Clear out the garage enough to park our car in there.
Read more books.
Resist taking home the free stuff folks bring to work unless I REALLY need it.
Stop procrastinating & tackle the home repair/painting I keep putting off.
Overall Rating: 1 vote
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Posted 1 year ago #
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lazycow, I liked that blog post too, the bit about hating being told what to do: that's me! However, I see absolutely no harm in having goals to change bits of your life you'd like to improve. Sometimes you reach the point where you think you need to put into words some of the crap floating round your head taking up mental space. Whether that's at New Year or not is irrelevant, some of my best habits I've taken up on a complete whim, but they've often been things which have been framed as goals previously.
Anyway, here is another blog post for those of us who have procrastinating tendencies, for me this forum counts as the 'accountability' bit:
http://zenhabits.net/procrastination/Posted 1 year ago # -
I try to keep mine simple, with clear, measurable goals. It doesn't always come out that way. And I try to keep my list small. This year is a mix. I have two items. One is small and specific, one is much broader. So I'm using sub-categories for the second one, and as I make progress on one category I'll start on another.
1. Chew. Seriously. I eat too fast. I hardly chew. This can't be good for me in the long run.
2. Establish and maintain routines. I'm horrible at this, which is why certain areas of my house and life are still cluttered. I've set up routines before, but eventually stop following them. I'd like to figure out why some routines work and others don't, and then make new routines that work for me. By routines I mean: meal planning, household chores and cleaning, paper management, and the like. I'm good with some routines, like laundry. I'm also good with my workouts, because I'm a competitive cyclist and know if I don't keep up with my training, races will be frustrating and humuliating.
2a. I started with card making. I have a room full of supplies to make greeting cards, yet I'm often making cards at the last minute, late, or not at all because I never plan or give myself time to create. So I made a 2011 event calendar, with birthdays and holidays, and I'm already doing a decent job of making sure I have cards ready when I need them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I too struggle with those routines, yet am good with laundry and exercise. Exercise because I enjoy it and look forward to it, laundry because I do a little bit every day and try to rope the kids into helping put it away where possible.
The others I have found a bit easier to do after having uncluttered, but I still need to get some good habits. I suppose that's what flylady is all about...I get really fed up with most routines after a while though, I'm good at external deadlines but not self-imposed ones. Since I had my bathroom done I've been good at giving it a wipe down most days, and it does make life sooo much easier, so I should stick with that. Cleaning the kitchen at night has been a good routine to get into, it helps if dh isn't in there half the time as he has been these holidays :) When I do it the next morning is much more pleasant, I just need to stick with it as best as I can. What really gets me is stuff like hoovering, the things you don't do every day. I am NOT going to start hoovering every day, I'd rather stick with my once in a blue moon schedule thank you!
I've been reading Erin's last post. Far, far, far too control-freaky for me, I would feel completely stifled by that approach :) Minimal routines, that's my preference.Posted 1 year ago # -
500 items or less is my main goal. I want to get to the point where if I needed to pick up and move across the country, I could do it without much fuss.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@lottielot: I like what you say about routines and agree with you that Erin's approach would not be for me (although perfect for her and others). They say it takes 11 days to ingrain a new habit. It think that was from an Atkin's Diet book I read a long while ago. I always remembered that because it makes doing something new easier for me to do thinking that I won't have to "struggle" with doing something new forever; and that it will soon become automatic or a habit.
When I first started ATAD it was difficult but got easier as I went along. It became a habit of sorts.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@needtocleanhouse - I heard it takes 21 days to ingrain a new habit, from a Franklin Covey seminar. But I'm proof that's not true. I've done a new habit (once it was hanging my coat up every day, another time it was using my to-do list every day) 21 (or more days), and then something happens and I completely lose the new "habit". Maybe I'm just an exception to that rule, hence my attempt to establish better routines this year.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Could you think of it as you choose not to continue? That would empower you?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Keeping it simple makes sense for me, I would like this year to be simple as last year was chaotic.
1. Unclutter a minimum of a thing a day.
2. Limit things coming In, practice one in, one out.
3. Get control of inherited photos, this has been an ongoing project in fits and starts for a couple of years. There are just so many and I'm writing down the memories or stories to go with them, scanning and scrapbooking them with the stories digitally. Then the originals are going into organised photo safe storage rather than random boxes.
4. Have time to do the garden, see friends, indulge in cultural activities.
5. Spend some time doing things with dh rather than passing like ships in the night!Posted 1 year ago # -
ntc, thanks! A new way of looking at changing my habits: choosing not to continue.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I just came across an interesting article related to the habits we've been talking about that ties in human biology with developing new routines and habits.
One suggestion it makes is to repeat the new behavior at the same time each day.
Posted 1 year ago # -
ntc, I just read that article... Interesting, how I gained so much weight after meeting DBF. I copied his *habit* of having supper and snacks in front of the TV. It's going to be lonely having supper by myself in the kitchen....ooh, forgot to mention that this *habit* is over 10 years old.
Posted 1 year ago # -
SunshineR, my husband and I haven't lived under the same roof for very long yet, but he loves his soft drinks, chips and dip, calorie-crazed other foods, and it's been a struggle for me, who has some extra to shed, to take the first step and admit to myself that we're not the same.
He's fairly tall and so am I, but that's where the similarities end, as he's very slender. I on the other hand am built with decent shoulders and hips, plus I have a metabolism that sucks every single bit of energy to it (and don't exercise enough to counteract what comes in). Now a little belly is starting to develop on him, too, which has startled me into realization that I can't keep eating what he brings home, unless it has the colour of a natural rainbow and might end with -able for instance.
Next step is to teach myself to have a diet of my own if necessary. And the world won't end there, it might just be a little more of a nuisance to prepare two different meals.
Motivational articles for those seaking to make a permanent lifestyle change are to be found on SparkPeople, which I highly recommend (they focus on every aspect; diet, exercise, psychology, habits/phenomena such as sleep and stress). It's not about losing 10 pounds in two day by eating one cup of cole soup every two hours or something similarly crazy. "Diets" are short-term and personally I want the weight to come off slowly enough so that it stays away for the rest of my life too. The yo-yo effect is not just annoying but has proven to be extremely dangerous if continued over years like many women tend to do with their weight. I also want to eat the same foods during my weight-loss project as I will eat afterwards, during maintaining, only then in possibly bigger portions.
I find that my life is more in control, less cluttered in many ways, if I'm taking an organized approach, which aim is permanent change. It also feels like a more valuable investment then, somehow.
P.S. Sorry for the long post :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
These are all really great goals to aspire to all of which I should do. However, this year I want to keep it simple so my goals are these:
Peronally: Be positive
For my home: Stay on top of organization and cleaning, continue to be motivated by ATAD, (even if I don't get rid of one thing each day there are some days that I get rid of multiple items so I think it all evens out in the end), and take steps to organize each room so that it works. When we moved in my husband directed the movers while I stayed behind at the old place cleaning. This was also the point where we merged our stuff. I wasn't happy with some of the furniture placement and it has prevented me from making decorating decisions. The dissatifiaction also just clutters my brain so I need to fix the problem - it's been 4 years - it's time!
Happy 2011!Posted 1 year ago # -
ninakk: thanks for the link to SparkPeople. I'll check it out.
Posted 1 year ago # -
i have recently signed up with sparkpeople too.
my husband has lost 12 kilos on his own impetus, and is looking wonderful...i'm inspired.
with both partners committed, you've got a better chance of making it stick.the eye opener for me has been the nutrition tracker on sparkpeople.
when i discovered how many calories were in a cup of pasta, i said NO MORE PASTA.
seriously, the stuff is ridiculous.
and o boy, what big bowlfuls we could devour....i think the simple act of recording what you have eaten and what you plan to eat, is a very powerful thing.
it has certainly made me think hard about what i am putting into my mouth.
and i've quit my baaaaaaaaaaaad habit of throwing handfuls of pecans into smoothies, lol.Posted 1 year ago # -
uh-oh. My DBF loves pasta...bread...mashed potatoes...I could go on.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@bandicoot: Have you tried eating mindfully? I haven't finished Thich Nhat Hanh's The Miracle of Mindfulness, but in the beginning there's a passage about eating a tangerine, which made me stop to think for quite some time about my eating habits. Then I read it again and the feeling got stuck, so now, whenever I try to get myself back on the wagon (if having a weak moment, bad day or such), I think of the tangerine.
There's a lesson in The Mindful Way through Depression by Williams et al. on how to really taste a raisin, and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Apparently it had changed the eating for good for some student of theirs.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Ooo! For those who have iPhones and are looking to create routines to cement new habits, I have the best app for you: HomeRoutine! I have a simple morning routine and an evening routine, plus four weekly tasks. I've also just weaned myself off anti-depressants and have a "mental health" routine. I've been using HR for a while now and it is tops.
The only other thing I have to say to those who want to minimise cleaning is this: iRobot Roomba. And a big feather duster.
@bandicoot – I know what you mean about the pasta. And it's so low in nutrients too! :( The following post was really eye-opening for me: http://hbfser.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/lets-talk-numbers/
Posted 1 year ago # -
thanks vjb, will check out the app, I have an iTouch so it should work on that. I used to have something similar on my Palm Pilot, but I kept forgetting to look at it!
I had a sudden revelation this morning, I was listening to a podcast on organisation and ADHD and I realised I have a lot of the symptoms of ADHD. Sadly not the physical hyperactivity bit, but mentally my brain is always whizzing away, I get distracted all the time, I find it really hard to follow routines and to stay on task, I get bored easily so I did my degree twice as quickly because one subject alone bored the pants off me, any job involving being stuck in an office caused me major issues, I'm always late etc etc. If I do have it it's obviously very mild, but bit of a lightbulb moment there...Posted 1 year ago #
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