Well, my glasses are starting to work (the problem's not the prescription, it's the length of time since I've had a prescription change coupled with a change in shape of the glasses themselves), my computer is doing well (I'm pretty happy with Vista) and I LOVE my new printer! Wow.
Today and yesterday I put in my first full days working on Black Box since I officially "began". The new routine and organizational principles I've been trying to implement are working pretty well with regard to most things in my life so far.
Here are some of them:
Do one thing at a time.
Clean up as you go and put things away when you're done.
Have a daily routine for things that have to be done regularly and stick to it pretty much no matter what.
I've also printed up a list of thirty easy meals we like to eat for dinner and put them in my planning notebook and a chart of the routine mentioned above.
All of those have to do with reducing the amount of decisions that I have to make on any given day, thus cutting into the amount of things floating around in my head. If I don't focus on doing one thing at a time, I will be flitting from one thing to the next as my eye falls upon it, leaving a trail of dropped items and half-done operations in my wake.
I've also been rereading some books on the matter -- first it was Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. John (see above). That's where I got "Do one thing at a time" which is number 81 out of her 100 suggestions. After giving two humorous illustrations of people multitasking (one talking on the phone with the boss while changing the baby's diaper then catching up with her mother-in-law on call waiting, and finishing a game with her three year old so the kids can have a snack before ten dinner guests arrive for the business meeting she's hosting for her husband...) she asks, "Do we really get more done trying to do it all? Perhaps. Does it really matter? Probably not. Are we happier at this frenetic pace? Most definitely not."
When you stop and think about it, it's amazing how many things there are in life to do these days, and how many voices are out there trying to get us to do them. And the voice inside is all too eager to hear and obey -- either out of guilt, fear, worry (everyone says this is the way to success so you have to do it), a misguided assumption of responsibilities God never intended us to take on, or things that just look fun. So many, many things that look like fun. Wow.
Anyway, that was my first step, I think. Do one thing at a time. Don't think you have to do all these things just because they're there. Don't think that you even CAN do all the things there are to do out there. Don't forget you have an enemy who would be delighted if you spent all your time on the fun things or even the alleged "responsibilities" of life so that you had none left for learning God's word or spending quiet time with Him, or fulfilling the calling He's put on your life the very best way that you can.
And God wants us to be at peace and at rest. Not in a frenzy trying to get a bunch of things done. He wants us to enjoy Him and all the precious moments in life that He gives us, to live in His rest and in His word.
Grace,
Karen
