Today's assignment is a reality check. Are you being realistic in the goals you are setting? It's better to set realistic expectations and actually follow through than to set lofty goals that quickly fade.
I am very happy with my daily goal of cleaning the kitchen before bed. Like I have said before, it's not a huge project and I give myself little rewards and incentives to get it done. There is really no reason I cannot take 10 to 15 minutes at night to be sure that I have a clean kitchen to wake up to in the morning.
After cleaning up the kitchen I have also been getting the coffee maker ready for the next day. This is another huge incentive for me. I love having everything ready in the morning so my coffee prep is as simple as possible.The faster I get my morning coffee the better!
One area I never seem to be realistic about is how much sleep I need. I love getting up early in the morning so that I have time to myself, but to do this I really need to get to bed much earlier than I do. By the end of the week I'm exhausted and ready for a long nap.
My bedtime goal is next on my list once I feel the kitchen cleanup habit has been set.
Mega Project Step 6
Have you been realistic with the daily tasks that make up your mega project? Crystal makes a great point that if you are dreading one of the steps in your project (and putting it off like I have), then the step is probably too large and you should break it down even further.
A great example of this is the organization of my spices. This has been a task on my pantry to-do list since the beginning of the project. But I keep putting it off.
Today I am going to take Crystal's advice and break this task down into even smaller tasks. When I really think about it, the reason I have not tackled the spices is that I just don't know where to begin. There are so many great spice containers and spice organizing systems that I just can't decide what to do.
Here's what I decided. Today, I am just going to work with the spices and containers that I have. The spices are haphazardly organized on two old and dirty lazy susans in the pantry. My task for today is to remove the spices and lazy susans, clean everything off, and put it back in the pantry in an organized fashion.
Down the road, I may decide on different containers and a different way to organize them. But for now, I have them in a clean and organized system and I am free to move on to another section of the pantry while I decide what I ultimately want for the spices. I have made a little progress on the spices and I will move on to another section of the pantry tomorrow.
Have you been realistic about your goals and new habits? Don't try to do too much. Set goals that are realistic so that you are sure to be successful.
Continue with Day 7 here.
Are you just joining our 21-day adventure? Start with Day 1 here.
This series is based on the ebook 21 Days To A More Disciplined Life
by Crystal Paine. If you don't have a copy of the ebook yet, it is now available at Amazon.(Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)
