One Bag Nation

This phrase came to me as I was commenting on a post over at lifehack.org.

Dustin Wax was writing about the psychology of procrastination, and the paradox that despite the guilt, stress and worry that procrastination brings, it still feels better – in the moment at least – than doing something we don’t want to do.

I think this is true of all compulsive or addictive behavior: the desire for immediate pleasure wins out over the delayed pain. Whether we’re eating an extra piece of pie, drinking another glass of wine, hitting the snooze alarm, or putting the unfiled tax return in the “tomorrow” pile, the result is the same; we’re temporarily soothed, just to have the pie hit us in the face.

If you struggle with chronic procrastination (as I do), take a look at Dustin’s post and see if there’s some wisdom there for you.

I eat oatmeal almost every morning*. I’ve boiled it over many, many times – the result of multi-tasking, of course. You can’t cook oatmeal, read email, pack lunches, and make coffee all at the same time – I tried!

Mornings are hard for many of us, especially if we have to get kids out the door. After I learned that multi-tasking was not the answer, I came up with an effective way to be more efficient, and one that doesn’t lead to kitchen fires.

So . . . I put my oatmeal in a large canister and put the measuring cups in with the oatmeal – no more digging around for those. Then I put all the oatmeal “condiments” together in one bin, stored in the same cupboard with the oatmeal canister. In our house condiments are brown sugar, nuts, raisins or other dried fruit, and . . . cocoa powder (mixed with a little sugar).

I still have lots of work to do to get my kitchen in good shape, but this is one small improvement that is taking me further on my journey to order, serenity and peace of mind.

*I can’t resist making a plug for the CORE program at Weight Watchers; you can follow it online or at meetings, and of all the plans I’ve followed – including other WW programs – it makes the most sense to me.

What Works

Sometime between Saturday and Monday, I decide what we’ll be having for dinner for the week.  I look in the freezer and the cupboards, pull out some recipes, and make my grocery list. Lately I’ve been aiming to try one new recipe every week; if I like something, I add it to my recipe binder (which was inspired by a post at unclutterer).

I can’t even remember how I managed dinner before my daughter was born, but since her arrival, and since discovering flylady, I can’t imagine walking in the door without a clue about what’s for dinner. There are times when I need to stop at the store to pick up a particular ingredient – something I want fresh or I’ve seen is on sale – but for the most part I have everything in hand when the week begins.

I should admit that this comes particularly easily for me because I’m an experienced cook with an eye for good recipes. I don’t do a lot of fancy cooking though, just healthy food that comes together easily. One of my favorite sources for recipes is Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, but I’m just as likely to turn to my old friend The Joy of Cooking or my collection of recipes from Cooking Light.

My meal plans make weeknights much more enjoyable and relaxing, and definitely contribute to serenity and peace of mind. Now if I could just find someone to come do all the clean-up, because What Doesn’t Work is leaving that mess for the morning . . . .

I was up very early to get a head start on my day, but I just couldn’t find my groove. I pulled out my tickler file and started to tackle my tasks, but my anxiety kept rising, until I got to the point where I was just shuffling papers back and forth but not taking action on anything. Suddenly I felt completely overwhelmed  . . . I had too much to do, my desk was a mess, my day was too busy, etc. etc. Lack of proper sleep and too much coffee were not helping . . .

I knew I had to snap out of it. I decided to get in motion: do some laundry, make a grocery list, do a 5-minute room rescue and go to the store – and I feel better now.

I guess the lesson is that while my journey to serenity may not always go forward in a straight line, I can recover from setbacks and continue on.

Each week I read Friday Focus from Carrie & Danielle, two super-cool women from Vancouver, BC, who have just published their book, entitled Style Statement, Live by Your Own Design.

I heard them speak a couple of years ago at a Ladies Who Launch event and they swept us off our feet. They’re smart, savvy, charismatic, creative, confident — and they’re having the time of their lives! I want to be them.

Well, of course I can’t be them, so I have to settle for soaking up their ideas and inspiration. The April 18 edition of Friday Focus was entitled “Creatively Devoted” and here is the meat of their message:

Creativity must prevail. Creativity is our core devotion.
And true devotion refuses to be impeded by preferences.

If you need to get the dishes done, tidy up, or have tranquility before your ideas can flow, your creative genius may be a bit insulted. (And insulted guests are reluctant to keep coming ’round.)

Devotion, be it to a person, a business plan, or your life’s calling, is a mighty force. It’s bigger than foibles, chaos, and complaints. So be ruthlessly devoted. Hunker down. Give what’s really important your ultimate reverence. The messiness won’t disappear, but it will matter less as you get where you want to go.

Hmmm . . . am I insulting my creative genius by trying to dig out of clutter? Is my devotion to “what’s really important” so shallow that I abandon it in favor of organizing cupboards and closets? What if it turns out that my creative genius is unleashed and empowered by those activities? What if my life’s calling is to blog about my quest for serenity and order?

Perhaps instead of striving for order, I should be striving for the ability to turn a blind eye to the clutter and the undone To Do’s and allow my creativity to prevail . . . hmmm.