Showing posts with label streamlining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label streamlining. Show all posts
7.23.2012
a surprising fringe benefit of de-cluttering—OR—honey, i love my coloring books
this is what happened in my house this weekend:
my husband and i cleaned out our bookshelves. he sorted, i held the baby, and we each reminded the other that we can always go to the library if we really miss a book that we let go.
toward the end, he uncovered two coloring books and held them up for my stay-or-go verdict. i’m pretty sure i channeled my inner 8-year-old when i said, “oh, my coloring books! i love coloring!”
and he looked completely dumbfounded, and said, “really? you do?”
sometimes the ins and outs of daily life lull us into believing that we know all there is to know about our near and dear loved ones. and, hey, if we know all that and we still like each other, that’s awesome. but this is even better. this means there are more questions to ask, more stories to tell, more quirks to discover. hooray for that.
thanks, overstuffed bookshelves. very helpful, indeed.
7.01.2012
what s/he wrote
recently, seth godin wrote this blog post titled pest control.
in it, he says, "a big part of doing your work is defending your time and your attention so you can do your work." i like that, and i think i might even say: a big part of doing your life is defending your time and attention so you can do your life.
right now, i'm in the beginning phases of some major streamlining: at home, at work, in my creative hours. and it is, indeed, hard to control the noise. with something demanding my attention all the time, i find i have to set some pretty firm boundaries for myself. i've limited my facebook time to 10 minutes a day. i don't watch or read the news unless something specific is important to me. i say no to invitations sometimes.
it feels strange to admit that i've chosen not to follow the news. and i have a really hard time saying no to invitations because i always think i'll be missing out. and just jumping on facebook for 10 minutes a day means i missed the announcement when a good friend's baby was born. but it means i have time to write for this blog. and it means i'm paying attention when i'm with my daughter instead of fooling around with my smartphone. and it means i have time to exercise--sort of. (i'm still working on that.)
i've got a lot more streamlining to do. and i'm curious: what boundaries do you set for "pest control"?
in it, he says, "a big part of doing your work is defending your time and your attention so you can do your work." i like that, and i think i might even say: a big part of doing your life is defending your time and attention so you can do your life.
right now, i'm in the beginning phases of some major streamlining: at home, at work, in my creative hours. and it is, indeed, hard to control the noise. with something demanding my attention all the time, i find i have to set some pretty firm boundaries for myself. i've limited my facebook time to 10 minutes a day. i don't watch or read the news unless something specific is important to me. i say no to invitations sometimes.
it feels strange to admit that i've chosen not to follow the news. and i have a really hard time saying no to invitations because i always think i'll be missing out. and just jumping on facebook for 10 minutes a day means i missed the announcement when a good friend's baby was born. but it means i have time to write for this blog. and it means i'm paying attention when i'm with my daughter instead of fooling around with my smartphone. and it means i have time to exercise--sort of. (i'm still working on that.)
i've got a lot more streamlining to do. and i'm curious: what boundaries do you set for "pest control"?
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