And without even knowing it, these little jobs that are left undone, can build up stress.
We think it's not bothering us, but they're all there in our subconscious, niggling away.
So this week I decided to get all those little jobs out of the way.
And guess what?
It feels great. Really great.
None of them were really big jobs and most didn't even take longer than a minute or two. But I'd been putting them off for days, or some for weeks.
So I've been making it my mission this week to get them all done.
There were phone calls I had to make, emails to send, errands to run, cupboards to declutter and research that I needed to do.
So I did it all.
Every time I remembered something that I had to do, I made sure I did it that same day.
The worst one was decluttering my kitchen pantry. I emptied out all the food, cleaned the shelves and then didn't know what to do next. So I thought it would be a good idea to swap cupboards around and so I emptied out and cleaned ALL the kitchen cupboards.
Then I spent time staring at empty cupboards and piles of "stuff" and wondered how to sort it all out.
I began put things away where I thought they should go but in the end I decided it was a bad idea and ended up putting all the food back into the pantry again, although I did decide to keep my saucepans in there too because it makes them easier to get hold of and I do use them a lot.
I also decided to completely declutter as I went and so I managed to eliminate 3 huge shopping bags full of unwanted items that I then had to transport (on foot) to the local second hand store.
It was not one of my better ideas because it took up the whole of my Sunday. But I do feel much better now that all the cupboards are cleaned out and straightened.
This week I also did some research for some articles I had to write which I'd been putting off and now, not only did I do the research, I've written nearly all of them too. Excellent!
I also stripped one of the blankets off the bed (it's still winter here) and washed and dried it. It had been bugging me since one of our dogs jumped on the bed and put a muddy paw print, or four, on it a couple of weeks ago.
It's not been easy to get on top of all these little tasks that needed doing, and I have had to MAKE myself do everything, but it was such a mind-freeing experience. I had no idea how much it was bothering me until I did it all and got it out of the way.
So if you have a few little jobs to do that you've been putting off, stop procrastinating and get them done.
They could be jobs like:
- Phone calls
- Errands
- Cleaning
- Repairs
- Research
- Decluttering
Whatever it is, and no matter how big or small. Do it. Do it now.
If it's a job that takes less than a minute to do. Do it now.
If it takes about 5 minutes to do. Do it now.
If it takes half an hour. Do it now.
The mental freedom you get in return will make it worth every second/minute you spent on it.
Just make sure you clear a whole day of your calendar if you want to clean out your kitchen pantry.
:)
