You know those days where you feel like you can’t accomplish anything because there is so much to do? I am totally in that funk right now. I have so many things that I need to do and that I want to do, that I have like five to do lists going. I tried to do a longer range and a shorter range to do list so there isn’t one long list just PACKED with everything, but I seem to just be developing more lists and something is going to be forgotten.
Instead it is time to prioritize the major ideas and work from there.
So while I am sitting here at my computer, I am thinking:
I need to clean that awful closet in front of me. Once I start it should take less than an hour, and I think there are homes for everything I want to move out…
But I need to get a blog post done, before I lose engagement. Which means I could just finish that one about our best gifts but I need a photo and it’s after dark. So I could work on the Valentine’s Day one, but it’s too early to post that, so my time would be better spent on a post to publish now. So a book review would be perfect, except I need to finish one of the books, and there is so much else.
Oh, I need to add wood to the stove and switch the laundry.
This pile next to the bed needs to be dealt with, which means, I need to sort the papers, but that is its own black hole, so maybe tomorrow. The sweatpants need to be mended which won’t take long, but the needles are in the kitchen. If I go to find those I’ll want to clean off the hutch where the sewing stuff is.
I finally got the yarn to finish the cat cave and then I can get that delivered, but I should combine that delivery with the order of bags and I need to sew four more bags…
I could crochet the snowman hat and listen to an audio book, and move out the notes on the clipboard, but those are not a priority. A better use of time would be to sew the potholders I need to complete.
So basically, do I clean the house? Work on the blog? Or craft? I want to do them all!
First priority was to go downstairs and add wood to the stove and switch laundry. Neither of those wait well. While down there I considered that I need to stack the rest of the wood, but I decided I don’t need to at 7 o’clock at night. Some priorities are immediate, some are not.
Second priority was this blog post, but almost equally important is the google form I need to create to go with our Homestead Sales . I had been using a Paypal link, but the layout isn’t quite what I want, and it’s too hard to combine shipping with individual sales for each item…So as I type this, I want to work on that.
Third Priority was that as I worked on tasks to take photos to incorporate into blog posts. Blogs are more interesting when they have photos, I’m not sure if it actually helps with SEO (search engine optimization, or the ease with which one finds my post through a search engine), but it tends to help the reader.
Fourth Priority was a longer term plan of what to post to keep posting frequently. As I type this I have 6 tabs open with started blog posts in documents as I get inspiration and don’t want to lose the idea. Then I work on them as I am interested or as their deadline approaches. It is so satisfying to create the actual post and close the tab. It’s for these that I need the photos mentioned in priority three. So, to have a bit more organization I created a spreadsheet with post ideas, dates, and what they need. I have an additional tab on the spreadsheet with the silly holidays like “Bittersweet chocolate Day” to remind me to post a picture of our chocolate chip cookies and a link to our baked goods for sale.
These priorities are all short term. They all lend them towards resolutions of “a clean and organized house” or “a thriving blog”, but they are more concrete. Not just goals (I mean who doesn’t want an organized house), this prioritizing takes into account what we do and don’t have time to accomplish tasks and how we rank their importance.
How do you handle the New Year and the encouragement to create New Year’s Resolutions?
Thank you for sharing this post. I don’t set resolutions but set goals and focuses for the year.
Sounds perfect! I hope you achieve or exceed them all.
Thank you and you!
Thank you so much for sharing thus helpful post. I wrote down resolutions each year but it didn’t really work. Now I know I have to prioritize my stuff and achieve goals as the year goes.
I used to fail at resolutions too. This works better for me, I hope it works for you.
Prioritizing is definitely something I need to work on this year. Too many unfinished projects…so I am making a list and getting them done one by one, in order of highest priority or soonest deadline.
This sounds like a solid plan. Good luck!