Specifically, I'm referring to housework (Well, and phone calls. I abhor making business type phone calls. Ask Reid. I don't even like to call in for pizza. What's with that?!). We all have it. Housework, that is. Some of us are great at getting it done, some of us enjoy getting it done, some of us hate it, some of us never seem to be able to get it all done. Some of us try self talk like "Do it for the Lord! Do it well! Be thankful that you CAN do housework and have a well working body to do it with! Come on, self! Put on your happy-happy-joy-joy face and just get to it already!" I have friends in all of the above categories. As for me, I think I kind of enjoy HAVING it done, it's just the actual doing that I have a hard time with. And the finished product goes a long way in helping me enjoy it. But I have a hard time getting started. (Can you guess which category I'm in? Yeah, I try the self talk method a lot. Sometimes it works.)
One of the things I really miss about Mom is that she was such a great cheerleader and motivator. She'd call me up and say "Let's play the 10 minute game! Then I'll call you back and we'll talk." We'd pick a chore, work at it for 10 minutes then take a visit break. She used to play all kinds of little games like that. 10 minutes in the kitchen, then a little section in a book. 10 minutes in the laundry room, then polish her nails. 10 minutes dusting and cleaning, then 10 minutes writing letters. Etc. (I need to play more games like that with myself!)
Yesterday, I was telling my friend Jeana about how I missed Mom's help in motivating and cheering me on to get things done. Guess what? She knows about the 10 minute game! She and our friend Becky play the game sometimes when they have a project that needs done and they are having a hard time getting motivated. Sometimes they even take before and after pictures and send them back and forth. How fun is that?!
So when I got home from being with Jeana, I texted her and told her that I was going to play the 15 minute game in my kitchen, which was a disaster. (The fifteen minute game is very similar to the ten minute game. The only difference is that you get 5 extra minutes. :) ) I took a picture, texted it to Jeana, set the timer and went for it. This is what I started with. Remember - I'm keepin' it real. Sometimes, well lots of times, I have a messy kitchen. It drives me nuts, but somehow, it keeps happening.
Here are the results of 15 minutes of work. Of course my peppy music helped!
Do you see the difference? Isn't it exciting? When I texted this picture to Jeana, she responded with "Wow! I can see a big difference!" That Jeana - she's such an encourager! With the motivation I received from the "Once begun is half done" theory, plus the encouragement from Jeana, I.... WANTED, yes, WANTED! to do another 15 minutes! So I let Jeana know I was going for another goal, set the timer for 15 more minutes, and then.......
Wow! Jeana said she was honored to be my cheerleader, and told me I did a good job. I'm a sucker for praise, so that was really helpful and encouraging. :)
The reason I posted this, and shared my real life messy kitchen, is that I KNOW there are some of you out there like me. I would be happy to play the 10 or 15 minute work game with you anytime. If you have my number, text me. If you're on FB, message me. Or hey - I could always use more cheerleaders - you could just cheer me on, whether you do some work too or not. :) Or maybe it will just give you an idea to try on your own. Do some work, then reward yourself with a SHORT time of something you enjoy. This makes housework fun and motivating, at least for me!
Sorry - I know there wasn't much depth or interesting writing in this post. Just a dose of my reality for ya. And now I'm going to set my timer for 15 minutes to fold clothes and clean up my bedroom (which has lots of clean laundry in it). Then I'll take a break and either read or (ssshhh!) play Candy Crush for a FEW minutes. (Emphasis on few, self.... FEW!) Onward! In honor of Mom and her little game! :)
Your kitchen looks amazing. Great job! I hope you were able to get a lot of folding done as well!!
ReplyDeleteAw you did remind of your mom though even though this wasn't an in depth post...LOL. While I definitely see you in this one and why it works for you I'm totally the procrastinator too. I hate hate doing housework and I justify it by saying I have a life...haha. BUT it still needs getting done and I'm afraid there's pretty much not a single plan of attack such as a game that makes me want to do it any more than usual...! I'm so bad. Though I have to admit it's a ton easier now to just keep things neater than it used to be with a bunch of kids and I don't put the dishes off like I used to or the laundry nearly so much. It's the dusting, vacuuming and mopping as well as cleaning bathrooms and stuff that gets me. At some point I shall just cave in I suppose as I too love it when it is clean. I am always trying to figure out the easiest method but alas you still have to tackle it at some point. I also have to admit to the feeling of satisfaction upon completion though. Carrie I love that your mom did that with you. I don't think I ever would have thought of that. I'm not very creative with that type of thing and very much appreciate that I can at least pass on some of these ideas to my daughter and friends with kids. Funny how they come to me for suggestions and support with things that I would never have thought about for myself when I actually had kids. I'm so incredibly glad that you also share these things here. You are awesome Carrie and you are just more amazing to me all the time. I love you. Cousin Patty
ReplyDeleteWow! I would love to do this! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteJennifer boyd
Your mom sounds just lovely. Thank you for sharing this. Maybe i could give you my phone number and we could call each other from time to time. Haaha! I need several 15 minute games a day!
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