It is that time of year again. The time where we all seem to ponder and become introspective about the year which has passed and look forward with hope and anticipation to the year ahead.
As I ponder over many areas in my life, I will say the one area which has really been bothering me lately is my house. I would like, probably like most women, for my house to be immaculately clean, laundry done, and every nook and cranny clean. Not true. Not real life. Who has time for that anyway?
I am always looking for tips which will seem to make this huge job called “house cleaning” easier, simpler, or more manageable. I have found tips which have worked, and some which have fallen flat.
As I pondered this, looking around my bedroom at the stack of books on my dresser which have been there for months and the one foot stack of children’s artwork which sits in my closet, it came to me that I need to be better at following through.
I tend to be goal oriented or task oriented. I like to make a list of things which need to be done, and I love, love, love it when I physically or mentally get to check my boxes off and move on. This personality trait has a flaw though. I sometimes don’t follow through well.
This year I want to be better at follow through.
Can anyone else relate? I make dinner for one hour. We sit down to eat, and then I just want to leave the kitchen. I cooked, and it was good, right? Dishes? I don’t want to do that. I start a sewing project and maybe even complete it, but leave the sewing machine, basket, and fabric scraps out for 3 days.
It is amazing to me how little time it takes to follow through. I took something down to the garage which I had been putting off putting away. I knew I would have to move some boxes to put the item away so I had been procrastinating the task. I actually counted, and it only took me 50 seconds to walk downstairs, unstack the boxes in the garage, put the item in the box, and restack the boxes.
Why do I procrastinate and not follow through on something when it takes me less than a minute to follow through? It seems ridiculous, but the words “I will do that later” are a pattern I have to overcome.
I started today, and I will say at least 5 times I was tempted to not follow through on something. I had to stop myself and tell myself I needed to follow through.
The truth is I will have to follow through at some point. Following through later will still be the same amount of time or possibly even more with the added disadvantage of a messier house in the meantime. I also realize that I probably don’t realistically allot enough time for my tasks. I usually allot enough time to do the task, but I need to be better to allow enough time for the task as well as the getting out and putting away of supplies with maybe even a cushion in between tasks if they go too long.
So, any other challenged follow throughers out there who would like to join me? I would love the accountability! The more the merrier. We can do this!
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Psalm 27:17
