Habit Building

I just got done with a decluttering assignment, mind you, it was the one I was supposed to complete on January 12th and 13th.  Our junk drawer had over one hundred fortune cookie fortunes in it. There was also a small colony of plastic forks and spoons still in their wrappers from whichever restaurant we had procured them.  I think, once I had cleaned it out, that it was the first time in the nearly eleven years I have lived here I had seen the bottom of the drawer.

I experienced a modicum of joy.  Yes, it was a mere modicum, but joy nonetheless.  I think that modicum may be just the reward I need to get back on track with Project 2016: Declutter the Household.  I'm following a calendar plan from the Declutter 365 group on Facebook.  I'm going to work on getting an assignment done each day, but even one a week is a huge improvement over my previous streak of none a week.  I have 5 days of 16 completed.  It's nice that Mondays are reading days, but I didn't read this last Monday.  I'm really glad that it is a 15 minutes at a time year long project.  I don't have the time nor the energy to do more than that.  I have ADHD and trying to clean a big job is usually futile.  I find things I thought I had lost.  It's pretty sad.  I've managed to keep my desk organized for the past two weeks, which is huge.

My point is that I am not giving up.  Just because I don't get all of my little assignments done each day, I'm still making progress.  I'm encouraged by each little step.  I haven't bought any new yarn since December 31, 2015.  This may not sound like a big deal to you, but every payday, I peruse and sometimes purchase at least one skein.  I prefer certain German and Finnish hand dyes.  I have a lot of yarn.  I have put myself on a self imposed yarn fast.  This is REALLY difficult.  It is especially difficult when I come across "limited quantity" or "special edition" colorways.

I haven't yet started working on my WIP of the Month.  WIP = Work in Progress.  I have over a dozen said WIPs in a basket in my living room.  I have two WIPs on my desk at home and one at work.  I have a portable WIP, which is the WIP I've assigned myself to finish in January.  It can be done and really needs to be done.  I've been working on it for 18 months.  It's not hard, I've just laid it to the side more times than I want to count.  The saddest thing is that it's not for me, it's for a friend.  No shame, moving on.

I've made it to the gym 4 times so far.  My goal is 10 for the month.  Optimally, I'd like to build up to three times a week.  I did that this week.  I have a workout buddy which helps.  I've also found a yoga class that I like.  It's enough of a challenge and I REALLY need the stretching involved.

What all of this builds up to is working on developing healthy habits.  I don't just mean eating habits or exercising habits, but all kinds of habits.  I want to keep developing as a knitter.  I need to develop a regular knitting habit.  I want to finish what I start.  I really want to rid my home of clutter.  I can't really expect help from my son or my husband.  My husband works an opposite shift from me and my son has challenges with chores.  This might be an area we can work on together.  I keep working on my journal.  I

My goal for the next few weeks is to fill up my Commit30 journal with a more concrete schedule of chores and activities to complete each day.  If I don't get them all done, that's okay.  I want to be able to complete some of them.  I am working on changing my current habit schematic to include movement and releasing the clutter in my home.  Mind you, I am not a hoarder.  I'm an organized collector.  I just have an abundance.  No shame, moving on.

Another area that I've been working on it trying to eat out less.  This is a great struggle because that means achieving a level of organization that I really need to step way outside of my comfort zone to reach.  I've started by using a cookbook that's been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust for longer than I truly know.  It was published in 2005, but I'm pretty sure I purchased it at Barnes and Noble off the clearance display a bit after that.  The reason I know this is because last week's recipe called for an ingredient that is no longer made.  I didn't know that until after we made some substitutions that didn't quite work.  We're going to try it again some other time.  It's a crock pot cook book and we're using it to make family dinner each weekend.  The first week's attempt was super good.  Last week, not so much.  This week, it smells good, but it's not dinner time yet.  I'll have to wait and find out in a bit.

The area of food is one that I have been needing to work on for quite some time.  Meal planning is not something I have ever really spent time on doing.  I know that, in theory, it's not difficult.  I have a very picky eater for a child.  It means my kitchen is usually some form of cafeteria, which was never my goal.  I'm hoping one day that he will be more willing to try other foods.  Until such time, there will continue to be two dinner times at our home.  The other part of this challenge is that my husband works later and dinner time is the time that I want to spend connecting with him about our days and our home.  I can't realistically wait for him to come home to eat, because shortly after he comes home, I need to go to sleep.  Also, I'm exceedingly hungry if I haven't eaten since lunch.  I usually function on breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper.  I can keep my meals at a doable size.  On his days off it's a bit easier, since I really only need to have supper.

I'm off, going to socialize.  It's game night!