Friday 30 May 2014

My Broken Window List

Gretchen Rubin of "The Happiness Project" asks: What are your broken windows?

Broken windows are "the particular signs of disorder that make [you] feel out of control and overwhelmed." Here's my list:

  • Staying in my pyjamas all day, even dressing in rough clothes makes me much more productive.
  • Putting off a needed shower, even for much needed extra minutes of sleep, leaves me in the land of unproductivity.
  • An unemptied (clean) dishwasher, leading to piled up dirty dishes on the counter.
  • Not having clothes left out for the morning (for myself or James) can really hold me back. My brain does not function terribly well first thing, but thinking out my clothing options the night before comes much easier,
  • Not having handbag/baby bag/car/picnic packed/prepared the night before an early start keeps us late and makes me/us harried in the getting out-the-door rush. It also means things are forgotten at home.
  • Not having a menu plan for the week leads to seven straight days of tea-time torture.
  • Procrastinating about little jobs makes them much bigger as I carry them around in my head until they are finally done. E.g. making a hospital appointment as soon as the letter arrives gets the job done and dusted and saves my precious brain cells for other matters.
  • Not writing out the tasks a large project involves ensures I underestimate the work and the time-frame needed to complete it.
  • Not considering the activities of the days ahead as I think over a time-sensitive project also clouds my vision of how much time I actually have to do the work and leads to last-minute-madness.
  • Leaving things until the last-minute leads to stress for me (and usually bad behaviour from me too, sorry for all the grumpies Hubs) and for the rest of the family, as well as taking me away from other activities and from family times so I can get things done in time. 
  • Not making my bed can also stall my productivity (if it's tidying in our bedroom) and it also niggles at me, as an undone job every time I pass it throughout the day. Even the fact that I often nap doesn't prevent the necessity of this job (twice) everyday.
I think I can sum up most of my broken windows as procrastination and failing to plan and writing this list brings clarity to things I knew but wasn't always willing to accept about myself.

What are your broken windows?

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