Are You A Pro?

DO YOU EVER pro-crastinate when it comes to eating your dessert at dinnertime? Or do you just pick up that fork willing and eagerly with nary a hint of hesitation?

Mmmmm, I was quick to recognize that I rarely, if ever, have a problem about starting when it comes to doing something I enjoy and anticipate.

Yet, if there was an Olympic sport called the Procrastination event, I'd be a pro.  I'd have a few medals, I admit, hanging on my wall right now. There are some things that are sooo easy to put off doing, until the deadline looms like a tidal wave, ready to sweep me off my feet and push me headlong into the sandy shore.

We probably all have things that we keep putting off -- writing our next article when we're still chewing out the details, going to the dentist, getting the garage cleaned out, pulling out the dead annuals in the garden, following a healthier food guide...the list goes on.

So what makes you procrastinate?  This is what I've discovered about myself:

I procrastinate when....

• The size of the task I've set for myself is overwhelming and wa-a-ay too big.

• The longer I let it go on, the more I drag my feet, and the bigger it gets in actuality (and in my imagination, too).

• I haven't uncovered the beauty or joy in the end goal and so my heart is not engaged.

• I think there's not enough time to do a proper job.

• There are too many possibilities and I end up diddling about what to choose.  While I'm mulling, I lose momentum, and so another day...week... year... goes by.

So how do I make my life more beautiful in this area?

• I bite-size my tasks. Absolutely no super-sizing here.  And I do way less multi-tasking these days.

• I just start. I don't think too long about it. Just get up and do it, do it, do it.  I remind myself of a tip I shared yesterday: Start with one minute...or ...one drawer, one shelf, one file folder, one tiny task.

• I ask why my heart's not in it -- is it the wrong timing? Too tired? Not something I want to do at all?  Too much 'should' and not enough 'want' to?   

• If I realize I've been dreading the task or event, I stop and ask for grace to go through it with the least stress and with joy...especially joy. Someone once said if you dread something ahead of time, you're actually living the event twice -- before and during.  Well, let's just stop that, I say to myself.

• If I think I need a lot more time for a project, I go back to my first solution.  I bite-size.  Instead of the whole filing system, it's one drawer, or one file folder... (which by the way, I'm taking a page from Rachel over at Simple Notebook when she says she's got her filing system down to one box.  And anytime it starts to bulge, she culls out old stuff, for she's not adding a new box.  I love it!)

There is that ancient saying, 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.'

There's my glimpse........... now here's wishing you yours!

Photo source:  Vintage Catnip

Five Beauty Tips For Your Home

One
Not motivated?  Start with one minute.
Clean one drawer, one shelf, one file folder,
one cupboard, one tiny task.



Two
Keep only what you believe to be Beautiful or Useful.
Think as if you were moving to a home
half the size of your current place.  Do you really need that?



Three
Don't spend dollar time on penny jobs.
For me, I never spend quality time on windows ~
dust settles as do raindrops
even before I finish the last squeaky swipe.



Four
A place for everything,
and everything in its place. 



Five
 Remember the old Minute Rice commercials?
It's amazing how much we can accomplish in just 5 minutes.



Bonus TIP
Visit Rachel at Simple Notebook., who says

you don't need to buy more storage containers to get organized.
Now I like that idea. Check her site for lots of wonderful ideas
on how to simplify your home.



 Here's to beauty in every corner........

Photo source:  Graphics Fairy

Urgent...Ever Use Slideshow?

 

 JUST A QUICK note... in case you didn't see this notice.....

If you've ever created slide shows with www.slide.com, Slide.com will be shutting down on March 6th....your slideshows won't be available anymore.  And they are doing this TOMORROW.

The good news... you can easily export them...... but you have to do so before tomorrow.

Click on the link and you'll find the info you need...

I was sure glad I 'happened' to go look for my old orange kitten slide shows the other evening.  I would have been sorry to find them gone.  I meant to tell you right away....hope it's not too late for you!

A Gift From The Heart

IT WAS THE most pleasant of surprises.  The door bell rang early on the morning of Valentine's Day. Hubby and I had just arrived home from our wee hours 'housekeeping' stint at the local performing arts center.  At the door stood our neighbour, on her way to work, with hand outstretched offering homemade heart-shaped cookies....and iced with pink frosting too!

Oh my... what a surprise! What a treat! We relished the thought of enjoying those later with a steaming cup of tea.

Gifts.... when they are given from the heart... usually create a moment that makes any day a wonder and a delight.  And so often those wee moments, when relived in the memory, are prone to give the recipient pleasure all over again at the affection that's wrapped up in that gesture.

Earlier this morning I thought of another gift that brings me joy whenever I remember it.  This gift comes to us through a text from the New Testament.  First learned as a little girl, I took these words as a young teen to my own heart and received the gift offered. 

And so as I remember them all over again today, I'm writing with hand extended....for anyone who would care (and maybe dare) to ponder and embrace them as their own gift from God the Father:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.~ from John 3:16 NIV

Wishing you g-l-i-m-p-s-e-s of heaven in unexpected places!