Thursday, September 22, 2016

Learning from Routines

I've learned a great deal about myself and also about what happens when we establish routines in our lives. Even if yours aren't as (ahem) rigid as mine, you can still have routines or plan your day/week in some fashion. Anyway, I have learned a few things along the way in my "getting organized" journey. 

1. It IS possible to get everything done in a week if you plan it out. For instance, designating each day to cleaning a specific part of my apartment has ensured that by the end of the week, it's all clean. And it also means that there is no single day when I face hours and hours of cleaning in addition to the rest of my daily tasks.

2. Planning when to do certain tasks like laundry, grocery shopping, bill paying always means that you, again, don't have a day when you stare down a mountain of tasks all at once. They get done on their designated day and you move on. And quite frankly, it's a lot less intimidating when I know I only have ONE task to complete rather than 4 or 5. I'm less likely to put it off or decide to move it to the next day when I know it will only take me less than an hour at most.

3. Careful planning and staying organized means more free time! Who doesn't want more free time? Time to do what you love whether it be watch your favorite TV show, read a book, play games on facebook, watch YouTube videos, or go do things with friends. 

4. Everything doesn't have to take hours and hours. I used to think cleaning my apartment and getting rid of things, decluttering, and donating/tossing/giving away meant an entire day's worth of exhausting arduous work. Not so. With a plan in place, doing a little at a time means no exhausting arduous days. Yes, it takes discipline to stick to the plan, but once you get going and becomes habit, it seems rather mundane and you "expect" it. It's not a surprise or something you put off until it absolutely MUST be done or you'll have no clothes to wear. (laundry).

5. I've discovered the art of multi-tasking. One chore and one fun thing. I can listen to a podcast while I fold my laundry. I can watch my favorite TV show while I wait for the kitchen floor to dry.
There's, of course multi-tasking with two chores--while waiting for the laundry, vacuum the carpet. While waiting for the floor to dry in the kitchen, clean out the closet or take donations to Goodwill or wherever you donate them.

All of this not only saves me time and anxiety, but it keeps me feeling safer somehow. Safer as I fly through this chaotic world in my Type A way. I'm still working on things both Type A and not, but it's a journey and it's worth taking.

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