Sunday 17 August 2014

Getting things done - yes, even a little walk!

Read a wee article on Facebook about how television and indeed Facebook itself can steal our time and lead to us having less full and interesting lives, although we might always be feeling busy. After I'd shared it with friends, I decided to log off and see what I could achieve with this rather dull and dowdy Sunday. I got up full of enthusiasm this morning and was so sure I'd achieve great things...but the day just didn't feel like one to get moving on really. The sun was well hidden. Dull, grey, overcast. It seemed a bit like a huddle down and do nothing much sort of day. That's all very well, but if I'd arrived at this time of the day...it is now 7.05pm...with nothing of note achieved or done, then I'd have been feeling pretty cranky. 

As it is, I did get off the computer and set myself the challenge of writing down what I did so that I could share it with you later. Here I am and here it all is. Nothing startling nor madly exciting, but I am sitting in a relatively clean and tidy house and I did get some of the things done that needed doing. Take a look and see if you think it was worth my while. I'm feeling pretty good about it all at present, and there should be no mad rush at bedtime to get things done before work tomorrow.

Status Quo - One load of washing in the machine, dishes soaking in the kitchen sink, bed unmade, general messiness about the place, sitting in my pjs and poncho, curry and rice defrosting on the draining board for later (so I had been doing a few bits and pieces, but it was not a concentrated effort to get things done)
Time for action!

12.14pm Log off Facebook and Gmail.Find paper and pen. Finish decaf coffee for which I had boiled the kettle three times during the morning before finally making it. Emptied bins from kitchen, bathroom and bedroom (still full of tissues from a cold two weeks ago), tied bag and put outside ready to take to the tip. Relined kitchen bin. Washed dishes. Determined kale bought at school during the week and not yet cooked was past it's use-by-date and pitched it over the verandah rail for the local wildlife to nibble at tonight when they emerge. Put shopping bags and coat back in the car and grabbed the rubbish (more tissues) out of the pocket in the driver's door. Put my name on my new stainless steel water bottle. Hung washing outside...no wind so it won't be drying very quickly...and put another load on to wash.

The kale went in this direction. I am so blessed to live in this lovely place.


12.55pm Washed, drained and dried empty detergent bottles for the 'making' box at school. Dubbin-ed two pairs of shoes and one pair of boots. Folded and put away dry washing. Collected wheat bags and hot water bottle...emptied the latter and put away in the cupboard until they are needed again tonight. Organised week to week finances on paper (not as far ahead of things as I'd hoped, but at least not behind!). Made the bed. Folded dry towels. Hung another load of washing out.

2.02pm Showered and dressed. Wiped over bathroom. Put last load of washing on.

2.43pm Wiped over coffee table, bookshelves, tv stand etc with wood polish. Vacuumed through. Hair dried au natural while I was vacuuming - no hairdryer needed today! Tidied spare room ready for new house-guest next week. Cleaned front doormat. Wiped mold from some window frames I'd missed last time around. Spread plastic containers out and turned them over (from dishes) to allow them to finish air drying. 

3.13pm Made a cup of peppermint tea and heated my curry lunch. Time for a break.

3.43pm Took last load of washing out and hung inside. Polished shoes and boots.

4.15pm Brushed teeth and put on shoes and top vest for walking.

4.25pm Hill walking and stretches afterwards (only 18 minutes but enough to get my heart rate up).

This was taken on a sunnier day, but it's home, and home was where it was at today!


4.45pm Candle meditation (only 9 minutes but better than none at all). Made poached egg on buckwheat pancake supper. Sorted some receipts for work. Tidied last messy part of kitchen bench. Put dishes away. Filled sink with hot, soapy water and put the next lot in to soak. I'll go and do them when I sign off here!

5.16pm Booked accommodation for next Big Night Out at the theatre in September.

I got things done that I didn't even dream of doing (Cleaned the front door mat...really? Yep!). The one thing I didn't get to was my tax - eek - still gotta do that. If I don't watch tv tonight I just might get it done too. Then I'll be starting the week with a fairly clean slate (relatively speaking...teachers always have lists and they never get any shorter). 

So my new goals for tonight are to get that tax done so it's not on my mind any more, cut up some salad vegetables for my lunch tomorrow and make some home-made hommus for dipping. In between times I'll do that new load of dishes (there aren't many) and start to read Bill Bryson's A Really Short History of Nearly Everything. That sounds a bit scary but my son recommended it as a good book to get a general understanding of a lot of things...so I'm going to take a look. 

Love the local library (45 minutes away...we used to have one in town here...they pulled it down and built a toilet block in its place. We had a mobile library for a while then they took that away too.) There is a small one a bit closer but I never seem to think about going to that one. I should make it a mission to go and explore it one day, then I might think to go there more often...it's only 25 minutes drive. The great thing is that I can order books online so I only need to go in to collect. Most of the time the book is ready for me in just a couple of days. What a wonderful world we live in. Books are so expensive but we can all have access to as many books as we like...no charge unless we forget to take them back on time. 

Guess I'd better get on with things. That tax is waiting for me. Once it's done I'll be wondering why I procrastinated for so long over it. It's just one of those things. 

I've enjoyed my little experiment today. It was fun to see what I could get done...but I didn't rush about or be silly about it. Just went from one job to the next without popping onto the computer. I'm going to use this strategy again and see what else I can get done. 

Cheers for now. Wishing everyone a good week (if only that could be). My thoughts go to all the people around the world sleeping on the streets tonight or living surrounded by war. Our complaints are so trivial when you think about it. How very, very blessed we are.