Thursday, February 14, 2008

Maintain Don't Gain

This is a typical weight loss saying, but I think it applies to so much more in life. I have seen this in my own life a lot lately in the following scenarios:
  • Cleaning - I have tried cleaning in a couple of different ways. I have tried the clean all day on Saturday, only to be totally stressed out when SD doesn't sleep long enough or BG comes in after I have cleaned all day and makes a mess. I have also tried cleaning a little bit each day. It is so much easier to spend 15 minutes a day cleaning something, than it is to get so overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and therefore not do anything!
  • Laundry/Ironing - When I don't do laundry for more than a couple of days, the task seems so overwhelming, that I dread doing it. I try to do laundry a couple of times a week (okay, you know I have a schedule, it is on Tues and Fri for clothes and usually Thurs for sheets and towels). It seems like my machine is running everyday, but it is so much more manageable to do a load every morning than stress out about not having enough clean clothes, or getting it done because someone needs something. I will say that no one in my family has ever run out of underwear or socks, which is a common laundry trigger!
  • Scrapbooking - I try and stay pretty much on top of my pictures. For example, I just had pictures of SD made for V-day and I have already picked out the stuff for the layout. Of course, I don't do this all of the time, but it makes it easier, to not get overwhelmed, to remember what happened, to remember how I felt when I took the picture, etc.

I guess my reason for this post is to say this.... If you are a Type A fussypant who gets overwhelmed easily, try applying the concept of maintain don't gain to your life. If you are topping "Obese" and need to slim down, take it a little bit at a time. Don't stare at the laundry pile and stress out because there is so much to do, throw in a load and at least you are one load closer to being done. Then, once you tackle the mountain, keep up with it and you won't feel overwhelmed.

2 comments:

Tess said...

I think you nailed the reason why I DO like to do all the cleaning in one day (Sunday for us). It doesn't bother me to have a little mess during the week and I really prefer to spend my weeknights relaxing and reading/watching TV with BR and only worrying about it once a week.

I can totally see how your way is easier for you guys. I don't think either you OR B would be happy letting it all go until the weekend.

Erin said...

Great outlook on things. I need to apply this to my life...the whole "staring at the mountain of laundry and stressing"...yea that's me.