Intentionally Uncommitted

Everyone has 168 hours a week.  I don’t know about you, but out of those 168 hours, I work 42.5 hours, travel 10 hours and sleep at least 56 hours.  I am very particular about what I do with the remaining 59.5 hours of my week.

It seems like everyone we know is always busy:  they have social lives taking up much of their time and energy from Monday through Sunday.  Todd and I are quite the opposite.

Todd and I attempt to keep our calendars open as much as possible.  To be honest, we don’t even keep a calendar due to the lack appointments we keep.  Our lives are so laid back that all the dates I need to remember are kept in my head…many times no more than 2-3 weeks out.  Not having a social life means we have more time with one another.

Admittedly, I am the one in the relationship who is always trying to make friends with other couples to go out and do things with once in a while.  We schedule times and meetings with our friends every few months and for us, that is enough.  I love my friends and family, but we do not feel we need to “hang out” with them every week.  My favorite thing to do with friends and family is to have them over for a meal or go over to their house, sit and talk.  We have one set of friends who like to do some of the same things we do (and they are frugal too!), so we go on nature walks, get ice cream, play board games and have a good time chatting. 

Since we started dating, Todd has been made aware how important family dinners are to me.  Nearly every dinner we eat together is sitting at the dining room table together with nothing other than great meals and the two of us talking about our day and our plans.  By having a sit-down dinner every single night, it doesn’t leave much time for extracurricular activities during the week after work.  To be honest, I enjoy life more this way. 

We consciously have to keep in mind what is important to us (spending time with one another) and say “no” to those activities that would take away from the little time we do have together each week. 

 

Are you intentionally uncommitted with your time?
I would love to hear about why you have decided to live this way as well.

This post is linked up to Intentional Me.

Book Review: Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

I am a master procrastinator.  There is no denying it.  I have struggled with this trait for as long as I can remember.

Todd always jokes, “If you were a nation, you’d be procrasti-nation!”  I found this book on the library computer system from another branch and I knew I had to read it!

 

Photo Credit

 

When the book was available at my library to pick up, I immediately noticed how compact it was and I thought, “This is the perfect book for me!”  Why was it the perfect book?  Because for those of us who procrastinate (with some ADD tendencies), we get overwhelmed by large books and procrastinate on reading them!  Can you imagine?  Procrastinating on reading a book on how to train your mind to stop procratinating!

That being said, I dove right in.

I was interested from the very first page.

"If you are like most people today, you are overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time.  As you struggle to get caught up, new tasks and responsibilities just keep rolling in, like the waves of the ocean.  Because of this, you will never be able to do everything you have to do.  You will never be caught up.  You will always be behind in some of your tasks and responsibilities, and probably in many of them."

You may be wondering what frogs have to do with procrastination, but everything in the book revolves around these simple thought processes:

"Mark Twain once said taht if the first thingn you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. 

Your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it.  It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact ony our life and results at the moment."
 

 Rule 1:
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.

Rule 2:
If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesnt pay to sit and look at it for very long.

I will be honest that the first 40 pages of this book were the most motivating to me.  The rest o the book was more about what to do in business-type settings to get past the procrastination.  Though it is good to know, the quote about the frog and the rules above are what have been motivating me the most to "eat my frog" every day.

The book goes on the the following 21 steps about how one goes about accomplishing the thought processes above.

 

1. Set the Table
2. Plan Every Day in Advance
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything
4. Consider the Consequences
5. Practice Creative Procrastination
6. Use the ABCDE Method Continually
7. Focus on Key Result Areas
8. Apply the Law of Three
9. Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin
10. Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time
11. Upgrade Your Key Skills
12. Leverage Your Special talents
13. Identify Your Key Constraints
14. Put the PRessure on Yourself
15. Maximize Your Pesronal Powers
16. Motivate Yourself into Action
17. Get Out of the Technological Time Sinks
18. Slice and Dice the Task
19. Create Large Chunks of Time
20. Develop a Sense of Urgency
21. Single Handle Every Task

This book is a must-read for anyone who is looking for motivation on ridding of their procrastination.  At less than 130 pages and a 3 hour read, I know it has changed my life and my tendency to procrastinate!  When I start my day, I know what “frog” I need to eat and try to get accomplished first thing because after that, the rest of the day should be smooth sailing. 

So, my question to you is, what is your frog?
I know for me, it is housework and getting organized. That is the main reason I got this book: to get motivated and take care of the tasks (or the frogs) that have been piling up on me for years. 

Ribbit! Ribbit!

 

Photo Credit

 

 

*Disclosure:  I was in no way compensated or influenced to write this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

MIA

I am not sure if anyone has noticed but I have been (intentionally) MIA for the past 2 ½ months.  At the beginning of July, I scheduled an post that I decided never to make live, but to just let the blog sit idle.  I didn’t know for how long the site would sit unattended, but it wasn’t until I received encouragement from a reader several weeks back and a friend ofmine who also reads the blog that I decided to start writing again.

Don’t get me wrong, I have missed updating and writing on the blog over the past 2 ½ months, but I really needed the time away to focus on other things in my life.

This is the post that never made it live back in July:

I Don’t Want To Be Connected (To Electronics, That Is)

Over the past month, I have been struggling with being “connected” by the internet and cell phone.  For the first time in my life, I am not concerned about the amount of time I am spending online because I am met with my own personal resistance to being connected.  I am perturbed by a society that is connected to their cell phones and internet connections every waking minute.

In the month of June, I inadvertently started to break away from blogging* and the internet in general.  I think I posted once a week for two or three weeks.  I checked my email every several days but I was horrible at responding back.  It was so bad that I even received a second and third email from a friend who was worried that something happened to me!

With the fast-paced world around us, I have been yearning for the truly simple life.  A life with no real plans on the weekends and time spent together with friends and family face-to-face.

Have you gone through a phase that you completely disconnect from the internet and your cell phone?

 

*Please note that I love-love-love connecting with people! I enjoy blogging and reading emails and comments from followers of the blog.  But I have been cutting back a bit to “stop and smell the roses” along the way.

 

So, what have I been up to over the past 2 ½ months?  A lot!  I have several posts to write and update my faithful followers on what we have been up to here on the homestead including what we decided to do with our broody hen, how our garden turned out this year, our new way of eating gluten/dairy and sugar-free, and many other topics.

The only difference from the past is that I will not be posting nearly as much as I used to: most likely just once a week.

To all the readers who have stuck with me through all of this, THANK YOU.

Mulit-Tasking

Multi-tasking is overrated in my opinion.  I used to boast that I could multi-task with the best of ‘em, but now I am proud to say that I am consciously trying not to multi-task throughout the day. 

There is something to be said about working on and completing one task at a time instead of being torn between five different objectives.  I have found that when I multi-task, not one of my tasks gets the attention it needs to be completed in the way I would prefer, thus creating more work for me in the end. 

For me personally, when I follow-through with one project at a time, it takes less time to complete.  I am entirely focused on the project at-hand and nothing else. 

I am forced to multi-task at work every day.  I am the sole Purchasing Agent for a multi-million dollar company.  I am torn between incoming phone calls, a dozen sales reps requiring quotes and asking questions, resolving a shipping error, finding obsolete product, placing orders and rectifying incorrect invoices.  I can be working on all of these things in a 15 minute time frame.  This is most likely why some days, I am so mentally exhausted that I can do nothing but read a book or veg out in front of the television.

What are your thoughts on multi-tasking?

Simple Living: Meals

Several weeks ago, I noticed that my meals have been lacking in a big way.  I have had no creativity, and I’m lucky if we get a meat, potato and vegetables with dinner.  I have been making the same thing over and over again, and it’s been very dull.  I am very fortunate to have a husband who loves to cook.  With his rotating schedule, I get several days throughout the week of not having to worry about what’s for dinner! 

I have found a few ways to resolve my recent lack of cooking inspiration all while keeping it simple and saving time.   This is what I’ve found:

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

I have big dreams of making these extravagant meals for my husband with ingredients I’ve never heard of and have never tasted before in my life.  I can picture it in my mind: a nice salad, a great meal, some biscuits or rolls on the table and a glass of wine with dessert afterwards.  The truth of the matter is that this is not going to happen!  Yes, sometimes it does when I have all day to prepare it, but on days I work, it’s not!

I am the queen of 5 (or 6) ingredient dishes.  We have our usual favorites, but it is time to add to that list of meals.  I can somewhat achieve my dream of having a really nice meal by making these types of meals in the morning before work, heating them up before hubby gets home and whipping together a small salad. 

There are a lot of resources online that will give you hundreds of recipes with five ingredients or less.  This link shows how many websites have 5 ingredient recipes listed on them.  But I must admit, this one is my favorite for the simplicity.  Many of these recipes require items that are staples in our house, which is why I love them!  No extra (unnecessary) trips to the grocery store to pick anything up!

Don’t forget to check out your local library to see if they have any simple recipe books that you can take out and experiment with the recipes. 

Also, in the line of simple meals, I love to buy roaster chickens.  Not only are they inexpensive per pound, you can you get a meal out of the meat (you can cook it in a crock pot and it falls off the bones!) and afterwards boil the bones to make your own chicken broth.  Add some onion, carrots, celery, left over meat from the chicken carcass and at the end, some egg noodles, and you’ve got yourself a great bowl of chicken noodle soup!  Or chicken and rice soup, whatever you prefer. If you don’t want to make chicken noodle soup, still boil the bones and freeze the chicken stock for recipes calling for it in the future (without having to buy it in the store!)

Use a crock pot

Really, there is nothing easier than throwing dinner in the crock pot and leaving it until dinner time.  I found a great book called Six Ingredient or Less Slow Cookers by Carlean Johnson.  Now this is my type of cooking!  6 ingredients and in a crock pot!  It’s kind of like that commercial, “Fix it, and forget it!” 

I think I’ve used the crock pot more in the past two weeks than I have in the last year.  It is a great way to create something different and not have to stand over the stove all day to make it. 

Crockpot meal at 7:30 AM

Dinner is ready at 6:35 after I get home from work!

Make a double batch & freeze it

After deciding that a recipe is a “keeper,” make a double batch the next go-around.  Immediately freeze the extra portion and thaw it out in a few weeks when it is time to make a meal.  There is nothing better than having a delicious, homemade meal even if it was made a few weeks or a few months ago!

If you only have pieces parts…

There are times that I put off going to the grocery store until we literally have nothing in the fridge but mayo and orange juice!  When the pantry and fridge is looking sparse, try SuperCook and put in the ingredients you have in the cupboards.  It will come up with new recipes using the items you have in your home! I have used it many times to come up with a new recipe with the very little we may have in the cupboards.

 

Have fun with it

I love to cook, but at times, I dread it.  I like to cook when I want to cook, not when I have to.  It seems after making a few simple yet delicious meals, I become more adventurous.  Remember to set aside a portion of each meal for future use.  There is nothing better than opening up the freezer to decide “What’s for dinner?”

I have taken out the following books from the library and they have already provided several meal ideas for me.  They include:

• Fix-It and Forget-it 5 Ingredient by Phyllis Pellman Good
• Once-a-Month Cooking Family Favorites by Mimi Wilson

Happy cooking!

This post is linked up with Mom's Best Nest Flock Together Blog Hop!

Time Management

These past few weeks, I have become the queen of time management!  (Yes, I just tooted my own horn.)  Last week, I wrote about my tendencies to procrastinate.  My husband even made a joke about it: “If you were a nation, which one would you be?”  Response: “Procrastination!”  Cheezy, I know.  I decided it had to come to an end! 

Not only am I trying to live by the motto, “Just Do It!,”  I am trying to get into the habit of writing out lists of what needs to get accomplished the next day.   I am naturally a morning person.  I have no problem getting out of bed at 5:30 and getting the day started, so I’ve decided to do as much as possible in the mornings!

This is what our dry erase board had for me to do one morning:

I have 2 ½ hours between the times my alarm goes off in the morning and the time I have to go to work.  I knew this list would be difficult to complete within 2 ½ hours, but I wanted to see just how much I could actually get done.

What was accomplished:

·         Puppy bedding in the washing machine

·         Puppy out for a walk (1.25 miles – 30 minutes) while her bedding was being washed

·         Picked snow peas from garden / collected an egg (this was a surprise! Our 3^rd hen finally started to lay eggs!)

·         Hung puppy wash on the laundry line

·         Put in a second load of laundry (was not expecting to do this)

·         Prepared shortcake muffins (35 minutes to bake : 15 minutes to prepare)

·         Shower

·         Ate breakfast

·         Started dinner for the evening (was not expecting to do this either)

·         Checked my email (I shouldn’t have done this – I got sucked into its vortex for 15 minutes)

·         Got ready for work

·         Hung second load of laundry out on the line

What wasn’t accomplished:

• Pick red raspberries
• Pack for our trip out of town

When I got home that evening, all I had to do was reheat dinner (chicken parm), pick the red raspberries (5 minutes) and pack for our trip.  All of this took less than 30 minutes.  I had the rest of the night to enjoy with my hubby and our animals!

I have also been learning that my lunch break at work is a waste of time; why not make the most out of it?!?  Once every week or two, I run to Aldi’s down the street and pick up any items we may need so that I don’t have to worry about going to the grocery store on the weekend or after work.  On the other days, I read during my lunch break.

I wasn’t sure how I would find an hour a day to keep up with the Bible in 90 Days reading program I started over at MomsToolbox, but I have been able to plan my time and use it wisely, and thus far, haven’t had a problem keeping up!  It is amazing when you make a plan, how easy it is to stick to it (and even have some time to spare!)

Do you make yourself a schedule to accomplish every day?

How do you stay on top of tasks? 

This blog is linked up to Homestead Revival's Preparedness Challenge.

Just Do It!

pro·cras·ti·nate

To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. 

To postpone or delay needlessly.

(Source Credit)

I am a master procrastinator.  It will be 7:55AM and I will be running around the house with a wet head, packing my lunch, getting dressed, brushing my teeth, putting the chickens in their coop and putting Lana on her line outside.  Mind you, I have to leave for work by 8:00AM!

Lately, my moto has been the same as Nike’s slogan: “Just Do It!”

I will see something that needs done, and instead of putting it on my “to do” list, I just complete the task.

Examples:

 Dishes in the dishwasher are clean – instead of waiting until I get home from work in the evening, I complete the task before leaving in the morning.  Time: 5 minutes

Chicken Coop needs cleaned – instead of waiting to do it in the evening, I get it done in the morning as I kick the ball around for Lana.  Time: 10 minutes

What’s for dinner? I decide in the morning and prepare as much of it as I can so that when I get home, I can just heat it up and have it on the table as soon as Todd gets home from work (I beat him home by 10-15 minutes on the days we both have to work.)

(Do you notice that in the morning, I put things off until the evening?   In the evening, I promise myself I will get it done in the morning!  Then, chores don’t get completed for several days until they pile up and become overwhelming.)

When I wake up in the morning, I know I should walk the pupperoni (Lana) so that she will be pooped and sleep most of the day while we are at work.  In the past, if I would wake up tired, I would hit the “nap” button on the alarm, giving me an extra half hour of sleep.  That really isn’t fair to Lana nor is it fair to my own health.  So now, even if I grumble under my breath in the mornings, I get my butt out of bed, get some clothes on and put on my walking shoes. 

By doing little chores and tasks as they come up, I notice that my evenings are much less stressful! And sometimes, I even have time to do things that I want to do, like post blogs in advance, take pictures, play around in the garden, and even read!  Not to mention when I do these things throughout the week, it is one less task I need to complete (or put off) on the weekends!

Do you procrastinate as much as I do?

What do you do to help ward off the terrible procrastination bug?

This post is linked up to the Homestead Blog Hop!