Epiphanies

I had an epiphany the last few weeks of 2008. While I was figuring out what to get the people on my Christmas list, I found myself getting overwhelmed. You see, I planned on making most of the gifts and it was a long list. Add that onto my regular list of Things to Do at Christmastime and I was feeling in over my head.

Every year it's the same thing, handmade gifts or not, I make a giant To Do List for Christmas which usually includes tons of cleaning, shopping, baking and crafting--well guess what? I almost never get it all done. Sure, cleaning gets done when guest come over (although there seems to always be things thrown into a closet hidden behind a bedroom door), shopping gets done--but usually last minute and baking, well, if I manage to get it done, it's because I've stayed up until 2 o'clock in the morning. Not fun. What about the crafts? Well, that's usually the thing that never gets done. I've always blamed it on lack of time or having too much to do--I do, after all, have 4 kids to take care of on top of everything else.

Well, that's a bunch of hooey.

I know this because I actually succeeded in doing each and every thing on my list this year--in a timely fashion even! LOL

I sewed a ton, I cleaned, I baked--even tried my hand at chocolate covered pretzles for the first time, I even crafted--I made handmade ornaments!! So, it CAN be done. And here's how I did it:

Mini Lists

Yep. Mini Lists. I figured out that, for me, Big Giant To Do Lists are overwhelming. Sure, they're nice to look at *if* you finish them, but just looking at a giant list sends me into a sort of desperate sense of pre-failure that leaves me feeling overwhelmed and helpless. I look at my list and wonder, 'where on earth do I start?' and then I just keep staring at the list and looking around my house and looking back to the list...

Sure, I try to give myself pep talks and get everyone onboard with my To Do List, but it usually ends the same...everyone feels grumpy and stressed out and complains most of the time about the chores I've doled out, sounds fun huh?

Nope.

So, Mini Lists. What I did at Christmas was to take my Giant List and divide it up into smaller daily lists. Instead of writing 'Sew gifts for A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I' I wrote things like,

Monday~ Cut fabric for A, B & C's gift
Tuesday~ Cut fabric for D, E & F's gift
Wednesday ~ Cut fabric for G, H & I's gift
Thursday ~ Sew gifts for A, B & C
...and sew on... (haha, get it? "sew on" Bwahaha, I crack me up! :D)

I found it much easier to look at these lists as do'able. I didn't get overwhelmed! Wow! And the best part--I actually DID the things on my lists!!

Ahhh...



Which leads me to my next epiphany:

Fast forward to the last couple of days of December. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to make any Resolutions and I'm thinking of all the things that I want to change and get done.

Lose weight -- well, isn't that ALWAYS on the list? ;)
Keep up on the housework
Spend more time playing with the kids
Learn more about photography
Get organized

Screeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaach!!! Whoa there! What's that? Or-gan-ized? What on earth does that mean? How does one get or-gan-ized? How do I start? How will I benefit from being 0r-gan-ized? Hmm...

Could it be that *if* I were more organized my life might run a bit more smoothly? Hmm? Could it be that if my house were more organized that there might be less stress in our house? Hmm? Could it be that if things were more organized that I might be able to keep up with the housework? Spend more time playing with the kids? Learn more about photography?!?! Heck, I might even be able to--blog more!!!

Hmm...

I think I'm onto something here. Yup. I am!

Can you guess what I did next? Well, if you guessed "Made a mini list" you're a WINNER! Haha! Yes, that's exactly what I did. Sure, I made a Giant Master To Do List first, but only so I could get everything all out of my head (where it's been taking up way too much space I might add) and so I can look back on it later when I'm all finished and gloat a bit. ;)

Then, before the New Year even began, I started conquering that list. Yes, I started kickin' that list's butt!!! And you wanna know what? It feels GOOOOOD! It feels good to cross stuff off of my list and it feels Fantastic to look at my finished work. Has it been hard? Sure. Time consuming? Absolutely.

Worth it?

Oh you betcha! :)

I feel fantastic! I have more energy than I've had in a long time and the drive to get more done--for those of you who know me, you know that's saying a lot. ;) It's also gaining recognition. My husband asked me the other day,"where's all this stamina coming from? How are you getting all of this done?", to which I replied,

"Well you see, I had this epiphany..."

Hope you'll join me on my ride, it might bumpy, it's bound to take a while, but, it's gunna be FUN! :)