Small and Steady Wins The Race
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You know the saying but do you actually apply it to your life?
Some tasks can be daunting. You may look at everything that needs to be done and think “Whoa! NEVER gonna happen.” or “Whoa! That’s going to take FOREVER!”.
Earlier this week I was looking at the state of my kitchen. The fridge hadn’t been cleaned for a couple of weeks, the kettle had spots all over it, the cupboards were disorganized and the crumbs in the toaster could have provided us lunch … ewww I know!
So when I looked at everything that needed to be done, my instant reaction was to feel completely overwhelmed and anxious. I knew what this was going to involve:
- taking everything out of the fridge and wiping it down,
- putting everything back in the fridge, neatly,
- putting in some elbow grease to shine away water marks and burned toast bits from the toaster,
- pulling everything out of the cupboards, re-evaluating the need for it and putting it all away neatly
- etc …
Doing all of this with 2 young kids is tough. They love to “help” and with that comes doing most things two or three times, each time taking 3-4 times longer than if I simply did it myself.
So to spare some frustration and to actually find some enjoyment in this task of cleaning and resetting the kitchen, I spread it out over the the course of the week. I did the fridge one day, the kettle and toaster on another, the counter tops and shelves on yet another. Today is the microwave and the oven.
My message here: You don’t have to do everything at once.
Relax and breathe. It’s normal to look at something you need to do and become instantly uptight, anxious and nervous. Relax take a deep breath and know that you don’t have to have an all or nothing attitude. It’s about progress not perfection.
Start small. Break your task of cleaning the kitchen, hosting a party, or planning an upcoming vacation into smaller bits. Once you have small things you can comfortably do in an hour or two or over an entire day (depending on the time you have available) you should feel calmer and this “big” task should seem a lot more manageable.
Do one thing at a time. Focus on one of those smaller tasks you broke out and be mindful of what you’re doing. You can actually enjoy the task more if you pay attention to every little detail of it instead of whipping through it just to get it over with. Slow down.
Admire your work. Take time at the end to admire your hard work. Take note of how you feel, how long it actually took you and be happy to leave it at that for the day. Of course if you’re now in a groove go with it but don’t be too hard on yourself if you only do one thing towards your end goal. It’s about progress not perfection. (Did I say that already?)
So whether it’s your closet that’s been nagging at you, a storage room that is over flowing, holiday planning or decorating the key is to start small.
What is one thing you can do today or this weekend that will get you closer to where you want to be with a seemingly insurmountable task? Do it and only it.
See also:
Decluttering Tips For Living The Simple Life
Household Shortcuts And Handy Hints
Purge Just 7 Things – A Weekend Challenge
Photo courtesy of: exfordy
6 Responses to “Small and Steady Wins The Race”
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I had to laugh when I read your post this morning! We decided yesterday to invite a couple families over this weekend for a little get-together. No big deal. Just bring some fingerfoods and the house is already decorated…but then I started to think about the bathrooms that needed cleaned and the kitchen that needed to be scoured and the food that had to be made!! In the midst of my panic, I wrote down a plan. The plan is to do just a little over the three days before the party and it will all get done and I won’t be stressed out!
Marci@OvercomingBusy´s last blog ..Its all in the decisions
That’s awesome Marci! It’s funny how a lot of us tend to go into panic mode when we look at everything that has to get done. Yes, it’s a lot if you try to do it all at once but doing a little bit at a time quickly puts that panic to rest. I’m glad you’re taking the same approach! Good luck with your party
I think it’s also a good idea to just get started. Sometimes, just getting started is the hardest part. It’s easy to freak yourself out and build up a huge amount of anxiety if you stare at a project for too long before diving right in. Usually, after you get started, the rest comes much more easily.
Jay Schryer´s last blog ..Grandpa Comes Home
Sherri,
As a Vegetarian, I would say “how do you eat whole watermelon, one bite at a time…”
I agree, I have 9 months and 4.5yrs old, it sure is overwhelming…slow and one thing at the time sure helps. Thanks for suggestions.
Zengirl´s last blog ..Kids talk: series
Excellent post, Sherri.
It is easy to put ourselves in a nervous wreck when we have a lot to do but not that much time to do it.
Sometimes it is better to just relax, enjoy the moment, and start small. There’s no need getting into a fret about something that we only have so much control over and isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things.
Tim — Inspiration Pro´s last blog ..12 Fundamentals of Instant Charisma
Great job Sherri,
I found a few of the tips quite helpful lol I sometimes get a little OCD (or CDO as I like to call it…right alphabetical order) so everything becomes a nightmare of frustration and anxiety.
For me what helps the most is get the ball rolling, if you start thinking about every little detail you have to do and how your going to do it, it turns you off even before starting, ohh and reward yourself hahaha, for each thing well done I do I eat a piece of chocolate =o, self gratification, yay! =).
Matthew
Matthew Michael´s last blog ..Words Are Spoken By The Listener