one little word report #5: peace of mind

Peace of Mind

Goal: Refrain from using non-phone electronics (computer, iPad) until kids' nap time.

How it went: Well... If we're sticking to the exact terms of this goal, it went badly. Like, it almost didn't go at all. But I tend to make goals mostly to enact a change in my life rather than to stick to a letter-of-the-law new rule, and I think this goal made me much more mindful of how I was using my electronic devices.

For the first few days I was pretty strict, and I really did enjoy the feeling of being untethered from the internet. I was able to get more done around the house, keep my mind a little quieter, focus more on the kids, and just generally feel more at ease. It was good to see what a difference less screen time makes!

The problem is, our world is becoming increasingly paperless. For example, I bought an ebook version of Shift, a book I've been reading towards my book goal. They don't have it at the library (I checked). So that meant that, simply to work on that goal and read that book, I had to have my iPad on.

Anyway, I think I have found a happy medium. When possible, I print things out (recipes, directions) so I'm not tempted to check facebook as I'm trying a recipe for dinner, but I also allow myself to pay a bill if the kids are busy playing or google the amount of bread yeast in a packet so I can measure it out correctly without waiting until the kids' nap/quiet time.

What surprised me was just how nice it feels to be a little more "unplugged," but also that I find peace a little differently than many people. I was reading on someone's blog how much they enjoy having just quiet in their home (at least as much as you can have with busy little ones underfoot), so I turned off the music for a day or two to see how I felt. We do have many quiet hours in our day, but sometimes I find it comforting or uplifting to have a little bit going on--music playing, a podcast on while I fold, or, when Steve is on a night shift or something, maybe a TV show playing in the background as I work on a project.

I think, like many things, it is all about moderation.

NEW GOAL:
I'm doing a couple things for peace of mind right now--revamping the budget, purging excess stuff from the house, etc. but I think my big goal for the next month or so is going to be to abide by my new cleaning schedule.

I have always struggled with cleaning the house--it seems an insurmountable task when you've got so many interruptions from little kiddos. So I usually just didn't clean unless I got a little manic one day. And then I felt guilty about how my house wasn't clean, and stressed by the mess/clutter/etc. So this month I finally sat down and decided which things HAD to get done every week to feel like our house was clean enough. Just clean enough for me to feel good, and not completely behind. I chose five things, one for each weekday.

I also decided to do one load of laundry each weekday and none on the weekend. This frees up my weekend days and makes them feel more weekend-y even when Steve is at work. Last week I got 4/5 done. I'm good with that! I'll just make sure that if I have to skip a day, it is a different chore than got skipped the week before.

I have not, however, figured out when to fold laundry yet. So now that I'm done writing this, its time for me to sit down and fold the FIVE loads of laundry I washed last week and never got around to putting away. Wish me luck. :)