LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt 14 – Project Days

Welcome to the Laurel Plum Online Clutter Scavenger Hunt.

Okay. This one is not really what I would consider a LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt item. I’m choosing to include this one because without scheduled Project Days, I know I would never get much done.Hang in there with me. This one is going to be a long one. It will be worth it!

I want you to go through with this one if for no other reason than because giving yourself project days will make sure you are able to do the other things in the LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt. So, today I ask you to grab your calendar and block some project time.

Opportunity Costs

Sure, I have routines, methodologies and have become ingenious with finding shortcuts around my own house (if I do say so myself – Hey, if I don’t maybe no one else will!), but it seems when it comes to home making, most of the time I am doing the same things over and over and over and over and over and over ……  It’s very easy to get caught in the repetitive cycle. (Or to give up because you’re tired of the whole rinse and repeat thing. Why bother when it all has to be done again tomorrow?)

So let’s talk about it and see if we can all jump out of the never ending loop.

Consider this as Day 1 of your business education. (You do know that running a Home effectively requires a good Manager just as much as running a company. Right? The only difference is when running a home instead of a business, you don’t often get the payroll to hire all of the help you need…. nor the appropriate monetary compensation. We take our pay in hugs and kisses if we’re lucky.   …  But that’s another story for another day.)

Ever heard of an opportunity cost? It is a term that simply means that for every opportunity taken, there are a lot of other things that can not or are not chosen. Here is another phrase I bet you are all sick of hearing. Finding balance. As a Home Manager, you need to learn that these terms really do go hand in  hand. I really think the people who are closest to finding that elusive balance are the ones who have figured out their own opportunity costs then switch things up frequently.

Priorities

You see, it may not be enough to just prioritize. By setting priorities, we can get stuck in the cycle I was talking about. The same things keep presenting themselves to be done.

I am going to walk you through a typical basic prioritizing layout that most successful business people have learned so you will see why Project Days are really so important to us as Home Managers.

Type A Priorities. Most of us wake up in the morning and focus on making it through the day. We have a whole list of things that have to be done. Now. We’ll call these Type A Tasks because they are Important AND Urgent. They typically are focused on the short term. Now, there is something very important you need to know about Type A priorities. Years can pass quickly by when you spend your days one day at a time on them. If you let these things go, the business will probably quickly collapse. Or in our case, our homes. Around your house, these are the clutter monsters like dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.

Type B Priorities. Then there are Type B tasks. These are the things that are Not Important AND Not Urgent. Around your house, they are the little things that we reserve only for Spring cleaning. It would be great if they were accomplished, but if we never get around to it, no big deal.

Type C Priorities. Everything that is Important BUT NOT Urgent. They are typically more focused on the long-term. Even without set goals, you easily know them. They are all of those things that you will do SOME day. These are the tasks that keep nibbling at you. The ones you can’t seem to get off your mind NOR get done. These are all of the things we want to do, but never seem to find the time.

This is where you learn the importance of Project Days. The Type C tasks are the things that have the ability to bridge the gap from harried human to balanced individual. Project Days give you the opportunity to do them.

Type C’s are all of the opportunity costs that can be really big for us as Home Managers. How many times have you caught yourself saying to your child that you will spend time with them as soon as you finish some Type A priority? How many systems or spaces around you need revamping to really save you a ton of time regularly on some Type A yet you can not find the time to do the revamping part?

If you make the time to do the things on your Type C list, you could really save somewhere else whether it be in time, in money, in heartache….

If you want to make some A, B, and C priority lists to see the whole picture, go ahead. But it is not at all necessary right now. Most of them you already really know. The trick is to make yourself find that elusive time to just do those important but not urgent items.

Your Priorities

Regardless of the type of person you are, making a point to switch it up will help you become more balanced. If you’ve thrown in the towel on a clean house because spending quality time with the kids is your highest priority, project days can give you an opportunity to regain ground on the house. If you seem to never find time with the family because of the busyness life keeps presenting, project days can give you an opportunity to give yourself permission to let it all just slide for a bit of time.  If you are normally over social, these days can give you some solitude. For a home body, they can give you days to connect with others.  There are a million other examples, but you get the gist.

Project Days have given me specific and frequent times to juggle the priorities and choose all of those things that are not normally seemingly urgent enough to make the top 10 on any given day.

Project Days

The real nitty gritty.

So, today I obviously want you to to get out your calendar and schedule some Project Days. You can decide how many and how often. Just make them, keep them, and repeat on a regular frequency. You can take them every other day, once a month, or anytime in between.

If you’ve looked at my cleaning routine, you’ve seen that every Friday and every 5th week I have designated for special projects.  For me, that means that there are approximately 93 days each year that are already set up to push me to make progress instead of just getting stuck in the cycle.

I remember many a New Year’s day where I sat there trying to figure out any way I had made any progress from the year before. Now, I have no problems giving myself permission to let the dishes and other things go on scheduled project days. Sometimes it takes that little conscious shift in priorities to get ahead.

You know that 10 minutes at the end of the day when I pick up or “reset” the house? Project Days are days to reset things on a bigger scale and to keep us moving forward. I will not promise you they will keep you ahead of everything, but next New Year’s, you will be able to list several ways you made some sort of progress.

Rarely I will plan a whole day. Usually it is just 10 – 20 minutes of focusing on something off the regular plan. I use Friday for small projects and really unusual quick treats with the kids – you know those memory makers. Since we often have big projects that are bears when you drag them out, the 5th week helps our family a lot even when we only spend a little bit of time each of those days.

Things To Do On Project Days

So you are not a crafter or into home renovation. I do not always work on our standard projects and you don’t have too either. I’ll list some of the other things I and you can do.

• Take the time to organize that one drawer or shelf that we keep meaning to straighten up.
• Put on the tool belt and hang that shelf, rack, hook, whatever that will make your life just a bit easier.
• Take ME time to be good to yourself. Ahhhh…..Peace. Quiet. Maybe some pampering? A bubble bath sounds lovely.
• Take Family Time or let the kids plan a day. When looking back at your childhood, it is the little things that make the best memories. Give your favorites to your kids. Maybe let them plan a quick activity, an afternoon excursion, or a whole day. When mine have made the plans, it opened up my eyes many times to their unknown interests or talents.
• Take COUPLE time. It is so important to spend time one on one without kids and other distractions to continue to reconnect. Try to spend a few minutes talking. About nothing at all. Go to lunch together alone or, ahem, take a [blush] lunch. date.
• Take time to meet a friend for lunch. Any friend. Find friends you haven’t seen in years and reconnect. It’s a meal not a commitment. Nurture relationships outside of your household. It is SO important to keeping us emotionally stable and pleasant to be around. A wide acquaintance circle keeps our view from becoming skewed by our immediate situations to the exclusion of other things. It also reminds us that it really is a small world.
• Take a nap.
• Volunteer.
• Clean that thing you never get around to even if you do Spring Cleaning.
• Do the seasonal thing. Whether it be decorating or maintenance.
• Get that one thing you have been procrastinating off of your back. Finally.

What things immediately come to your mind to do on Project Days? How often are you going to try to schedule them? If you are already taking the time, how is it making a difference for you?