PoppyRow

I have to work overnight at the hospital this weekend, and that’s a bit depressing to me. I need my sleep, for one. And two, it usually wipes me out and I end up being mud for a few days afterwards. It surprises me that I can work the shift pretty well, actually, and it surprises me more than I get through a two-day weekend or sometimes even a three-day stint and I’m still alive. But with a six year-old it’s not easy to get good sleep during the day to recover enough for the next shift.

It’s also depressing because working any job is a big bummer when you are an artist and that’s what you’d rather be doing. Ed and I have finally payed off our pesky pile of debt, but our next goal is to have an emergency fund of three-to-six months livings expenses in the bank. So, I’m not out of the woods yet, we still have a way to go. We are pretty focused when we want to be. There is a goal chart hanging on the frig cheering us on - you know, the temperature-gauge type where you color each successful block in with a red marker to see your progress? I’m a big fan of visual reminders and encouragement.

It’s even more of a bummer to go to work, because with my new system of getting things done in life, I am actually getting things done! It’s the most amazing thing. I love it, and I’m excited. Five days worth of undertaking habit-forming operations, and still going strong! I’m not exactly changing the course of the universe, but in my little realm of influence, it’s been a great thing. Will it last..??

This is what I do. It’s hard to explain, so if your head is spinning by the end, I apologize! I got myself a magnetic refrigerator list pad. They are cheap and they are sold everywhere. I have about ten of them using the door of my frig as a social outlet for doing absolutely nothing. The one I am currently using has 18 lines. I put the date at the top (which originally was 5/21) and put about a dozen things I’d like to accomplish that day down as the day progressed. Of course, I didn’t get to them all. With my old system, come the 22nd, I would have re-written those things down and carried on as such. I didn’t do that this time. I started the 22nd on the same page, immediately below the previous list, and filled the next 4 or so lines, and carried the list onto the next page.

The rule was that I could not repeat things from the day before I had not actually crossed off the list. If “write blog post” was on the list from the day before but not crossed off, I could do it today, but cross it off for yesterday. If however, “laundry” was listed and crossed off, I could write it down today if I had more to tackle. As long as I made a little effort towards something (ie. laundry), I could cross it off. I did not have to completely finish all the laundry, just put in some effort. Savvy?

The next rule I imposed is that I can’t tear off that first sheet until everything on it has been crossed off. Technically, I could see the book completely filling up, so I also made a rule that I can’t fill more than three sheets. So, if I still have an item on page one not crossed off (I do), and I have just about filled up page three (I have), I can’t go on until I at least put in some effort into that one thing I haven’t attempted yet. Once I do, I can cross it off the list, therefore finishing that page so it can be torn off and discarded. I can then carry on with the whole process.

Why the heck, you may ask, did I tell you this ridiculously confusing system?? Well, it’s just to point out that you truly have to find a way to do things that works for you. It may seem wacky, but other people’s systems weren’t working for me. Oh they did for a while. Until I became so spread thin, and my list became so huge that I could never complete it. Until I became so overwhelmed that I never accomplished anything - epic malais.

Push through and find a way that works for you, even if it’s so confusing that no one in the general population could understand it. You do, and that’s all that counts.