A Plan
Obviously, I have had problems, both with maintaining my blog and with accomplishing anything on my projects. If I don't see progress on a project, I have nothing to blog about.
This week, I finally had enough of myself and decided I needed a "plan." Now, I've always been a great one for making lists. When I was growing up, I started making out my list in January of what to take on vacation in May. I would, of course, rewrite the list a zillion times before vacation arrived, but I had the bones of it completed early.
There's something about putting a task down on paper that makes it real. It's not a pesky idea in the back of your head, it's an assignment. So that is what I realized I needed. The kids are going back to school on Monday, and they'll have assignments. I need a back-to-project assignment.
Here's the rundown on the "plan."
I wrote out every weekend between now and January, and I assigned each one the same three categories:
For each weekend, I then filled in the blanks.
"Complete" is a project that is either so easy or takes relatively little time that I can complete it in one weekend. The project cannot be something that will take up the entire weekend--I have to have some time left for Step and Fun. (Not to mention, sleep.) For example, this weekend's "complete" project is to sew and hang the kitchen valances that have been sitting in a drawer for about a year. The fabric is cut, all I have to do is sew it, install the new rods (which have also been sitting in the closet the same amount of time), and hang the blasted things.
"Step" is just what it says--one step in a larger project. This weekend's "step" is to cut the ends of the above-the-window shelf in my daughter's room. The circular saw blade is already set; we spent an entire night last week trying to get the right angle. We just have to cut two ends of two pieces of wood. Everything, including the wood and saw, are already laid out in the garage, just waiting to be used. No wasted time setting up.
"Fun" gives me something to look forward to! It will, hopefully, be a family activity some of the time and an individual activity other times. This weekend, I thought we might drive to the country to pick blueberries at a farm, but I haven't mentioned it yet to the family. Plus, the eldest daughter left today on a church youth camping trip, so she won't even be here. But I'll think of something, even if it's just me browsing through an antique mall by myself. That's fun!
If this plan format sounds familiar, don't be surprised. I based it somewhat loosely on financial guru Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace series. When you're overwhelmed by debt, he says don't try to tackle everything at once. First, you have to quit your excessive spending ways. Cut up your credit cards, etc. Then, he says take the smallest debt and pay as much as you can on it until it's gone, while paying the minimum payments on the others. Then, once the smallest one is paid up, you move on to the next smallest, paying as much as you can there, until it's also gone. And so on. The theory is that with each bill gone, you have more money to put towards the other debts. It also gives you an enormous sense of satisfaction to accomplish something!
And that final point is what I've been desperately missing. I have no sense of accomplishment. Everything is in flux. The desk/hutch/windowseat/shelf project is the worst offender, as it has been in progress nigh over two years. But even little things like the kitchen curtains are driving me crazy! Like cutting up the credit cards, I have to quit beginning new projects until I finish old ones. I think this plan will help.
So, this weekend it's curtains and shelf ends, plus a little fun somewhere.
Next weekend, it's strip and seal the granite counters in the kitchen (complete), get and cut the wood for the shelf support (step), and go for a bike ride (fun).
The following weekend, it's replace the daughter's queen bed with the old daybed from the attic (complete), prime/paint/dry-fit the shelf (step), and celebrate my daughter's 12th birthday (fun).
And so forth. I've filled in about six months of the plan, and just writing it down gives me a sense of hope because I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Heck, I'm even able to fit in getting back to those books my sister and I have been trying to write!
If this works, maybe I should write a book called, The Plan!
This week, I finally had enough of myself and decided I needed a "plan." Now, I've always been a great one for making lists. When I was growing up, I started making out my list in January of what to take on vacation in May. I would, of course, rewrite the list a zillion times before vacation arrived, but I had the bones of it completed early.
There's something about putting a task down on paper that makes it real. It's not a pesky idea in the back of your head, it's an assignment. So that is what I realized I needed. The kids are going back to school on Monday, and they'll have assignments. I need a back-to-project assignment.
Here's the rundown on the "plan."
I wrote out every weekend between now and January, and I assigned each one the same three categories:
Complete:
Step:
Fun:
For each weekend, I then filled in the blanks.
"Complete" is a project that is either so easy or takes relatively little time that I can complete it in one weekend. The project cannot be something that will take up the entire weekend--I have to have some time left for Step and Fun. (Not to mention, sleep.) For example, this weekend's "complete" project is to sew and hang the kitchen valances that have been sitting in a drawer for about a year. The fabric is cut, all I have to do is sew it, install the new rods (which have also been sitting in the closet the same amount of time), and hang the blasted things.
"Step" is just what it says--one step in a larger project. This weekend's "step" is to cut the ends of the above-the-window shelf in my daughter's room. The circular saw blade is already set; we spent an entire night last week trying to get the right angle. We just have to cut two ends of two pieces of wood. Everything, including the wood and saw, are already laid out in the garage, just waiting to be used. No wasted time setting up.
"Fun" gives me something to look forward to! It will, hopefully, be a family activity some of the time and an individual activity other times. This weekend, I thought we might drive to the country to pick blueberries at a farm, but I haven't mentioned it yet to the family. Plus, the eldest daughter left today on a church youth camping trip, so she won't even be here. But I'll think of something, even if it's just me browsing through an antique mall by myself. That's fun!
If this plan format sounds familiar, don't be surprised. I based it somewhat loosely on financial guru Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace series. When you're overwhelmed by debt, he says don't try to tackle everything at once. First, you have to quit your excessive spending ways. Cut up your credit cards, etc. Then, he says take the smallest debt and pay as much as you can on it until it's gone, while paying the minimum payments on the others. Then, once the smallest one is paid up, you move on to the next smallest, paying as much as you can there, until it's also gone. And so on. The theory is that with each bill gone, you have more money to put towards the other debts. It also gives you an enormous sense of satisfaction to accomplish something!
And that final point is what I've been desperately missing. I have no sense of accomplishment. Everything is in flux. The desk/hutch/windowseat/shelf project is the worst offender, as it has been in progress nigh over two years. But even little things like the kitchen curtains are driving me crazy! Like cutting up the credit cards, I have to quit beginning new projects until I finish old ones. I think this plan will help.
So, this weekend it's curtains and shelf ends, plus a little fun somewhere.
Next weekend, it's strip and seal the granite counters in the kitchen (complete), get and cut the wood for the shelf support (step), and go for a bike ride (fun).
The following weekend, it's replace the daughter's queen bed with the old daybed from the attic (complete), prime/paint/dry-fit the shelf (step), and celebrate my daughter's 12th birthday (fun).
And so forth. I've filled in about six months of the plan, and just writing it down gives me a sense of hope because I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Heck, I'm even able to fit in getting back to those books my sister and I have been trying to write!
If this works, maybe I should write a book called, The Plan!
posted by Tif at 9:49 PM
1 Comments:
Good luck! I hope it works!
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