Saturday 9 May 2009

I vote for short weeks!

It is slightly strange to me that we had a Bank Holiday to begin the week, the origins of which are a lost on most of us and yet we end the week with a date that is relatively unnoticed and should be a national holiday. 8th May is VE Day. I can't think of a better reason to have a national holiday of celebration and rememberance. I don't mean the jingo-istic 'we won the war' type celebration, I mean the celebration of the freedom that such sacrifice brought to Europe. Enough already, this is not a political broadcast, just a heavily opinonated comment!
What I was going to say was how wonderful a short week is! I know that's a real cliche, but I only ever thought that at school or at work it would even be noticeable. Not so dear interweb. Perhaps galvanised by an extra day with my lovelies, perhaps by the thought that a short week would result in less productivity - I've been amazing! Actually in truth, what I've done is no more than I should have done months ago, the sort of jobs that become big ol' monsters lying across your path because you keep putting them off. Well, on Tuesday morning, Miss Dunnit left for school and I finished my coffee in front of her morning telly choice. Bizarrely for a 15 year old, it was the Parliament Channel, which certainly allowed me thinking time! When I was born, I got stuck on the conveyor line thingy, and got a hefty overdose of guilt, and as I age, I find it harder to shake off. So I try to use it to my advantage. I sat in front of the TV and mentally listed my options, targets and projected goals for the week. That way you see, the guilt factor doesn't have me in tears at the end of the week - I can mentally tick off achievements and give myself a litle talking to about the stuff I didn't do. I'm also a great visualiser for jobs I don't like. I sit on the sofa and see myself, in sort of Superman speed, cleaning windows and such, and then I can do them, knowing that they take so little time! So this week, I archived, filed and sorted years of paperwork (freeing up a huge, huge space in a cupboard) and set up a really useable system for dealing with it all on a day to day basis. Top tip here - don't put it in a cupboard where it becomes inaccessible, it is the greatest excuse!). It's taken 3 days, but man, I totally stomped all over that monster! I haven't looked at my craft table all week. On Wednesday evening I was given crafting presents (a secret-santa-turned-monthly-birthday-club-because-we-liked-it-so-much). I left them on my desk to give me something to look forward to. And yesterday afternoon, right on cue as we came in from school, the sun hit the desk and all the goodies inspired me. So last night I had a successful stab at another long-put-off project. Will finish and photograph over the weekend. Which might mean Monday. I'm going to try to have another short week. Apparently I can slay monsters if I have a nice long weekend!
And again - the photo is the other section of my workroom...sort of behind my desk. I share a room with 3 doors on 3 of 4 walls, so it seems very disjointed. Works for me!

Thank you for reading this blog. It's fun knowing you're out there, it's amazing that you take time to comment; I don't moderate - I work on the basis that if I'm expressing an opinion, others are entitled to as well. I love that you are prepared to enter the discussion and don't ever worry about the length of your comment! I will remove foul language because I think generally, like poking your tongue out, it's the last resort in a discussion!

10 comments:

Anne said...

We are "Keep Calm and Carry On" twins.

I love your blog - it's one of the best written ones I read.

Sandie said...

I'm in for short weeks too!

Ruthy said...

Totally agree with you about the bank holiday thing Freedom should never be forgotten.

Claire said...

Short weeks & longer holidays for everyone! YAY!

stephanie said...

hey sissy just caught up on your blog. wow..i blush with your comment from thursday. but will stick to calling it working smart.

kelly said...

aww arnt sisters fab!! i dont have one lol but id like one please..

love your blog!

Jo Power said...

Isnb't it strange that the less time you have the more you can get done and the more time you have the less you feel like doing things. I am up for shorter weeks but thats because I miss the children loads when they are at school then can't wait for them to return and I can get the house into some kind of order.

Unknown said...

I love my long weekends too Julia. I must try your visualising technique!

CoventryAnn said...

It's odd, is the first week in May officially stash clearance week..? As this is what i spent most of the week doing, i even cleared out some of the kitchen cupboards too, and when i went to craft on Friday i could find everything i needed, and i used up some long forgotten stash too!

Anonymous said...

Lady Nurse has had her daughter down organising her, and has threatened to come for a whole week when the baby is born to organise my craft room. She is a bit OCD as far as tidy is concerned so is good at organising.
True that if time is short things get done quicker. I always worked better under stress!!