these things done!"

This is my ongoing challenge.  Which is why I have been focusing this week on dwelling in God's presence.  It does help an awful lot with prioritizing.

I am trying out a new prescription for my life-glasses.  Taking off my look-what-you-haven't-accomplished glasses, I am putting on my look-at-how-blessed-you-are glasses.  I never notice myself putting that first pair back on, but I sure have to yank them off a lot.

Thankfully, the more focused I am on dwelling in God's presence, the more sharply focused and firmly attached my blessing-glasses become.

And, actually, they seem a more natural fit. 

Linking up with the 3 in 30 challenge...

photo by clara natoli

Getting things in order - with accountability

Written last night...

I am weary from a day of hair braiding, encouraging word giving and anxious-mother waiting. Our girl walked on stage today for her fifth play, a full-length musical. She was wonderful, just wonderful.

As I peck out words on this board, my forever-love is picking out a new tune on his guitar on the couch next to me. Farmer Boy is diagramming a new social media idea.  The house is littered with piles of paper... pencil sketches of knights and armor by Little Warrior, new creatures designed by his brother, miniature books and stories and letters by The Princess.

Artists. Musicians. Writers. Actors. Our house is brimful.

Oh, friends, let me tell you.... there are so many ideas and projects brewing in this household it boggles the mind. Throw on top of that these lovely rolling acres, with animals and buildings and fences and possibilities. Yes we are a veritable gold-mine of slightly inspired, half-started, rather botched projects.

I have been trying to see all this, er, mayhem, in a positive light of late. Trying to look at it through the lense of blessing.  It is a blessing to have the gift of creativity. A blessing to have abounding resources with which to implement said creativity (oh the pencils and paper and books and musical instruments).  It is a blessing to choose people over things.

But still. A little more order would make those creative juices flow freer, yes?

We have been doing quite well keeping the public space orderly.  Regular speedy-clean-ups done with a timer and a lot of laughter are keeping the disaster monster at bay.  In the public space. Other rooms? Oh. my.

My poor bedroom groans under the weight of books and whatnot destined for resale online.

It is time to start seeds for the spring garden (yes, really... we live in Texas).  My laundry room counter is where they will live and grow for the next month, but it is buried under a massive pile of where-does-this-stuff-go-anyway.

I have been needing to finish designing my new website. I really just want it to be done so I can focus on writing. I need to get my online writing space orderly.  

So. I have been intending to do this all for rather a long time. But I need some sort of structure, some sort of accountability. To that end, I have decided to join other bloggers who are writing about their goals... choosing three to accomplish in thirty days.  One month.

Here are my goals for February:

1) list all of our to-sell homeschooling books on homeschoolclassifieds

2) clear off the laundry room counter and find a home for every single thing

3) finish designing and launch the website

I have identified my main stumbling block - wanting to do everything just right (aka perfectionism). And because that is impossible, I procrastinate the big jobs. I have grown in this area with the small things, but these seemingly mountainous projects still do me in.

Implementation?

homeschool book listing - 1 hour a week
laundry room counter - 5 minutes a day
website design - 2 hours on Monday nights, 30 minutes during my pre-dawn writing time each day.

I am not really sure I am setting reasonable goals. I just really want these things done!