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11.25.2012

{monday's mantra}

Are you all recovered from Thanksgiving yet? It took me three days of sleeping and doing almost nothing to finally get back to feeling normal, and I'm still exhausted. I guess waking up at 5:30 in the morning on Thanksgiving to start making the turkey, and then spending the rest of the day eating and drinking wine will do that to you. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure I actually came down with something on Thursday night. I was absolutely miserable, but at least I didn't get sick until after Thanksgiving! 

Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday with friends and family, and that you're ready to get back to, you know, life
I have a big problem with this sometimes. I'm always trying to figure out solutions for things that aren't really problems. In the process, I usually end up making things much more complicated than they have to be, something I'm really trying to fight. This post is a great example! I spent so much time trying to figure out the perfect design for this quote, rather than thinking of how it actually applies to my life. It was kind of sad when I actually figured it out. 

The same goes for a lot of my "problems" that need solving: my organization system, scheduling my time, answering all my emails, cleaning my home, etc. I see everything as something that needs to be solved, rather as just a task that just needs to get done. I know that I'm really going to need to get over this soon, so that I can actually get work finished when I need to get work finished. I can spend all day on a project, without getting anywhere, really. It's such a terrible, horrible habit to break. 

I spent an hour on the phone last week with Jess, and she and I pretty much came to the same conclusion. I need to get a process in place that's good enough (it doesn't have to be perfect), and just use it. This week, I plan on putting those basic processes into place, and not changing them. I need to just get it done, without making it complicated. 

What's your mantra this week?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

This is the perfect Mantra for me as well. With the year coming to an end, I think we all tend to go into overdrive, when in reality we need to just slow down and appreciate the Christmas season :)


xxx
Jenna

Unknown said...

it's so funny - this mantra was a theme of ours all last week when Jon was here! especially when we went to do our gist registry (but also just after hearing conversations with between members of my family and watching my mom prepare for hosting Thanksgiving) he kept pointing out that Americans come up with all these solutions to problems that we think need to be solved - when no one else things they're problems at all in the first place! simplification is key. that, and not overthinking everything! (though Jon's approach is a bit too laissez-faire for me... haha!)

Unknown said...

this really struck a chord with me today. i over-complicated EVERYTHING. my to-do lists have to be neat & organized before i can embark on the tasks they contain. i have to have a planned out assault on my apartment to even begin cleaning it.


i'm reading betsy's comment as i tap out my own, & i'm agreeing that 'simplification is key.' now, if only i could really apply that to my life.

Unknown said...

Jess is such an inspiration to me! I struggle with this too, but I'm getting better at it. Sometimes I feel like my "lists" are like monsters chasing me, and I run as fast as I can ;) But, in reality if I just stick to the plan and finish the tasks I feel A LOT better.

Unknown said...

love today's mantra - it's definitely something i struggle with too. i get worked up about figuring out the perfect solution, but in reality, no solution is perfect. things change and that's ok. i think a big part of it is showing grace to *ourselves* - to let go a bit, lessen the pressure we put on ourselves, and recognize our accomplishments instead of rushing onto the next thing. i don't have it all figured out yet, so i'll be working on this one with you ;)