I've disappeared again, haven't I? I have been feeling so buried by life. And it's my own doing. And sadly, it's not life as in activities, volunteering, etc. (though I have done some of those too). It's my mess and my lack of finishing projects. Every once in awhile I swear I have ADD. Not the bouncing off your seat kind, but specifically ADHD-I (because the term ADD is actually outdated). Can you tell I've done my research? Basically, to sum it up unscientifically, I'm calm and quiet, but I cannot focus on tasks very well. I'm not saying I actually have it, but it all sounds so familiar when I read the symptoms and attributes of those who do have it.
I WANT to multi-task, but I shouldn't really because then I get only a morsel of 10 things done and the resulting mess from started projects is all over my house. I have literally dozens of tabs open on my window browser at once. I have so much to work on that I get nervous about it (weird, I know) and don't know where to begin.
Thankfully I'm not always like this. It's just when I feel particularly buried. Which is right now. It's the switching out seasons and sizes of clothes time. Getting rid of maternity clothes and baby clothes. Trying to keep up on laundry for 6 people. Trying to make sure we have good tasting and healthy meals every night. Trying to be a fun mom while still doing my projects (my family blog is still not caught up from Christmas). And don't even get me starting on cleaning! I love to think and love new ideas and my mind goes crazy just wanting to to them all, but then it gets so filled with that, that I do so very few of those things I get excited to try out.
Ahhh, it's nice to have that out. (And for the record, as I type this I am thinking about about 15 other things I should/could be doing.)
My latest project has been scanning papers. I hate papers and am a total paper junkie. It's a problem. I love the idea of having less of everything, with paper junk high on that list. I'm making progress, but the project has taken over my living room. I set up our laptop and scanner in there to be able to be by the kids, have more room to spread out, and leave the desktop computer available for my husband to play Civilization at night.
I'm a sentimental sap and I like having physical reminders of memories and moments in time. I used to scrapbook until I just got way too far behind.Several years ago I asked a very organized friend what she did with old Christmas cards and things like that. Despite being a minimalist, she also preferred to keep her cards versus just tossing them out. Her solution was to punch holes in them and put them in 3-ring binders. I've seen similar ideas in the last year or so on Pinterest. Such as this and this. My binder worked for awhile, until it wasn't caught up anymore and I had stacks of cards around. I decided I just wanted to end all the paper stuff and came up with a genius plan. (Is that okay to say one of your own ideas is genius?)
So I made a private blog! I am the only person who has access to this. I scan the cards, create a post for it, categorize it based on whether it was was a wedding announcement, thank you card, Christmas card, etc. I also label whether it was from family or friends. On the thank you cards that match up with something I made for that person, I also add a picture of the item. Or, if it is a wedding invite, I add a photo from the special day. Doing this has given me peace of mind that I can be sentimental and not keep all the actual crap. The blog is super organized and I try to post-date everything so it serves as a timeline of the events. I love it. Now I need to get back to scanning so my family can have the front room back.
(Also scanning kid papers, which is a whole other project that I am far behind on!)
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