Friday, March 12, 2010

Avoid overplanning

I have a real tendency to over-plan. I get all excited about empty spaces on my schedule: "OOOOhhhh! An open hour! I think I'll clean the refrigerator, do a load of laundry, mop the floor, dust, and reorganize the spice cabinet!" And then I become totally frazzled when it's 20 minutes into my so-called extra hour that "isn't" happening because I know I'll never get it all done in 40 minutes. For 15 minutes I stress about what I haven't yet accomplished, which leaves me with a grand total of 25 minutes left, in which I hurry like mad to get SOMETHING done and spend the last 5 minutes rescheduling the 4.5 tasks out of 5 that were not even started. Then I either move on to the tasks that WERE scheduled, or continue with my "wish list of accomplishments" putting off the tasks that really should be getting done.

Basically, I waste a lot of time planning. And then I stress about it. And I don't get much accomplished because of it.

So...today, I came home, did the important stuff: picked up the biggest pieces of ick off the floor (wads of dog fur - it's shedding season, pussy willow blossoms - which seem to get tracked in by the hundreds this time of year, and clods of dried dirt that hitchhike in by way of D.'s large boot treads); cleaned the counter of clutter, did one load of laundry (since about 12 more are waiting in the wings), and cooked dinner...grilled cheese (I know, very ambitious). I spent the remainder of the evening on the couch watching a movie with the boy. Now, I am writing, and I will follow this up with an early turn-in to make up for lost zzz's during the week.

I am not quite ready to rip up my list for this weekend (which is impossibly lengthy); however, I AM willing to accept that not everything on it will be accomplished. Instead of thinking of it as a To Do List, I'm going to think of it as my List of Options. Some of the things will be done. Others will be put off yet again.

Seems to be pretty much the theme of my adult life. Put off till tomorrow everything that cannot be accomplished today (which, unfortunately, is quite a bit). In the grand scheme of things, how much of it really matters, anyway?

It'll all get done (I think). I just don't know when.

Guess I'm already doing better than the government.

Nite!

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