We’re coming off two weeks of birthday celebrations here – first mine, then my daughter’s this past weekend. And there is STUFF just … EVERYWHERE. Ooof. The last thing I want to do is organize and put away the 10 different piles we keep tripping over. YUCK.
At one point, Emma couldn’t find the teensy-tiny little heads of the 2 main Lego figures she’d just gotten with her new “Baking Competition” set. After 20 seconds of frustration (which is about all any of us can handle these days, right?!?), she quit looking and instead resigned herself to playing with what was in front of her.
Since I knew they had to be nearby, I attacked the dining room table where she was playing, picking up some empty clear bags, tissue paper, and food wrappers.
Lo and behold, there were the tiny little heads.”LILLIAN!!! STEPHANIE!!! There you are!” she beamed, grabbing them, completing her figures, and launching into their first cake decorating competition.
Proud of myself as Savior Of The Family once again, I lectured,
“See what happens when you clean up your crap?”
My husband, Otto, scowled at me because he doesn’t want Emma saying “crap,” but instead of nodding sheepishly, I defended my words this time.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know … but that’s exactly what THIS is!” (holding and jiggling 10 pieces of cellophane and tissue paper in my hand)
I told them — and I’m telling you — I’m gonna start calling crap for what it is.
To Emma: “THIS – this crap – is why you can’t find stuff when you want to!”
To YOU (and me, too, right there with ya): We all have our crap, too, and some of it IS under our control …
So much random, accumulated stuff that you probably don’t even care about overwhelming you, distracting you, and getting in the way of what you could be enjoying or doing better with: Physical crap, pressure crap, schedule crap, expectations crap, junk food crap, decision fatigue crap, sucked-into-phone-when-you-should-get-more-sleep crap — the list goes on.
We know it, we get sucked into it, and even though in our minds we know it’s not helping us, we keep the crap anyway … because it feels like the effort we’ll need to cut through it is TOO MUCH on top of everything else we’ve got going on.
Look, I get it: This pandemic SUCKS.
None of it is your fault.
Escaping to what feels easy and comfortable is 200% understandable.
I’m not here to heap another pile of shitty blame on you for not doing things “good enough.”
But, as I was reminded with my daughter’s crap:
1) The excuses and agony of putting it off are usually worse than actually JUST PICKING IT UP
and
2) Once it’s done, IT FEELS SO GOOD. Like, “Why did I put this off for so long?” Added bonus: You can do what you set out to do.
I’m not your mom, so I can’t just swoop in like I do with Emma, but I’m here to tell you: I CAN CUT YOUR CRAP.
Check out my One-Month Intensive option on my Work With Me page. It’s basically a short and sweet jump-start to get to the bottom of your scheduling and time management crap:
- Together we’ll troubleshoot and define what needs to actually, REALISTICALLY get done during an overwhelming daily time period (instead of trying to do too many things at once)
- I’ll lay out for you reasonable rules and boundaries around getting the “big rocks” taken care of
- I’ll set up and be in charge of reminders for you to get rid of the crap in your way and block more from coming
- For approximately 3 weeks after our session, I’ll “hold your hand” via text or Voxer so you have constant support to follow through and make that period of time easier on yourself while also feeling more accomplished each day.
Don’t give in to what’s easy but unsatisfying – check it out.
It’s quick, it’s all about you, and it’ll help you find more time for what really matters.
