Have-tos and Want-tos

I was listening to the radio the other day, and a program came on about organization. It said there are two types of things that we are required to do in life, and they can be divided in to "have-tos" and "want-tos." There are things that we have to do in order to get to the things that we want to do. It is a really simple and logical explanation.


As I was washing dishes, I was thinking about how I need to manage my have-tos better to get to the want-tos. So, I was mentally making a list of my have-tos and want-tos. I soon realized that I had about a million have-tos and only a tiny amount of want-tos. In fact, I had turned a good amount of my want-tos into have-tos. This is a really sad thing in my opinion. How have I turned fun things into obligations?


I mean sometimes I feel like I have to finish the book that I'm reading. I have to watch these movies that I've gotten. I have to go to this or that event. I have to upload these pictures or make this photo album. All of these things I should be enjoying doing....but instead I feel like I have to! How did I do this? I think that I have become so obsessed with getting things done that I have forgotten how to actually enjoy the things that I am doing.


So, now I have decided that I am going to try to keep my want-tos as want-tos and try to turn more of my have-tos into want-tos.


I am going to enjoy my time reading books and watching movies. I will enjoy going out and visiting with people. I am going to look forward to organizing and preparing for a new baby. I will also try to enjoy the time I spend planning menus and cooking meals. I will put on a smile when I clean and do laundry because it will make a less stressful environment for us. The list continues. 


As I have been practicing keeping these thoughts in mind I have found that my days are less stressful. I actually get more accomplished, and I am overall happier. So, I am going to continue to work on eliminating have-to from my vocabulary.

Chipping Away....

My To Do List is shrinking and has been shrinking quickly over the past few days....though it is still way to ginormous!! I never thought that I would actually be making progress on this horrible nightmare of ever growing tasks.


In the past few days I have started cleaning different sections of my apartment, finished grading 48 pages of accounting work, ordered Christmas presents for our nephew, made significant progress in sorting through our Santorini pictures, almost finished up my wrapping course, started organizing my new planner, caught up on reading some of that baby book stuff, and put up our Christmas decorations! Whew.


How have I motivated myself to get this done? Very, very simple.


First, I try to keep this quote in mind every day. "Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task" ~ William James. This is so true. It is quite stressful to look at a long list of things to do and have to think about where to start and how you will finish it all. So, I try to keep this in mind when the list feels overwhelming and just start chipping away at it.


Next, Ten actually gave me some good advice on time management. We were talking about how useful it is to make lists. However, you should only put half of what you think you can get done on the list. This has helped me tons!! I can't say how much this has helped me. Each day I write down one big task that I want to finish up along with the small ones that I need to finish up. This has really kept me on track. Before I would write down enough to keep me busy for a month and try to squeeze it into a single day in my planner....bad, bad idea...haha.


This may be the first time that I am able to whittle this thing down for good!!

Waste Not Want Not

Today I ripped everything out of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and did a bit of an inventory of all of the food that we have. It was painful, but I got it all done. Tomorrow I start on the refrigerator and hopefully the drawers in the powder room (contains medicine, lotion, etc...not food of course). The reason that I do this periodically is not only to clean and reorganize but also to check expiration dates and make sure that I am using what will be expiring next.


So, the purpose of this blog entry is to talk about wastefulness. It is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves. It irritates me when people buy food and then throw it out. I also hate spending for no reason and buying useless things. So, here are some things that I do to reduce the amount of "stuff" that I use...most of it is probably super common...

• Food: We never waste food!! Leftovers are always made into new dishes. If we have random vegetables, then I will make a soup. Old rice becomes fried rice and of course lots of things are used to make Ten's lunch.
• Money: We only eat out once a month. We take advantage of free days at various places for entertainment. Also, we try to plan our shopping lists around the sales and coupons that are available for the week...really doesn't take much time.
• Furniture and Household Stuff: We get tons of second hand stuff from people moving out of Japan as well as from Ten's mom. We really try to avoid buying something if someone else needs to get rid of theirs...this has really worked out for us. We haven't really had to buy any kitchen stuff, bedding, plastic drawers, tables, etc.
• Other Small Things:
• Egg Shells - I use these to scour pans as well as to crush up and put in the sink pipes to help keep them clean and clear.
• Foil - If you fold up old foil and cut it up with scissors, then it will keep your scissors nice and sharp.
• Old socks - Perfect for cleaning and dusting rags.

Anyway, the list could go on. I'm also always searching for more useful ideas if anyone has any...

I love knowing that trying to avoid waste not only helps my family but also helps the environment... :)

Today I spent my time dealing with this....

The dreaded blue file box. Every possible document that we have ever touched lives in here. I found pay stubs from 2007, a guide to an insurance program that we don't even have anymore, and countless bank statements from years ago. It took me a couple of hours to go through everything, but I finally managed to get it all organized and even label all of the folders...yay me!

Labels made with old stationary, pen, and tape...read... free.

Recently, Ten and I have been decluttering every chance we get. Last weekend we threw out so many computer and phone cables, you would have thought that we were running an underground call center....hahaha. However, our recent life motto has been "to simplify," and that is what we have been trying to do.


I must say that it is much less stressful when you don't have stuff shoved into every nook and cranny.


Our next project is going to be the book shelf. We have so many unread books and old magazines in there that it borders on ridiculous, so we have vowed to stop buying and start reading. It will make space and save some money once we sell them to a used book shop.


If anyone has any advice on ways to declutter, I would love to hear it!!

The Didn't Do List

I really don't like using the weekends to do housework or errands since that is the only time that I can spend with Ten. During the week, even when he finishes at the office, he often has to come home and do night conference calls and send out emails...no fun.


However, today I think I set an all time record of things that I didn't get done. I was just so tired that I literally slept until it was time to make dinner...hahaha.


Here are my non-accomplishments:


1. Laundry: I neither washed it nor folded it. Thank you Ten for taking care of the first part, and thank you cardboard box (that I was supposed to throw out) for storing the unfolded laundry.


2. Dishes: There is a small mountain of them growing in the sink.


3. Groceries: Usually I make a complete meal plan for the week accompanied by a grocery list. I did each partially, so we'll see if we run out of food before the week ends.


4. Bills: I didn't pay them nor organize them.


I also didn't straighten up or make the bed today...sigh...but it will all be waiting for me to do tomorrow, so no rush : )