Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Works For Me Wednesday!


by Amy Platon

Welcome Bloggers. Do you have any "Get it done" solutions to add to mine? Please post your tips or a link in the comments section. And by all means stay a while and read around Scribble Ink Cafe (there isn't a bad table in the house!) If you like what you're reading, please leave me a "tip" by becoming a wall-flower (follower).

I did solve my own dilemma here, but I want to know what you do to get your stuff done fast! Thanks.

After dropping my daughter off at school, I came home to an empty house. And for a writer that is pure gold.

But today, I just had too much to do. So I couldn’t indulge. There were bills to pay, beds to make, clothes to fold (then put away). So when I got home, I knew I had to get busy fast in order to have a few minutes to write at the end of the day. Only fast didn’t feel likely, since I worked the night before, sluggish was a little more my mood.

So, I walked into the kitchen to the sound of the dishwasher working away at cleaning the dishes. I forgot that I had turned it on before I left, which I rarely do. Usually, I run the dishes at night.

But there was something consoling about the washer being on when I got home. It was the sound of - me too, you’re not alone, hey lady - we’re on the same team. That, for a mom, is pure platinum.

So I raced the machine. I tried to get my stuff done before the machine was done with its dishes. And it wasn’t that I wanted to beat the machine, that would be childish and I’m just not that competitive. It was more that I wanted us to be done together. Ok, so I did a teeny victory dance when I won.

But I think really, it’s a sound of things getting done, in progress, on their way that had me motivated to get going. Cause in my mind all I had to do was “finish up” the work, not “get started” on it.

And ain’t that the truth? Finishing up on the work is way easier.

So here’s a little nugget from my mommy bag of advice, if you can leave something for yourself, a little present for the future, then I say do it. Do it often. Start something before you go to bed so that in the morning you only have to finish it up. Leave the washer on, lay out your clothes, just make the sandwich for your kids lunch, so in the morning you only have to finish assembling it.

It’ll have you feeling rich!

Share the wealth. What’s your story?

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3 comments:

  1. So true! I'm not always great about it, but I do try to leave a clean kitchen before I go out. It's always nice to come home and know the dishes are already washed, LOL!

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  2. I enjoy these little challenge games! Sometimes it is my only motivation.

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  3. I have, on occasion, tried to go a little bit longer on the treadmill if one of my fav songs came up on the iPod. I also use my iPod to do housework so that it goes by easier. Can I vacuum the upstairs before "Super Freak" goes off?

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