Organization

Have you been wondering where I've been? Well......I'm.....

How do you keep track of the thoughts in your head?

I have so many thoughts going through my head all at the same time, and sometimes everything wants to jam up like a huge traffic jam on the highway, and then I have to sit and wait for things to clear for days....not minutes or hours like a normal traffic jam, but days.

I don't know what you see in your thoughts, but I do a lot of "what if's", "if only", "I need to", "why?", "can I work this in?", "what will the outcome be?", and "how can I help?"

See, I told you it was a mess.....

Well, I have decided that enough is enough! I'm tired of fighting with myself and it's time that I clear my thoughts and put things into action. I should have saved this for a new year resolution, but I can't wait any longer. I have to do something NOW!

I have decided that starting Monday morning (and this can mean 12:00 a.m. Sunday night) I am going to create a schedule for myself and stick to it faithfully. I already have my calendar all marked out (not an electronic calendar, because that would tempt me to surf the internet). I used a paper calendar with a pen.....call me "old school", I don't care. I have to find something that works for me.

I find myself trying to pack more into a 24-hour day than is humanly possible, applying short cuts. And what do I do when I get to the end of the day? I look back on my day to see what I have accomplished and the view is never really that good....Actually I never really accomplish anything. I almost never complete things. I have good intentions every morning when I get out of bed, but my accomplishments at the end of the day are either unfinished, or never got started. Do you ever feel like that? I think that has a lot to do with the traffic jams in my head and being unorganized.

I have decided that I am going to get organized (place accurate traffic lights in my brain where they belong) on my schoolwork and appearance. Yes, appearance. I have never really had a major weight problem, but when 50 (okay, to be exact, it's 46) extra pounds is placed on someone and it's not suppose to be there....that extra weight tends to make that person feel miserable. And I am miserable!! After I lost my job of 22 years, the pounds crept up on me before I could stop them. I don't want to break into a sweat anymore when I get dressed in the morning, or feel out of breath just from putting on my pants. GEEEESH!! And I have a whole dresser full of size 10 jeans that are just sitting there begging to be worn....

Time management and weight loss have a lot in common (and both of these probably come sliding in behind the Get Rich Quick industry). People want instant results, but really don't want to put forth the effort to make things happen or change. Everyone knows to lose weight you eat less and move (sweat) more. To manage your time you take on less and concentrate harder on what you do tackle. But the simple things (less) are the hardest to tackle. That is why my accomplishments at the end of the day are unfulfilled. The simple things get pushed aside and I focus more on the large things. The things that are impossible to finish in one day. It is now time to stop that! I need an even-steven and I need it now.

Have you ever given thought to owning a pedometer? If you think about it, a woman is constantly walking, whether it be doing daily chores, shopping, or chasing children. Can you imagine what it would be like if we didn't combine our daily routine things? STOP MULTITASKING!! For example, instead of trying to see how many grocery bags you can pile on one arm, one finger, or one neck, maybe consider taking one bag at a time. Back and forth to the trunk 20 times instead of 1. That pedometer would be smoke'n by the time you got all the groceries in. The same thing with laundry. Instead of packing your arms full and balancing everything with your chin, how about placing one piece of laundry in the washer at a time. Pile them on the floor, bend, pick-up, twist; place in one shirt, bend pick-up, twist; place in one pair of pants, etc....There are so many ways we can keep ourselves active with everyday routines. Park farther away from the store or workplace.....walk farther. Let your 2 year old run loose in the house. Guaranteed to create exercise for mom.

So, now it's time for me to take my own advice and stop sitting in this computer chair typing all day long. I am going to get in some extra steps, and extra physical activity. If I'm going to live for a long time, I sure do want to be able to enjoy life.

Hugs for Always,

Angie