One Less Thing Thursday

Doing one less thing isn't about doing less. It is about properly budgeting your time to do the more important things (today's task in NOT one of life's MORE important things...but it still needs to be done! ) Doing one less thing is about reducing the stress in your life, increasing the quality of your life in small increments and creating a life that runs smoothly.

So, this morning while I was waiting for DD to finish getting ready for school, I used that time to iron a few t-shirts of mine (DH irons ALL his own clothes and occasionally the kids t-shirts! Am I blessed or what?). I despise ironing and will wear the last item in my closet before I get to the ironing.

The ironing board was already set up...so it was not a major effort on my part to begin. I selected a few items that were easy to iron in the time I had available. Continuing with the theme of touching things only once, when I completed the ironing, I walked the items upstairs and VIOLA! 10 freshly pressed shirts hanging in my closet. Tonight I will get the coordinating shorts, slacks and skirts so I will have COMPLETE outfits.

It feels good to accomplish a task (or a small part of a larger task) and still not feel rushed or stressed.

What I know:
1) Tasks that need to be completed can cause stress when they remain undone
2) To reduce the impact of unfinished tasks, put them out of sight (The ironing is hanging in a closet with the door closed)
3) Evaluate the small chunks of time you have throughout your day and fit the least desirable tasks into those small slots of time (break large tasks into smaller manageable ones, like setting up the ironing board and iron, hauling out the DI water and starch so WHEN I have the time to iron, I can actually iron)
4) Will yourself to begin. Sometimes starting is the hardest part
5) Set a timer if you need it and stop when you have completed the task you set out to do
6) Complete a coordinating event next (iron the shorts so I have complete outfits)

A completed task is a reward in itself! Congratulations!

While ironing is not a life altering event if it doesn't get completed, I can see a correlation between avoiding it and other more serious tasks. Leaving things un-done can cause your household, your relationships, job and life to become derailed and fall into dis-array. I don't advocate avoiding the unpleasant, as leaving things undone can create larger, more expensive problems in the long run. Breaking tasks down into manageable parts can increase your motivation to "gettin 'er done".

What is the MORE important thing you need to get done today?