Discipline...Me? Check-in

On February 11, 2011 I posted about discipline and I shared some goals I was looking to work on the rest of February.  This is a "check-in" post to see how things are moving and to stay focused on what I was setting my goals towards.

My goals were 1, 2, 3:

1. Wake up at 5:30 when alarm goes off and hit the floor with my feet.  Enjoy exercise quiet time and shower before children wake up.  How am I doing?  Well I have managed instead of snoozing until 7am, I am most consistently up by 6:15am and up before the children.  A few times I have had quiet time, but exercise and shower has not happened yet.  I consider this a great progress!
2. Plan my day in the morning (may I add plan it with asking God what His plans for me are) so that I have a structure throughout the day.  How am I doing?  I just Friday printed a great daily docket list after reading through an ebook I have which I am loving called Organized Simplicity-by www.simplemom.net.  This is planning one day at a time, period.  I like it.
3. Do at least 15 minutes of cleaning task with assigned room for each week.  How am I doing?  Well I changed this.  I don't like having something to do every day like this.  I realized that I want my home clean for the weekend, becasue what has happened normally is that by Saturday I am sick of seeing the house dirty and now have time so I spend Saturday cleaning up as I go all day long.  This is not a relaxing day for me.  So I want my home clean on Friday to prepare for the weekend going into it with a clean home.  So I am going to work on implementing Flylady's Home Blessing Hour.  Picking 6 things in the home and spend 10 minutes on each.  Instead of sticking with the things she says, I will pick what needs most in the home.  This past Friday I chose 6 things and got 5 of them done.  The weekend has been much nicer having everything clean and refreshed.  Then daily I will do my 1, 2, 3's which are 1 load of laundry, dishes and 10 minute declutter.  I have to remember in this season of life I need to have realistic expectations.

Thanks for listening.  Is there anything you have learned in your home that works best for you in keeping it clean but not obsessing over it?

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Discipline...Me?

Proverbs 21:5 (NLT) Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

I realize right now that in order to be more fruitful and enjoy my life more I have to instill some discipline and boundaries into my heart and life.  Step out in faith and do GOOD what God has put in my path right now.  Pick a few things and have fun with it, really work on it, dig deep in those areas and "garden."  What would those look like?  Do any of these sound familiar to you:

• Wake up earlier for quiet time and exercise to start the day
• Make a simple, but clear, cleaning schedule for the week/each day
• Set exercise goals
• Be a good manager of my time so it is not wasted away (especially in front of the computer)
• Go to bed at a decent hour

Well some people may look at discipline or boundaries like this picture below:

I am starting to realize more and more that THAT is not true at. all.  

Lately I have read several things about how you can spend the same amount of time/work wasting time as you can being productive. Well you say how can I do that?  Ok, well the more I waste time, sit around, play on internet, and procrastinate...the more time I have to spend fixing all I didn't do to begin with, regular cleaning and maintenance of house and cars, catching up on finances that may get unorganized and out of order, chaos happens, more time spent bringing structure back into the children's day so that there is less chaos with them and their lives...the list goes on and effects all areas of our life.

So now I bring into my journey...3 IN 30!

To finish up the month of February here are my goals I am going to write down.  Then I will follow up with a post on how I did on those goals.  I have prayerfully considered what I will work on with God's help and will concentrate on these three things.  Ever heard of the phrase....bloom where you are planted?  That is what I am going to do.  Sit still and dig into the things I know I already need to be doing and stop looking for more things to do.  

1. Wake up at 5:30am when alarm goes off, hit the floor with my feet, and enjoy exercise, quiet time and shower before children wake up. (If exercising after children are at school, then quiet time and shower and wear my good exercise clothes to feel refreshed!)
2. Plan my day in the morning so that I have structure through the day.
3. Do at least 15-minutes (set timer) Monday through Friday cleaning tasks: Monday-Kitchen, Tuesday-Bathrooms, Wednesdays-Living Room, Thursdays-Bedrooms, Fridays-Clean van and some outdoor tasks...also daily 1, 2, 3's which are one load of laundry, do the dishes, and set timer for 10 minutes and declutter.

So I put it in writing.  These are my goals for the rest of the month, granted its not a full 30 days, but close to it.  Maybe I will continue these goals for my March 3 in 30 as well.

That's all folks.  Do you want to join me in working prayerfully towards 3 goals the rest of the month of February, and not waste anymore time?

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)