Feeling angst about WIPs-B-Gone

Project that broke my sewjo, July2021

 Have you ever done a 100-day challenge? I haven't, but I have FOMO about the times I lurked and followed along with someone else's 100-day journey as if I was the one doing the work.

Most recently, Sarah of Sarah Goer Quilts had her own 100-day challenge to finish a bunch of WIPs--which she did amazingly well. I tried to use her finishing energy to get myself motivated on some of my own UnFinished Objects, but ended up being mightily frustrated and losing my sewjo. The exact opposite of successful.

So, along came Leanne of Devoted Quilter with a 100-day WIPs-B-Gone challenge that involved actually signing up, with prizes for encouragement and gentle accountability. I signed up.

That 100 days starts today--100 days left in 2021. If you're keeping track, that means I have made a commitment that will extend through my busy travel-for-work month of October and the whole end-of-the year holidays. What am I getting myself into?

Well, the first issue I am contending with is my HUGE list of WIPs: 63 as of this writing. In fact, most of them are so long since the last time I worked on them that I generally refer to them as UFOs (WIP having that pesky "in progress" part of its acronym).

 

Currently in progress Norah Quilt

Some folks have declared a Top 3 Goals for the first 25 days of this challenge--I'm so very scattered when thinking of my extra long list that I haven't been able to winnow down to any sort of reasonable "what should I start with" or even "where do I want to finish". I know I want fewer than 50 items on my list at the end of 100 days. That's a goal, right? I also want to experience what it's like to make time every day for my stitching practice, no matter what the busyness of the day/month/season feels like.

So today, I decided that I would let go of a project or two. That's one way to embrace WIPs-B-Gone! My Quilt Guild has a "Kiss it Goodbye" table that shows up at meetings a few times a year--and that's happening next week. So, in preparation, I went burrowing in the bins and totes and canvas bags to find projects I am well and truly ready to part with.

 

Discarding or donating projects counts towards WIPs-B-Gone!

 

I am choosing to let go of 4 projects: paper-pieced kimono wall hanging (last blogged about in July 2017); two other paper-pieced kimono blocks that feel too much like cultural appropriation; funky fish blocks that I made as prototypes for writing a tutorial (in August 2014); and teen-friendly wheel blocks from 2017's Row by Row "On the Go" free pattern, that were used as a floor sample when I worked at a quilt shop.

  

Row by Row 2017

 

Lo and behold, in parting with these blocks, I may have discovered my first WIP to tackle. I have a pair of placemats that are pieced with the same kimono blocks that I just parted with. I also have enough background and backing fabric to complete 4 more. 

Bonus reason that this project speaks to me now? I leave in 12 days for a business trip and need a portable handwork project to bring with me. The existing placemats are lightly hand-quilted with big stitch; I think they're a perfect travel size! Add in the motivation of deadline sewing to get the piecing done before I travel, and I might be off to the races...

Any 100-day challenge words of wisdom?

I'd apologize for the mess, but...

"Welcome to my home.  I'd apologize for the mess, but it really always looks this way."

I don't like it when people apologize for the state of their home.  (I came over to visit you, not to run some sort of inspection.)  And for heaven's sake, if it's always a housekeeping disaster, why pretend otherwise by apologizing?  I personally have a running fight at home with the gremlins of disorganization--which may actually live inside of me, so that's a bit tricky.

My messy nature is kept in check by Sweetie, aka the Tidy Fairy.  Thank goodness for this.  No telling what the house would look like without her calming, cleaning, clutter-busting presence.

Exhibit A: this is what a well-organized morning looks like.  The bed is made.  The work backpack, important papers, phone and wallet are all arranged and ready to go.  And the book is sitting there because I've asked to borrow it next.

I'm just posting this here as an aspiration for myself.  Like many others, I have goals of improving my overall organization in 2019.  How about you?

Oh hey, December blog challenge is again live!

Once again, my good blogging habits have collapsed of their own accord.  I arrive at the month of December with a mere 6 blog posts for the entire year. 
So far.
But:

Much like last year at this same time, I have joined Cheryl Sleboda's blog-writing challenge for the month of December.  Already a day late, but optimistic about my ability to resuscitate this ailing blog during a busy month.

I have so many things I want to say!  So many finishes to report!  And some great projects in-the-works that I need to sort out--where else but in BlogLand could any of this take place?

Look at the optimism I'm showing!*

If you want to peek at who is participating, there is a list here; and it's open until December 10th, if you, too, want to join in.  (No pressure.)


*If anyone has a secret to taking decent selfies, I'd love to hear it.  My selfie game needs more help than my blog...

Testing, testing: 31 days of blogging?

At 11:12 pm on December 1st, the following announcement appeared in my Facebook feed:

I'm in!  I hereby pledge to blog every day in the month of December.* 

I had been mildly considering some sort of "Twelve Days of Christmas" style blogging--could I post 12 times in this busy month?  Especially given my essentially absent blogging presence since the fall of 2016?  I was ready to try...

But, YAY, Cheryl Sleboda just gave me my favorite motivation: external deadlines/expectations.

A full list of all the participating blogs is available on the main blog announcement here.

I already found a lovely motivation among the participating blogs listed: Amy from Purple Pineapple Studio actually started a blog just to take part in the challenge!  When someone is going so far out of their comfort zone in order to do that thing, I am here to stand and cheer.

*Yes, I know that I'm a day behind.  Still planning on 31 posts, though.

Retreat: what to take with?

I am so distracted lately, can't stay put on one project or one goal, it seems.

I have a quilting retreat coming up the end of this month, so I started thinking about what I might bring along with me to work on.  I always bring too much, because ADD.  Plus, you just never know what you will be in the mood to settle down and work on.

Made a little list: 20 items on it.

Well no wonder I'm distracted.  Sheesh.  Who could concentrate on anything with that much quilty noise clattering around in their head?

Going back to goals has helped me to narrow my focus in the past...

Goal for May - finish 3 home decor items

Goal for year - use up 100 yards of fabric

Well, apologies to Sweetie, but I'm not working on home decor at a quilt retreat.  Therefore, I need to focus on things I can finish, so that I can count some of the fabric I used in making them in my 100 yard destash.

Ok, wanting to pare down my list to 5 items--I think I've decided on 7.  I'll just sit on those seven choices for the rest of this week and see how that makes me feel.

1.  Block Challenge
Each year at retreat there is a block challenge--your option whether to participate or not.  I have made some fun blocks in the past, and even won one year.  This year the challenge is to make a 12" block with gray and yellow.  I have this long-stashed fat quarter of elephants.  Gonna make at least one block for the challenge.

2.  Wordy Wallhanging
This is a pretty old UFO (2011 was its humble beginning) that has been waiting to be sandwiched and quilted.  Gonna do it--I even have the batting and backing all stored with the top.

3.  Binding for Technicolor Star
This has been quilted and is just waiting for the final step.  Can't wait to pick it up from the long-arm quilter and see it!

4.  Crochet Rug
This project is actually past its deadline (a March birthday), but will definitely provide me with an alternative activity if I get tired of sewing.

5.  Red/Pink/Black baby quilt
Finish the quilting, which is already in progress, and really needs more space for me to spread out.

6.  Barnyard Play Quilt
A long-stalled UFO.  Too many steps to complete this at retreat, but maybe I can get the sky and the grass quilted.  (And just maybe, by the time there are grandchildren in my future, I will have this baby completed.)

7.  Sew Together Bag
A new project!  Bought the pattern from SewDemented on Craftsy, and have a thought to maybe teach its construction at my LQS (I heard that quilters can be hesitant around zippers).  If that is to be, I would need to have constructed it myself, right? 



Seven little projects.  Are they the proper projects for retreat?  If I get hives or can't sleep because these choices are stressing me out, I will know I need to revisit my list.  True?

Me-Made May

Checking the list of monthly sewing challenges, sew-alongs, and contests over at Modern Vintage Cupcakes, I found out that 'So, Zo... What do you know?' is again highlighting Me-Made May. I'm in!

What is it?
A personal challenge to wear items you have made (or refashioned) yourself during the month of May. Dig into those drawers and pull out the lovelies that get too often neglected--in my case, in favor of jeans and t-shirts.  Show those beauties the light of day!

My personal pledge: I will wear something Me-Made every day during the month of May.  Whew!
 

That sounds like a lot, and it will be a challenge, but here's my ace in the hole: I have 5 pajamas and 3 pair of lounge pants to fall back on when it all gets to be too much.  Yep, my Me-Made wardrobe tends toward the cozy at-home-wear.



But really, this is supposed to be a challenge.  So I will endeavor to wear things that I don't get around to pulling out regularly--and that includes accessories: scarves, bags, jewelry.  It's all fair game.


Also, since it seems I haven't really done much garment sewing in
the past <ahem> decade or so, I include in the Me-Made designation those ready-to-wear items I have refashioned.  So that allows me to wear sweatshirts I have embellished or turned into jackets, hems I have jazzed up with trims, and the like.


I am doing this so I get maximum mileage out of my paltry choices in Me-Made items.  I really need to get more garment sewing done this year.  This is my year!  (Otherwise, part of my pledge to rid myself of 100 yards of fabric will include donating all those languishing tweeds and knits and silkies to someone who will love
them and sew with them.)


Anyhow, May is just starting, so you, too, can take a pledge to get into your dresser and pull out something you have made.  C'mon, wear that item proudly!

What Me-Made item are you gonna show off this month?

[Blog posts about some of the items pictured: flamingo top, embellished sweatshirt, infinity scarf/bobble cowl/knit cowl, lace-sleeved-blouse, twill skirt, misc. jewelry]

Friendly sewing

Went to stitch-n-bitch (aka Late Night at The Crow) with a goal: get moving on the stalled-out process of machine quilting a baby quilt.

I'm not that much of a machine-quilter.  In fact, I tend to lose steam anytime a project gets to the "big and unwieldy" stage.

But my friends helped out.  Not by doing any of the sewing, mind you, but by being there to distract me from the parts I don't love.

Seventeen sashing strips machine quilted. Woot.

And I wasn't the only one: Bonnie had also brought along a project that she had come to dislike.  Nothing like a little conversation to carry you through.

You are not behind

A quote from Flylady (organizing and decluttering guru extraordinaire):

"You are not behind.  Just jump in where you are." 

I need this reminder.  My house somehow got cluttered and untidy during the spring (what a whirlwind spring it was).  I feel an urgent need to get it all straightened up at once, and yet I know that is a recipe for disaster (or burn-out).

 Just one example of the many piles that have formed around my house.  This one is in my sewing room, and flaunts the reminder sign hanging nearby, which gives me Peter Walsh's rules for maintaining a clutter-free space.

Rule 1?  Keep flat surfaces clear.  (Oops.  Fail.)

Ok, deep breaths.  Set your timer for 15-minute increments, and just jump in.  After all, I am not behind...

Clean Sweep

Finally found the mojo to go do some tidying in my classroom.  On a sunny weekend with absolutely perfect spring weather... (What is wrong with me?  Other than severe tree allergies?)

My inspiration was the ability to blog the before and after photos.  So motivating to document progress in the cleanliness arena.

The view from my desk: BEFORE

Love the drama of an impressive: AFTER

My serious tidy issue is clearly *paperwork*.  I get unsightly paperwork buildup in all areas of my life.  Sometimes it just takes a big shovel to get things moving.

The credenza area to the left of my desk has been a huge pile for so long, I hardly dared to dream of it as usable space.  I couldn't even close the cupboard underneath because of the amount of miscellaneous crap on the floor, also.  The AFTER is so much more *spacious*.

Oh, I can even pile things on the floor, can't I!  No wonder I was starting to feel claustrophobic: my chair could hardly move back from my desk without me tripping over the stuff.  Note that there is still an auxiliary filing system (AKA pile?) in evidence.  Well, I'm going for better here, not perfect.

My favorite part of the transformation: underneath my desk!  No one could see it but me, but I managed to really clutter up my personal space with student papers.  Ugh.  No more.  I have reclaimed my own space!  I am worth it!!

 

 You can see that the clean sweep of the desk area didn't extend too far onto the counter.  Didn't touch the in-box.  Didn't address the student notebooks that overtake one whole wall of counter space.  Still better, though.

Saved for yet another weekend: underneath the materials table.  The paperwork dragons breathe smoke and fire over there... It's scary!

I feel cleaner.  Lighter.  Looking forward to a new energy in my classroom come Monday morning.

Diluting my efforts

Spring break has started: yay!  Went to the library and checked out a few books for my leisure-time reading.

Well, here it is: the symptom of my troubles.  FOUR books (all non-fiction), representing things I want to work on over spring break.  (Note to self: spring break is only one week long.  Not enough time to save the world.)

1.  "Getting Organized in the Google Era" - clean out my email inboxes, get my new email account working, maybe even learn how to use all the bells and whistles on the laptop that I got for Christmas.

2.  "A Practical Wedding" and "A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples" - Sweetie and I are planning our wedding, but also need to take care of some of the legal bits that aren't covered by our state, where a wedding for a lesbian couple is just a big party with no formal documentation.

3.  Suze Orman's "The Money Class" - yep, time to get my finances a bit more in order.

What I realized, as I waded through a few pages in a couple of the books, is that I can't make significant progress in any one of these areas of my life unless I settle down and focus.

Kinda like my master ToDo List over spring break.  It reads like the chapter list in a self-improvement series: finances, classroom, sewing, cleaning, decluttering, etc...  Gosh, why do I do this to myself?


Today's portion of the ToDo list: 45 minutes of decluttering, in 15-minute chunks.  That part is great.  What is bothersome is that the chunks are spread out around the house.  I have again diluted any effect I might be having.  I won't be able to see progress in any one area with only 15-minutes of effort.

Kinda like the books: I just need to pick one book, one area to focus my efforts.

Ah, focus.  Always the bug-a-boo for the ADD-afflicted.

BlogLand Travels

Been hopping around the blog-o-sphere lately.  Just want to keep track of where I've been and what thoughts occurred to me as I was here-and-there.

Cat Patches: home of the NewFO 2013 challenge.  I really resonated with her post about "feeling let down after finishing a project".  I totally get that!  The mental focus goes away, and my ADD brain is casting about for something else to fixate upon.  (Fortunately, this is not my current problem, as Nancy Drew is taking up all my spare brain-circuit time.)

In that same posting, she showed a picture of a Crabapple Hill Studio pattern: Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage

Wow, never thought I could love something with such muted colors!  And so much embroidery!  (And when was the last time I embroidered anything?)  What am I doing looking at this--am I crazy to even gaze at it for ten seconds longer?  Well, suffice it to say that this pattern strikes my fancy in a most unusual way.

Never Too Hot to Stitch: home of the 2013 Year of the Finished Project linky party.  I like her rules for finishing projects in 2013.  And the fact that she lets those participating set their own version of the rules.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with what I have currently bitten off, and wanting to make lists or create some sort of order to my projects.  This might be just what I've been looking for.

Sew Many Ways: home of the Sew Darn Crafty weekly linky party.  I probably won't be a linker-upper, because the volume of links is a little overwhelming.  (ADD means knowing when to limit exposure to sensory overload; it's why I don't go over to visit Pinterest.)  But I do like that she has lots of places to explore: crafty stuff, organizing stuff, sewing stuff.  Things that are right up my alley.

Sew BitterSweet Designs: home of A Lovely Year of Finishes linky party.  This one takes the "I'm committing to finishing something this month" idea and breaks it up into smaller pieces.  Three blog posts a month: setting the goal for the upcoming month; checking in on progress toward the goal; and having a finishing "party" at the end of the month.  I like this idea.  Maybe I'll try it (in March? Not sure yet).

Can you tell I'm all about trying to get some things finished up?

Routine Maintenance

Time for me to quote about how life is all about the maintenance...  And for me, that means I need to keep up with my routines.  Which I have not done lately.

The most troublesome area has been my finances.  Here's just a symptom of that area:

Look! I see some cash in there.

My wallet.  There may be a twenty dollar bill in there with all the receipts, coupons, and business cards, but it's hard to tell.  And financial guru Suze Orman tells me that I need to respect my money (and myself) in order to maintain a satisfying relationship with it.  This scene does not look very respectful.

Wider view of the whole purse, just before I dumped everything out for a bit of a cleaning.  Whew!  What a mess.  Found a check from my Dad for my birthday (thanks, Dad!), as well as five gift cards from various occasions dating back to last year's June graduation.

Where to go from here?  How do I get back to having financial routines?  I even downloaded a phone app to keep track of my on-the-go cash spending, but haven't taken the time to fully figure out how to use it.  So it's just hit-and-miss, and I end up saving cash receipts "just in case".  Poo.

Well, no good news story here.  Just hoping that by blogging about it I will feel like I am now obligated to go and do something about it.  Thanks for putting up with my mini-rant today.

Machine Quilting 102

Took a machine quilting class back in October, but haven't really gotten down to the practicing part that will improve my skills.  And improved skills is what I will need to actually do some machine quilting on an actual item--not just the demo quilt that I started during the class.

So I've been "collecting" projects that are complete up to the machine-quilting step.  The result is FIVE projects that are awaiting my skill-building.  Time to get practicing, I say.  There will be quite the payoff in completed projects if I can just get over this hump.

Here are the projects:

Wordy wallhanging - last worked on in November, but over a year in the making.  Wallhanging size: I think I might be able to machine quilt that.

 Baby quilt made from six blocks out of the 2012 buck-a-block BOTM.  Top finished in December, so this one hasn't been sitting around for too long.

 Baby quilt made from the other six blocks out of the 2012 BOTM.  Top finished beginning of October--before I had even taken the machine quilting class.  Since I knew it would be awhile before I got back to working on this project, I put the top, the batting and the backing fabric together in a clear pouch for safekeeping.  (I feel so clever sometimes.)

Paper-pieced daisy pillow top.  This was begun with the paper-piecing class I took in February, and has sat around patiently for most of the year.  How the unfinished projects do pile up over time!

Drum-roll please... the oldest project awaiting my machine quilting skills to catch up with my appetite for new projects: barnyard play quilt.  Pulled out of its paper sack in November, this had been hidden away for probably ten years, in exactly the state it is in today: ready for machine quilting before all the little add-on bits get attached.

Alrighty, woman, let's get crackin!

Of Mountains and Molehills

How not to get things done...

I am a black-and-white person.  I tend to see things in either/or binary choices.  This manifests itself in perfectionist paralysis: "I can't do this to perfection, so I won't do it at all."

But this mindset is also responsible for massive forays into procrastination land: "I don't have time to do this whole task right now, so I'll just put it off until (random future date/time), and play a game of solitaire instead."


This is the opposite of the Eat the elephant one bite at a time philosophy, and explains my current predicament.

Here is what a week's worth of turned-in math homework looks like.  Most of my classes this year turn in their homework in a packet (one packet per week, per student).

I don't generally have time to grade every paper in a single session, so I am stuck with doing things piecemeal.  Taking this large grading task and breaking it down into smaller bits. Which is a recommended and useful approach.  But is not what has actually happened over the past bit of time.

Darn it! I have procrastinated. Again.

Voila: a month's worth of turned-in math homework for 3rd and 4th period.  Now how am I going to find the time to get that all graded?

Partial success story: I have graded one week's papers each day for the past four days (of Thanksgiving break, mind you).  Why, oh why, couldn't I have done it this way all along?

Digging myself out of a self-created hole, one shovelful at a time...

The Tidy Fairy

I watched the Tidy Fairy come visit my kitchen last evening, and it was an inspiring sight, so I thought I'd share.  Maybe your untidy spaces could use some of the motivation that I received by being in Her Highness' presence for a few moments.

First of all, you must know that there is a Mess Fairy.  Of course you know this--things just tend to get messy over time, especially if children or hobbies are involved.  We have always blamed this on the Mess Fairy.  Many a time I have wished for the Tidy Fairy to come along (preferably overnight) and straighten things up.  Well... I just didn't know about the Tidy Fairy's habits.

Sweetie was cooking dinner last night.  One of those Rachel-Ray-30-minutes-or-less gourmet concoctions of hers, so she was efficiently zipping around the kitchen.  She went to reach for a baking sheet, opened the cupboard and said, "Oh my!  What happened here?"  Well, you know how it is when multiple people use a kitchen--things tend to get put away a bit willy-nilly.  And over time, that develops into an untidy cupboard.  I would have seen the mess and told myself, "I've got to set aside some time to get that straightened up."  It would have gone on my endless mental list of tidying tasks.  End of story.  But NO.  Here's where the wings and wand appeared: she bent over--with tofu still frying on the stove, mind you--and straightened up that cupboard in less than 60 seconds.  

Really.  60 seconds is all it took to put the muffin pans over there, place the strainers on the top shelf, banish the bundt pan to the back row, etc.

I never think that way.  It takes me 60 seconds to look at a "mess", do some deep breathing, chastise myself for being messy in the first place, and add that mess to my mental housecleaning burden.  I just don't think of, "Hey, let's just zip in there and tidy a bit."  (Of course, my ADD nature usually succumbs to mission-creep, and I am elbow deep in a major-strip-down-kitchen-overhaul when the smoke detector screams to let me know the tofu for dinner is burning on the stove.)


So I got to thinking about some areas the Mess Fairy has visited, and how I, being a person who tends to think in black-or-white, all-or-nothing terms, have avoided the small steps (baby steps, really) that could keep this mess under control.  Or at least put the muffin pans over there, metaphorically speaking.

The kitchen island: a mess that has been stubbornly persistent and slowly growing in this location.

And on the floor below in the corner: its sister mess.  The last two times the pile on the counter got too big (or company was coming over), I shoveled it into this bin on the floor, saying, "I need to get organized."  Which translates roughly to, "I'll need most of an afternoon to take care of this mess."  So there it sits, waiting for an empty afternoon.

Some optimism, please

Let's not be pessimistic.  There are areas of my life where I am the Tidy Fairy.  I keep on top of my messes in certain areas.  I have to remember to celebrate these.  And, in my uber-analytic way, look for patterns in the things that are working, so I can do more of that.

1.  I am the Laundry Fairy.  At my house, laundry is a source of pride for me.  It is one of those neverending chores that I think I do well at.  And enjoy.

2.  My bathroom sink (is cleaner than Sweetie's on most days). 

The between-cleanings tidying is taken care of thusly: when I am fixing my hair with appliances (about every other day), I end up with hair in the sink (horrors!)  When I am done, I use two squares of toilet paper to mop this hair out of the sink and go on to use the same tissue to wipe around the remaining sink and faucet surfaces.  See??  That tiny extra step of going beyond the task at hand of removing stray hairs and wiping a nearly-clean surface keeps it from getting lint, or dust, or glop.  Yes, the bathroom sink still needs regular cleaning, but it is more Tidy on a daily basis because the Tidy Fairy was involved on a small scale (baby steps).

3.  The bed gets made by one or two Tidy Fairies pretty much every day.

To me, this is the difference between just pulling the covers up, and the small extra step of adjusting the mattress pad, straightening the pillow cases, re-tucking the sheets, removing stray items from the bedside table, and dusting the table top with the pajamas that are on their way to the laundry hamper.

Gotta remember: it's the little things that build up over time to create "mess".  But it's also the little things I can do every day to keep that mess at bay.  Way to go, Tidy Fairy!

Eat That Frog!

"If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day"

--Mark Twain

I started listening to "Eat That Frog!", an audio book by Brian Tracy on maximizing your personal effectiveness.  He uses the above quote, attributed to Mark Twain, to say that you should start your day by tackling your single most important (and often put-off because it's so big, or scary) To Do item.  And, if you have to eat 2 frogs on some particular day, you should eat the biggest, ugliest one first.




Well, I have been tackling for two days now, and something seems to be working.  At least a tiny bit.  I made a list of the things that still need to be cleaned up on my master's thesis, and worked on the top two items in the mornings.  Today's item is: The Math.  You might think that was the biggest, ugliest part of my paper, but I actually had a good start on that section already.

I know that Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day on the FlyLady system, but I kind of like Brian Tracy's idea to anti-procrastinate every day.

What are you gonna do to jump-start your day today?  What kind of frog are you facing?

Hoarders: TV as motivator

As I have been decluttering and sewing recently, the TV was keeping me company.  Mostly it was just background noise, but some poignant points came through.

There was a Hoarders marathon on TLC, so I watched several episodes of that.  I heard one hoarder say out loud something that has gone through my head: "this fabric was over $20 a yard".  Well, she said it about her brocade fabric collection, but I had exactly the same internal discussion about a pair of pearl earrings.  I don't wear them.  Haven't worn them in years.  Can't imagine my daughters wearing them.  But they cost $50 (a large sum for earrings, in my world).  So, how could I part with them?

No, a single pair of earrings won't overflow my house.  But holding onto items that no longer have any usefulness to me just because they are "worth $xxx" is not a good reason to cling to things.

Mantras to motivate cleaning/decluttering

Moved my bed, my clothes, and my body to the new place.  It was not cleaned by the previous owner.  Nor was it left empty.  It is my task to clean, declutter, and get the space ready by the weekend for the U-Haul full of furniture and boxes.

I spent 30 minutes buzzing around from area to area, not getting anything accomplished.  Time to take a breath and regroup.

My new favorite mantras:

I can do anything, I just can't do everything.

I can do everything, just not all at once.

 Blather. Cleanse. Repeat.

(Talk through the frustration.  Take a breath or walk away for a minute.  Get back at it.)

Perfection is a myth.  Stop at good enough and move on.

Women who do too much

“Women never have a half-hour in all their lives (except before or after anybody is up in the house) that they can call their own, without fear of offending or of hurting someone.  Why do people [women] sit up so late, or, more rarely, get up so early?  Not because the day is not long enough, but because they have no time in the day themselves.” –Florence Nightingale, as quoted in Anne Wilson Schaef

A few years back, my mother got me a daily calendar For Women Who Do Too Much (Anne Wilson Schaef, again).  It was a page-a-day, and I couldn't believe how well it spoke to me.  Did she design this calendar exclusively for me?  Were there lurkers in the corners of my life--how did she get all the *details* so right?

Chicken Little: is the sky falling, or do I just live my life in crisis mode?

I was lamenting with a couple sewing buddies recently about the endless ToDo list.  I had told of my recent Sweetie-inspired idea to cut every day's list in half, and how that seemed to be working better for me--at least in terms of making my perfectionist expectations more in line with reality.  One woman said, "The problem is that a woman who manages to get herself together half an hour early in the morning will think to herself, 'Wow, look at the time--I could paint the house!'  And feels like this is normal thinking and behavior."  So true...

When relating this story to my roommate, he added that the female-socialized perspective is to put the needs of others first.  A man wouldn't think twice about using that extra half-hour for "me time".  Wouldn't feel the tiniest bit guilty about it.  Ah, there's a lesson here...