Sunday, January 17, 2010

Change One Thing

No More Resolutions…

    This time of the year most of us are making lists, de-cluttering, and doing the unthinkable - making a host of New Year’s resolutions.  I don’t engage in the resolution thingy anymore because it can be very self defeating to, more often than not,  fail at some grand illusion of our new and improved life.

Take Time to Reflect…

    It makes more sense and is more productive to pick one behavior and make one change.  For instance, I have had a problem with my bathroom getting messy because I would undress in there in the evening and put on my robe which I kept hanging on the back of the door.  My discarded clothes would pile up on my cute little chair.  Meantime, for whatever reason, my closet would somehow magically become cluttered too.

You May Have to Try a Few Things… 

   I tried putting in a second small laundry hamper in the bathroom but sometimes the clothes were not ready for the hamper but needed to be hung up in the closet.  This has been going on for TEN years (ok – I’m slow to find a solution sometimes)

Success…

    Then the light bulb moment – the great aha!!  Since I dressed in my large walk-in closet, why not undress in there too?  Now in the evening I undress in the closet, either hang the clothes or put in the hamper, and slip into my robe.  In the morning when I dress my robe is hung in the closet along with my nightie. If it’s time for a clean nightie the nightie drawer is right there along with the hamper.

    And there you have it -  no more messy bathroom and the closet has also remained as neat as a pin.

What one thing could you change?

7 comments:

Susan said...

Great solution, Adrienne. Let's see. What's one think I could change? A small thing would be to put the dishes away right away, instead of leaving them in a drying rack. That would make the kitchen look neater. A big thing would be to plan all three meals every single day in order to FINALLY lose all the rest of the weight I need to lose. JUST DO IT! Hope you have a peaceful night. Sincerely, Susan from writingstraightfromtheheart.blogspot.com

Adrienne said...

Susan - even better - get someone else to put the dishes away ;-) Or (my dirty little secret) - for lunches we often use paper. Yep, that's right - paper! We get the cheapies at Costco. A gazillion for about seven bucks.

As to the diet thingy - I'll be posting a great link tomorrow. Check back!!

Unknown said...

Hi Adrienne,
No diets, although I'm doing my best to quit smoking (we stopped smoking inside the house ages ago).

I'm also quitting my day job. That makes me nervous just typing it. I'm turning in my notice tomorrow. Oh so scary! But, without trying something different you will never get anywhere other than where you are.

Hope you're having better days!
Hugs,
Gina

Sarah - Kala said...

Simplifying is often easier than ditching stuff. I'm still going through things and organizing, but at a much more methodical pace. Like, when I think about it! ;) I never make resolutions, just because I would feel too much pressure and feel defeated. No diets - diet changes are lifestyle/lifetime changes. I've just added exercise and I cut out some of my snacking (esp. on junk foods). It's helped me feel better, mentally, and I'll bet my ticker is thanking me!

Adrienne said...

Gina -

Money quote of the day:
"But, without trying something different you will never get anywhere other than where you are.

Can't wait to follow your journey...

We are doing a bit better. It's day by day.

Adrienne said...

Sarah - I just ate some cookies. Extra 15 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow. Check in for my post. I think you'll like what you read.

MightyMom said...

well I joined a gym...that's one thing. now, getting to the gym is another thing altogether!!