Articles about motivation are fascinating. I collect them in a box in paper form, in email folders, and on my hard-drive. I read books about fighting procrastination, doing more with less, doing things faster with less time and more precision... I buy them and check them out from the library. I attend and have attended seminars and classes on time management and organization. I want you all to know, up front, that none of this will work if you are flat-out stuck in your own head or refuse to stop watching old sitcoms and eating your child's Halloween candy (only the pieces she doesn't like, of course). None of this will work unless you put it into action. So here I am... attempting some action.
This is my first blog, so I will attempt to catch up with the typical formats and unwritten rules. I would like to share the items that have been exceptionally helpful, and also talk about what I am trying now and what is or isn't working.
I used to be an almost-hoarder, not of trash but of paper and books and information. This quest for learning led to ignoring typical housekeeping styles, as it was less important for me to have rhyme and reason in my closet and dressers as it was to have my books arranged by type, author and edition. I say almost-hoarder instead of flat-out hoarder because I am in denial, or maybe I just wasn't that bad. Hmm..
I am now so organized I scare myself sometimes. But just imparting an organization system wasn't enough.
I will get to the details later, but for now, know that I am a reformed eccentric slob who now is leaning toward eccentric neat-freak. This alone has not made me happy. The key to moving forward, now that I have tackled the piles and boxes of stuff, is figuring out what I really want to do with the rest of my life. I never had time to think about it, what with the volumes of unread materials lying about the house.
I found, in the piles, the remnants of three started (started - not finished or even really launched) businesses and a file cabinet worth of writing ideas and started stories, poems, and other things of that nature. I found dreams I had forgotten I had, and talents wasted. Creativity is beautiful whether filtered into an organizational system or art, as they are both pleasing... but I do not feel I was put on this planet to help people rearrange their pantries. I know I want to write, and I know I want to create. I also would really like to work from home, and have more than a few ideas on how to get this accomplished.. thus it is time for good old-fashioned MOTIVATION.
I am not even going to try to speak like a, well, motivational speaker. I am not going to rewrite the items I have read over the years, waiting to be inspired to the point where I would forget all the roadblocks and just GO. I am going to write like who I am - a 35-year-old single mother who would really like to try doing what she has always loved but for which she has never taken the time. I want to write, create, and start an business that enables me to work from home. I am doing this from a new town where I only know a handful of people, in a financial situation that makes my accountant's eye twitch, and in a spiritual funk accompanied by quite a few one-worded prayers and some hand gestures.
Motivatica - the place of beautiful motivation, forward motion, growth and functional energy. I am going to channel the little girl who daydreamed about writing and creating, drawing and researching, working and running around the world. The little girl who always drew this life with people and kids and travel and fun... the little girl who knew God threw her into this mix for a reason and felt compelled to figure it out.
NEXT INSTALLMENT: My favorite tips on time management, peppered with examples of what happens if you go from no system to a very detailed system with two children who are not interested in your new fridge chart system.
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