Yesterday I sent out lesson 5 on the topic of “Do it Now,” Which is a habit that we have to incorporate into our lives if we want to change from chaotic and disorganized to clean and organized.
I wrote that we need to keep the mess at bay even if the room is a mess right now.
Today I am sharing 2 lessons in one.
“How to Tackle Overwhelm” and “TheMississippii Project”
This video was prompted by Rose, a Tidy Tutor University Grad, who wrote me this:
“It still amazes me how we OC [Organizationally Challenged] people perceive time. There was a task I wanted to get done this morning, and I really didn’t want to do it. But, I was my “own mommy” and told myself to do it for 15 minutes and 15 more minutes until it was done.
I expected it to take me about an hour (giving myself breaks…. I told myself). So, I put on a song from YouTube and started my first 15 minutes.”
I finished the task in 13 minutes. 😀 Yes, we can be silly about things like that, but we are also friggin’ awesome! Happy Thursday people 🙂 ❤” ROSE
Organizationally Challenged types such as we, have a warped perception of time.
We think that everything will take too long so we get overwhelmed before we begin and often we never start.
This really brings horrific consequences into our lives.
The things we put off because we think we will never be able to complete are some of the most pressing and agitating things in our lives.
I’ve got a solution to this problem, and a problem it is, because things left undone over an extended period of time affects every facet of our lives and it seeps into our subconscious as becoming an acceptable way to live.
It seeps into our sense of self-worth believing that we are not good enough and we give into the feeling of futility, which is another word for hopeless.
The FIRST thing to do is recognize that we have a problem. Let’s call it “Warped perception of time syndrome.”
We have to come to terms that we can’t estimate how long something takes and bypass our minds decision not to begin and just get started on it even if our body is kicking and screaming all the way.
SECOND: Put blinders on.
As predominantly right-brained individuals we see the entire picture. We can’t see just a task we see ALL the tasks at one time, the look of a room, or project comes flooding into all of our senses with a matrix-like time laps visual, filling our brains until all of the components of what has to be done overflows out of every orifice in our heads and consumes our aura like a cement suit.
So, decide what ONE thing will you do first and where you will start. (more about putting blinders on in the video as well.)
THIRD, you have to set a timer when you begin that daunting task.
There is something about the knowledge that a DING is going to happen and attached to that lovely sound is the END of the project! Or at least to the session we’ve committed to.
I recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes. We can do anything for 15 minutes and knowing that it’s ONLY 15 minutes helps us stay on task and resist the fatal “I can’t do this anymore!” silent scream from within.
Most of the time these projects or problem areas we are thinking about are spaces at home that have been looming for a long, long time, almost so long that we hardly even notice them anymore.
Whether it is a mountain of laundry that needs to be folded and put away, a closet that is overflowing & taking over a room or the refrigerator that has unopened plastic containers that we would NEVER open back up, I’m telling you that NOTHING takes as long as we think it does.
FOURTH, we have to do something (that Rose referred to) called, “Be your own mommy!”
I want you to actually talk to yourself like you are your own mommy.
“Now Kathy, just get started. Remember, You think it will take too long… but you have to believe me that it won’t take as long as you think. Just start and you’ll see!”
(More about “being our own mommy” inside he video as well.)
FIFTH: Even if you don’t believe that a project will take less time than you think, have faith in my words.
Believe me and deny the urge to quit before you begin and prove me! See if I’m right.
Like the clothing left on the bed that we decided not to wear, the mess we made while making the snack while the credits ran on a movie we were about to watch or the bathroom that looks like it’s been used as the dressing room for a 3 act play with a cast of 20.
In the next video, I continue with the topic of our warped perception of time and address the unconscious messes we leave laying around and how our warped perception of time is the culprit.
Don’t worry! I also provide a foolproof method to concur that and turn it around developing a new habit that will empower us to be the OGP (Organizationally Gifted Person) without the ridged nature of course… that we dream of being.
In this next video we get into how this same warped perception of time is the main reason why the house gets all messy and leaves us with days and days of cleanup using up every spare moment we have and every day off, HOW TO stop that from happening and what to do so that our home stays company ready.
This is about the unconscious clutter and mess that we make and those messes that seem insignificant while making them.
Like the coffee cup and spoon with the residual coffee splash and sugar dusting on the counter.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Love,
Kathy
The Tidy Tutor