Manic Monday: do the right thing

“If you really want to advise me, do it on Saturday afternoon between 1 and 4 o'clock. And you've got 25 seconds to do it, between plays. Not on Monday. I know the right thing to do on Monday.” ~Alex Agase

This morning I find myself a bit jealous of Mr. Agase.

He knows the right thing to do on Monday?

He is not pulled in eighteen different directions knowing that they all NEED to be done and something that SHOULD have been DONE will be left UNDONE at the end of this day?

These January Mondays have been flying up in my face faster than I can check my list to see what is most essential for me to do. I don't even feel like I have had the mental space to make a to-do list.

Last night as I was on my way to bed,
I walked past the pathetic potted plant in my library
(oh, that's right I have the stuff to re-pot it, must put that on my list),
went to give my kids one last kiss good-night
(oh, I must remember to rent that steam cleaner and clean that nasty stain),
and then I saw the box of hair color on my bedroom floor
(when am I going to get around to coloring my hair?).

"See,"
I said to myself,
"These are the kinds of things you need to write on your Manic Monday list."

So I went into my office and looked under piles for my big blue sketch book that holds my brain. I turned to the Manic Monday Page and oh dear...we need to get a Jen(s)&Tonic sent out, and I must renew my professional membership, and there are those library books that are overdue...

Today, I am going to believe that planning is better than doing. I need to get my list in order. I need to see how I can create space in my life to get these things done (both the urgent and the important). Maybe I will get to one of these to-do things today, but I am confident that the best use of my time will be to set out a plan for February.

Maybe I will make every Manic Monday have a theme?

1st Monday: budget, finances and giving
2nd Monday: business and professional life
3rd Monday: home and family
4th Monday: personal development
(the occasional) 5th Monday: anything that doesn't fit into one of these categories.

• What really needs to be done?

• What can I delegate?

• Who can I contact to help me?

• How can I create a calendar/schedule that supports my goals and vision

(instead of making me crazy rushed and busy)?

Manic Monday: make my bed

"When the solution is simple, God is answering."
~Albert Einstein

Have you ever eaten scrambled eggs and brain? I think I have. Or maybe the image was so vivid, that I imagined myself seeing it, eating it, gagging...what a lovely image I have painted for you. I hope you are still reading.

I have had one severe case of scrambled brain since the beginning of December. Today's Manic Monday task had to be something simple. Something that would make me feel accomplished with minimal work. Something that set the tone for my day. It had to be something that made me feel pampered and refreshed.

Aha!
Make my bed.
Do you make your bed every day?
I suppose if I did it would not feel like such an accomplishment.
Or maybe it does feel this wonderful every single time and that is why one would make her bed daily.

Maybe.

My brain is still a scrambled mess, but my tidy bed invites me to take the next simple step toward clarity: an afternoon nap. (No, I don't care that it will mess up my throw pillows.)

To do today:
~make my bed
~take an afternoon nap in my fresh clean sheets

Manic Monday: support a cause

There are many embarrassing on my to-do list. Not that the actual things on the list are embarrassing (okay, a few are, but I don't want to gross you out.) It is the amount of time that they have been on my list that qualifies me for some kind of impressive procrastination award.

Have you ever heard of Snow Leopard Trust? If you have then you are way ahead of me. One day, ummm 3 or 4 years ago, my daughter was determined to save the snow leopards. She saved her own money, found loose change around the house and car, and she shared her concern with friends and family who also donated.

This is the kind of thing a mom like me dreams her child will do some day. I was amazed and proud and also extremely busy. I did manage to keep all that change in a special place (pat back) and then I actually deposited it in my bank (pat back again) so I could make the donation online.
And then I completely forgot about it.

Occasionaly, my daughter would say,
"Did you ever give that money to the snow leopards?"

And I would say,
"Oh yeah, I will try to remember to do that this week."


To do Today:

~place online donation to the Snow Leopard Trust

Folks, if it were not for Manic Monday those poor little snow leopards would never see the money my sweet daughter saved up for them.

And because of Manic Monday, it is done!

Manic Monday: rethinking normal

normal |ˈnôrməl|

adjective
conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected

I wonder how many NORMAL weeks actually happen in my life. You know, days without sick kids, snow, holidays, dentist appointments, traveling, trainings...
Oh yeah, this is normal, isn't it? What is usual, typical and expected around here is the unexpected.

To Do Today:

1. get kids report cards turned in
2. organize schedule (and brainstorm plan B) for this week
3. help daughter with journals that are due (if she does in fact have school tomorrow)
4. get kids organized for (fingers crossed) school tomorrow
5. figure out how I am going to be okay if (gulp) my kids don't go to school tomorrow

How do you deal with life when it doesn't go your way?
Does routine bring out your best?
Or are you the queen of spontaneity?
Are you able to adapt when plans keep changing?

Any tips or hints for surviving cabin fever would be appreciated.

Manic Monday: Etch A Sketching

"In the late 1950's, a man by the name of Arthur Granjean invented something he called, "L'Ecran Magique," the magic screen, in his garage." ~from Etch A Sketch History

Oh, how I love January.

It is that wonderful time of year where I feel like my life gets shaken clean. I have 12 months to create something that did not exist last year at this time.

So, this first Manic Monday of the new year has a broader purpose than simply getting things done. (Especially since I am on vacation :)

This is the Monday of all Mondays. The Monday that impacts how the rest of my Mondays the rest of this year. Today I will be working on my goals for 2011.

I am a moving ahead kind of person, so although goals are easy and fun for me, it takes me some discipline to look back on 2010 and take notice and pride in what was accomplished last year.

To-do Today:

1. list accomplishments, both big and small from last year
2. ideas for how to make the good things from last year GREAT
3. list 25 goals for 2011
4. choose 1 goal to focus on in January

The only thing more fun to me than setting my goals for the new year is to hear about your dreams and goals.

What are you most proud of accomplishing this year?
What is one thing you would like to see happen in 2011?
What kind of support would help you to accomplish these things?

Can't wait to see the sketches we all create.

Happy New Year!