Second schedule attempt

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I attempted another scheduled day. It is going fairly well… Before my schedule started this morning, I wrote my three Morning Pages, exercised, took a shower, ate breakfast, and had Bible study with hubby.

10:30-11:00 – Housework
11:00-11:30 – Research
11:30-12:00 – Housework
12:00-1:00 – Lunch/Free Time
1:00-1:30 – Update prices/add items for sale on Half.com
1:30-2:00 – Read blogs/Check email
2:00-2:30 – Housework
2:30-? – Play Scrabble with hubby 🙂

The only thing left on my schedule is some character building for my novel. I was doing really well with the schedule but hubby is home and he was very agreeable to playing a game of Scrabble with me so I decided to toss out the last hour of my schedule. I’ve accomplished everything on my to-do list for today.

Tomorrow will be a return to unscheduled days. I should have contract work tomorrow morning and that’s always a priority over everything else. My contract work is first come, first serve so I watch my email very closely and drop everything else when work is assigned. The faster I can finish the initial assignment, the more work I am assigned until everything has been completed for the day by all the contractors. I like having the ability to work more hours than the initial assignment but it makes planning hard as I’m at the beck and call of my emails!

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The first time she attempts a schedule…

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As I knew in advance that I would have no contract work today and that hubby would be gone for hours, I decided to create a strict schedule for the day. This was my first attempt at creating a schedule for homemaking duties. I think I did fairly well!

9:00-9:45 – Housework
9:45-10:00 – Reading
10:00-10:30 – Bible study
10:30-11:00 – Housework
11:00-11:30 – Work on my brother’s Christmas present
11:30-12:00 – Exercise
12:00-1:00 – Lunch/Free time
1:00-2:00 – Research
2:00-2:30 – Reading (I was trying to finish a book today. Success!)

I followed my schedule almost exactly. The only deviation was that hubby called at noon and said he was done early. I talked to him for a few minutes and then hung up and did research until 1:00, when he arrived home. We ate lunch together at 1:00 and then I had free time until 2:00.

My contract work boss emailed everyone and said there is no work again tomorrow. I think I’m going to rearrange today’s schedule a bit and try it again tomorrow. I’d like to exercise before breakfast instead of lunch and I want to have Bible reading earlier in the morning. I finished reading John this morning started in Acts.

All in all, my first attempt at a schedule was a great success! I feel very productive. I’m not sure what I’m going to do this afternoon, but I’ll find something. Maybe I’ll keep working on my brother’s Christmas present. That’s going to take hours of dedicated work, I’ve realized!

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31 Days to Clean – Day 12

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“So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins,
such as violence and cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects,
that too little attention is paid to the passive sins,
such as apathy and laziness,
which in the long run can have a more devastating effect.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

Today’s thought is about laziness. I will admit that I can be very lazy sometimes and I will often blame it on being tired. However, I believe that by forcing myself to be active, I can overcome the feeling of being tired and instead become productive.

The challenge is this: Every time I find myself being lazy by procrastinating, I will stop and pray that God will give me a spirit of service to Him and to my husband. Then I will immediately do that task that I was putting off until later. If I fail, I will ask for forgiveness and try on. If I succeed, I will thank God for His grace in allowing me to succeed.

I spent some time today in “home maintenance.” There isn’t much deep cleaning that needs to be done. Instead, I worked on the laundry, washed the dishes, and picked up around the house. I’m going to try keeping our home clean instead of letting it become messy and dirty. I never want to be embarrassed by our home when someone shows up unexpectedly.

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31 Days to Clean – Day 9

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Today is day 9 of the challenge. I have very little energy today and have spent most of the time reading. The dishes are all washed and I ran a load of laundry. I also installed an operating system on my husband’s work laptop for him.

The 31 Days to Clean blog post was about distractions. What are my biggest distractions?

Internet – The computer is a terrible time waster. I seem to be spending less time on the computer lately, but it still takes up a lot of my day. I need to make sure I limit my personal time on the internet.

Books – I read like crazy. I love books – historical fiction, Christian fiction, nonfiction, history, biographies, memoirs… If I’m not careful, I’ll lose hours to a good book. While books are beneficial, they shouldn’t be taking up my entire day.

The cleaning challenge was a continuation of the bedroom, something I don’t need to work on. Instead, I just spent some time picking up our apartment after having houseguests all weekend.

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Friday recap

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I went running this morning. I can’t believe it’s 88 degrees that early. I ran 1.95 miles without stopping. My oh my, but that felt good. First time running in over a month.

Today has been a very productive day.

  • 2 hours of work

  • Vacuumed the entire apartment, including the spare bedroom

  • Straightened the spare bedroom

  • Washed, dried, and put away the dishes

  • Washed, dried, ironed, and put away three loads of laundry

  • Moved our clothes into our bedroom

  • Swept both patios

  • Cleaned out cat box

  • Replaced icky shower curtain in main bathroom with barely used curtain from kitty bathroom

I think that’s it, but that’s enough. 🙂 Yay for it being almost Sabbath!

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Work, bathrooms, and other distractions

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Change of plans. My goal today was to clean both showers and toilets. I’ve scrubbed at the window above the shower in the main bathroom and cleaned the shower walls. I started scrubbing the tub but it’s going to need a lot of work. I’m really sweaty now and my arms are tired. That’s what I get for not giving it a really good cleaning in ages.

I think I’m done with the cleaning aspect of today’s six most important things list. I have the opportunity to put in several hours of paid work today and I’m going to jump on that chance. My paid work is sporadic and today I have the chance to get a few hours in, whereas I normally only get a few hours each week or two. We need the money so I’m going to concentrate on that today.

Hubby and I are going on a date tonight! This plan assumes he gets off work on time as he’s working in the office today instead of at home. We’re going to the Phoenix Art Museum to see the Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement and Charting the Canyon exhibits. Wednesday evenings are free admission for the general public.

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31 Days to Clean – Day 8

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Day 8 of the challenge! Today was all about making the bedroom a sanctuary.

Well… I don’t think there’s anything that can be done with our bedroom right now. There’s nowhere to put plants, candles, etc. and I can’t hang any pictures on the walls. I made the bed this morning and made sure everything was picked up and put away.

Instead, I worked on the bathrooms. We have two, one in the hallway and one just off our bedroom. The bathroom off our bedroom is deemed the kitty bathroom. That’s where the catboxes are. Instead, we use the bathroom off the hallway because it has a full tub.

I hate cleaning bathrooms. It’s my least favorite chore. Unfortunately, I procrastinate cleaning either bathroom. I get grossed out by the bathrooms even if I clean them once a week. Instead (confession time!), I only clean it about once a month. The toilet bowl gets cleaned more often than that, but the entire bathroom receives a scrub down about once every 4 weeks. Bad Cassandra!

Because the cleaning challenge spends several days working on the bedroom, I decided to spend several days working on the bathrooms. Sure, I could do them all at once but then I’d have to work in there for several hours. No thanks. Instead, I’ll break it up over a couple days and then everything will be clean. Hopefully then I can get back to cleaning the bathroom once a week! So today I cleaned the mirrors and the countertops in both bathrooms. Tomorrow I’m going to tackle the toilets and the showers. On Thursday I will scrub both floors. Then both bathrooms will be all fresh and clean!

Instead of posting both before and after photos, I just have the Befores. I’ll post Afters on Thursday when everything is clean.

Kitty bathroom:
Yes, the cats are messy. I can sweep and there will be cat litter on the floor within four hours… Oh, and the clothes hanging in the shower are my line drying shirts. The kitty bathroom is the only place in the house with enough room to line dry, as the apartment complex will not allow us to use a clothes line on our patio.

Main bathroom:

Posting pictures on the internet of my dirty bathroom is really embarrassing. Maybe that will motivate me to keep it clean?

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31 Days to Clean – Day 7

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Today is day 7 of the 31 Days to Clean challenge. I can’t believe I’ve completed 7 days already! Time goes by way too quickly.

The mental aspect of today’s lesson revolved around six tips in leading a self-disciplined life.

1. Commitment – Sometimes I struggle to remain committed. I don’t have too many issues making a commitment; it’s maintaining commitment that is difficult.

2. Set and complete goals – Again, I have little trouble setting goals. I love creating goals and steps to complete those goals. I just have trouble following through.

3. Do what you say you will do – I try but need to try harder. If I don’t think I can complete something, I need to keep my mouth shut about volunteering. Which leads to number 4…

4. Learn to say “no” – Yup. Learn to say no.

5. Practice – Practice doesn’t make perfect, though it certainly helps improve. Moving forward and making progress is more important than reaching perfection, especially if perfection isn’t something that will likely be reached. It’s still important to try!

6. Don’t give up – Never quit!

Today’s cleaning challenge is general bedroom clean up. As evidenced by the pictures below, our bedroom is very sparse and didn’t need much cleaning. I put the clothes away, vacuumed, made the bed, and took the library books into the living room where they belonged.

Before:

After:

We live very simply (as in, we don’t have any money and therefore can’t afford nicer furniture). The only things in our bedroom are the futon we sleep on and a flipped over laundry basket that serves as my nightstand. It’s pretty easy to avoid clutter in the bedroom when you have nowhere to put it!

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31 Days to Clean – Day 6

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Today is a continuation of Friday. My desk is very clean and today I purged my old files. I consolidated some files, threw some old paperwork into the shred pile, and reorganized the way my files are divided. Now I should be able to find what I’m looking for!

There is still the question of how I gain self-discipline to stay on top of my housework. I like these verses:

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God
(1 Corinthians 10:31).

Whatever you do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through Him to God the Father
(Colossians 3:17).

Whoever speaks,
is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God;
whoever serves
is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies;
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen
(1 Peter 4:11).

I want God to be glorified in everything that I do and say.

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31 Days to Clean – Day 4

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Day 4 of the 31 Days to Clean challenge. Today’s post talked about personality types and how we best clean. This week, listing out my “six most important things” is working very well for me. A strict schedule cramps my style, but telling myself that I will complete a, b, and c from the list by lunch and x, y, and z by dinner is working extremely well. Our house is actually staying pretty clean!

The cleaning assignment for today is the living room. Our living room is usually the cleanest room in the house, probably because we spend almost all of our waking hours here. A long time ago, the clutter drove me crazy and I spent a week long vacation cleaning and reorganizing our living room. We work, play, and relax in our living room and I try to keep it fairly clean.

Before:

After:

The extra office chair is our cats’ chair. Of course, they slept there more before we bought the new office chairs. They prefer whichever chair we are sitting in, not one that’s designated the “official cat hair collector.”

We also have a canvas library book bag that we keep next to the coffee table. When we finish a library book, we toss it into the bag and always have books ready to return. Of course, our cats love lying on the bag or rubbing on it and it is also covered in cat hair. Gotta love those cats!

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