I had a chance to get a bunch of housework done today because my daughter spent the day with a friend. One of the first things I did was sit down to make a list of what needed to be done. I searched online for a good list template, but all the lists I found needed a different computer program than I had. I thought perhaps I could make my own list template. I could color-code the different tasks, and make little columns for checking off when I completed the task. Funny, I couldn’t find a little check-mark graphic. I searched around a while until finally I found it. This was going to be the best list ever. Now, what should I put my list?
You’re probably realizing a lot sooner than I did that I spent a very unproductive hour! Making a to-do list can be a huge time waster. I just need to dive in and get to work. That being said, there are a few top items that should always get done before anything else. I may need to make a list for those things if it means keeping them top priority.
We all have those most-important things that if we don’t do first, the opportunity will slip away leaving us missing our goals. For instance, if I don’t put exercise first, it probably just won’t happen.
I like to think of the sand and rock example. It goes like this. There is a glass vase that symbolizes your day. At the beginning of each day you have rocks of all sizes, from fist-sized boulders to tiny grains of sand. The biggest rocks symbolize your toughest goals, like exercising. The pebbles represent your everyday chores. The tiny grains of sand symbolize leisure activities, like watching TV or getting online. If you place the large rocks in the vase first, then the smaller pebbles will fit in around the big rocks, and finally you’ll have room for the sand. But if you fill up your daily vase with sand first, there will never be room for bigger rocks. Incidentally, you can fit a lot of sand into a rock and pebbled-filled vase.
Keeping important things first is the best way to make sure they will be accomplished. Then when it’s time to play, well, it’s way more fun!
That sounds like what I have always done with my kids, especially in the summertime when it is so easy to go play and leave the housework and chores for later. I remind them about how they are not going to want to do chores when they get home all tired and sweaty after playing all day. So if we get what we "have" to do out of the way, then what we "want" to do is that much more fun! One time when they complained, I let them not do anything before we left, but told them I expected it done when we got home from playing. When we got home, they were tired and worn out....but they knew they had chores still to do. It only took one time of that to make an impression on them and now they make sure things are done before we go to do fun things!
ReplyDeleteHeidi S.
Great example Heidi. It's hard to let our kids learn their own lessons, but it seems to always work!
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