finish one thing every day and be done with it

an excellent goal for these times when my energy is low and every day is a struggle.
It served me well for a long time, but right now I’m getting TONS of things done every day! _{It’s fall, baby, and I am uber-productive!}

Interestingly, right now my to-do lists are getting longer, because I’m allowing myself to write down all those little (and BIG) things that I kept in my head but didn’t dare write down before.

I might return to this when the winter solistice runs over me like a herd of stampeding elephants.

For now, it’s DONE! (and definitely worth it!)

On Saturday I played cleaning lady at work:

Our regular cleaning lady showed up only once during the last month:
On Thursdays she would call and make excuses, like she has to get her papers straightened out, or she has an allergy and can’t work.
Then, this Thursday we found a note under the door: I’m moving to Australia and won’t be coming back
Anyway, we were stuck with an extremely filthy shop, since no one from the personnel seemed to give a damn about the situation.

I decided to take the matter into my own hands, and I showed up with my rubebr gloves and my latex gloves on Saturday morning.
I vacuumed, and dusted, and washed the floors, and I even got some half-hearted help.

I’m not finished: I’ve done the ground floor and 1st floor, and I still have the 2nd floor to go for next Tuesday.
But doing this has given me peace of mind.

• Went shopping with my dd (at Marks and Spencer). She bought some clothes, mainly jeans she’s desperately needed since May.
• Also, we cleaned the house together. This was the first thorough house clean in 2 weeks, so there was a lot to be done. dd was really sloppy with her work, and I tried to guid eher without being overly critical. Thankfully we managed to get by without too much bitching.

Wednesday:

• I finally went to the library. (They’re closing on the 31st for the summer, so it was a close call.)
  I picked 3 books (my 4th card seems to be lost – I’m sure it’s buried under a heap of papers somewhere in the home office).
• I found a gift I had bought for my nephew for Easter and had totally forgotten about. To get it out of the way, I took it to my mom: she’ll see my sis on Thurs and can give it to her asap.

Saturday-Tuesday:

• bought a new supplement. Originally was interested in a source of omega-3s like some good-quality cod liver oil, but the pharmacist suggested sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) that has the added property of protecting against radiation, which sounds good for the summer.
• shopped around and bought a set of 6 large water glasses _{will look further at M&S}
• went to the local fair with my mom, little sister, niece, and daughter. _{It was a girls’ night out of sorts, and I went for my mom’s sake, but I’m VERY glad I did it! Could this be the beginning of a new family tradition?}
• made summer vacation plans and hubby booked the hotel rooms _{I’m terribly reluctant to go away this summer; I’m not sure I’ll be able to rest physically or find peace of mind}
• FINALLY got my daughter to finish a chore I delegated to her _{she vacuumed the whole house}
• talked to shop owners and professionals in the neighborhood, and inquired about their vacation plans; stocked up on beef from butcher, and have a clear picture of what needs to be completed by when
• repaired pressure cooker lid _{it must have been about a year since the last time it worked properly}

Friday:

I used up all my aubergines by preparing a time-consuming favorite dish.
I have no idea what it’s called, so I’ll tentatively call them eggplant fritters.
I’ll fry one batch and bake another.

Thursday:

My daughter came back home late at night .
Which meant that during the day I had to finish her room, arrange all clothes into the closets, and take some stuff down to the basement.
I also got rid of a bag of holey, torn and unusable clothes and shoes – the kind that even the poor wouldn’t want.

Oh – and another thing! I helped my mom end her procrastination by driving her to a shop and helping her choose tiles for a bathroom remodelling.

Wednesday:

Another day of crippling migraine and other aches and pains.
It was late at night and I still hadn’t really finished anything, so I thought of the email about translation classes, and I sent it out.
It took me 10 minutes to compose, and I decided to write it in Greek not English because my brain was mash, but it’s out of the way!

Tuesday:

I’ve been so tired and frustrated lately, the only thing I could finish was to temporarily “give up” on more than half my goals.
What’s left reflects the very few things I can focus on right now.
It has granted me peace of mind – sort of.

Monday:

Although this was a day where my energy was VERY low, I:

- went to the supermarket
- visited my mom and
- ironed for 1 hour.

These were all things I had been putting off for almost a week.
It felt good to be active again!