I spend a lot of time in my room at my aunt and uncle’s since that’s where my computer and other things are. When I emerged to see what my aunt and uncle were up to earlier, I didn’t see them anywhere. I knew I didn’t need to look far for either one of them. My uncle was probably in his shop, since he wasn’t in his office. My aunt didn’t appear to be in the house, which means she was ‘playing’ outside. She loves to rake and trim and otherwise tend their yard and the numerous trees, plants and shrubs around it. In other words, they were both busy doing things, productive things. I found myself wanting to be similarly engaged.
When I first got up this morning, I spent a few minutes journaling. A number of things were on my mind as I thought about ways to handle differently those times when I feel overwhelmed. Just thinking about all the stuff I can/should/need/want to do can get my mind spinning to where I don’t even know where to start. I decided to jot down some of the things I thought I wanted to do today. The interesting part was that I jotted down a quick list of six things and suddenly nothing further came to mind. I realized it felt doable, or at least approachable. So, I transferred the list onto a tablet and decided to see how the day would go.
I basically let things flow and ended up getting three of the six things on the list done – and it feels good. In fact, it feels really good because one of the things was to sort through the papers on my desk. The pile was still manageable-sized compared to how big other piles have gotten, but it was also continuing to grow.
Of course, I still have to figure out where to actually put the papers. Unfortunately, I only have a box at the moment. But it still feels really good to get the sorting done. In fact, I found a couple of things that were MIA. I even gathered the notes I’d written on all sorts of scraps of papers and backs of business cards and transferred them to places where I can actually find and potentially use them, mostly on the computer.
It occurs to me that this particular foray into the sometimes scary paper piles wasn’t scary at all. It did help that I don’t really have anywhere to file anything, so I was spared having to figure out where to file certain papers. I am also pleased to say that lots of things and virtually all the random papers with miscellaneous types of notes on them are now in the recycle wastebasket. Whoo hoo!
The things that don’t yet have a check mark by them on my list: reading my WordPress book to learn how to do some of the things on this site; paying a couple of bills (these will now be on my list for tomorrow); and clarifying some job search goals. However, in transferring the miscellaneous notes onto my computer, I did gather several things that will assist me in clarifying some of those goals. So, in a way, I even made a start on that task! 🙂
Action step(s):
- Updated and balanced checkbook
- Folded my laundry (I washed it Friday…)
- Sorted through all of paper pile on desk and threw out quite a bit of papers 🙂
- Transferred the random notes onto my computer and got lots of helpful notes gathered to use for my blog and other work
- Finished writing this blog in time to go check out an ACA meeting that’s nearby
Having the Courage to Change 