Having put the kids down for naps, all I want to do is sit down and "play" on the computer. It is finally "Mommy Time"... then I look at the chaos around me - the nuclear fall-out of breakfast, lunch, company for supper last night, international phone calls, getting in and out the door for Bible study, a bowel movement that didn't quite make it to the potty chair, laundry that's been begging to be hung up, rice strewn across several rooms and dishes galore... sigh!!My typical nap time would be: resting if I needed it or setting a time-limit to "play" before tackling the necessary chores. The problem with those time-limits is that I keep adding "just one minute more" to the end. I knew that with all the mess around me, I couldn't afford "just one minute more", so I took a new approach. Rather than setting the timer for play, I set the timer for work. It is amazing what can get done in 20 minutes with that tick-tick-tick urging you on! Clothes hung, floors wiped/swept, table/counters cleared, meat out thawing for dinner, clean dishes put away... Everything got done except the still-large pile of dirty dishes before the timer rang. Now I can sit down with a relatively-free conscious and take a much needed rest from work.
Comments (2)
Great post! It's amazing how much a bit of motivation (and competition-against the clock) helps. :)
What a great idea, Staci. It's nice to be able to relax guilt free. :)