Saturday's are the fun aunt that you get to hang out with on the rare occasions. You sneak candy for dinner, stay up late and watch scary movies your parents wont let you watch. Sunday however, Sunday's back to reality and you're stuck with all those things you managed to put off during the week.
Every Sunday I try to make a mental to-do list. Things I want to get done that generally I'm too exhausted to do during the week. Saturday nights before going to bed generally start off well enough. I plan all these amazing things I'll manage to get done Sunday morning. I'll wake up early. I'll face the day. Early bird gets the worm...
Yadda yadda yadda.
Saturday night's to-do list turns into more of a wish list than anything even resembling a to-do list. They tend to look more like this:
-Buy R's V-day flowers and coffee
-Visit R
-Bathe dogs
-Dishes
-Laundry
-Clean off the coffee table
-Go through music & organize
-Finish applying for school
-Clean out the Tivo to make room for new television shows
-Put clothes away
-Shampoo the carpets & finish vacuuming
-Go to the gym
Unfortunately, Sunday morning comes. If there's an alarm it gets set to snooze. I bury my head in my pillows and turn over for 'five more minutes'. Except those five minutes turn into ten, a half hour, an hour longer than expected.
By the time I'm awake all sense of ambition gets swept away in the cold light of mid afternoon. Any and all enthusiasm gets turned into a general ambivalence to the whole thing and I'm reminded that the work week is just a short twelve hours away.
So then that grand mental to-do list turns into something more along these lines:
-Buy R's V day flowers and coffee
-Visit R
-Watch an episode of Damages
-Hit a new level in WoW
-Read a chapter in my book
-Clean out the Tivo to make room for new television shows
-Paint nails
-Upload pictures to computer
-blog post
And even then, at the end of a Sunday that list would only be half completed. A new level in WoW? Yeah, maybe I'll just rest on the couch a bit longer, I'm too busy cuddling with puppies... A blog post? But I have writer's block... Paint my nails?? But they look so cool and edgy when they're chipped...
Is it a problem of being too ambitious? Just plain laziness? Or is it just procrastination? Maybe just not having enough of a balance?
Well this Sunday I guess I'll attempt to change that. I'll start with keeping up my ambition by maybe adding a couple more fun things to my usual wish list. Then at the end of the night I'll give a progress report. See if maybe we just need a little more fun in our lives to keep up.
Today's to-do list includes:
-Buy Valentine's flowers & coffee for R
-Visit R
-Put S's present together and write his letter (FINALLY).
-Clean out the Tivo
-Watch an episode of Damages
-Ding at least half a level in WoW
-Bathe the dogs
-Finish the dishes
-Clean off the coffee table
-Paint nails
-Organize music
-Finish vacuuming
Huh. That list seems much longer than the wish list and the fun list... Maybe this balance idea wasn't so smart after all...
UPDATE:
So it's just about to be bed time and here's the damage:
-Ding at least half a level in WoW
-Clean off the coffee table
-Organize music
-Finish vacuuming
So maybe the solution is a bit of balance. I managed to get more things done when I had a little fun added in as well. However, I also managed to feel good about getting some of the 'serious' things done as well.
Although there's one someone who doesn't really enjoy my new found ambition and ability to follow through:
Mushu doesn't look very happy. You should have bathed him one more time just to be sure. For...you know...science.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, it is easy to make lists and plans, it's the follow through that can be difficult.