Do one thing every day...
Good Monday Morning from Country Bumpkinland!
Happy Monday beautiful people! How was everyone's weekend? Do anything special? After a few crazy hectic weeks of family get togethers, I decided to take this last weekend to unwind a little bit, because I have not been doing much of that at all! Not to say I did nothing, only that whatever I did - I did it at home and at a leisurely pace, lol
DO ONE THING EVERY DAY
Some years ago, when I was still running my business full time and writing in the evenings - the pace of my life was somewhat different and I often found myself feeling overwhelmed because I just wasn't getting to all the things that I wanted to. Not so much on the professional front, but rather on the personal side of things. It can become a little de-motivating when you spend all your time grinding away to make ends meat and then at the end of it all, you have no time or energy left to attend to your personal aspirations.
This got me thinking about the expression "Do one thing every day that scares you". I have always loved that quote and though admittedly, I don't live it to the T - I will say that I think there is a lot of truth in its positive benefits.
I am a person who needs order in my life and I also don't like the feeling I get when I initially set my mind or intent on doing something and then I dont manage to do it... so, I decided to adopt a slightly amended version of that quote into my every day life... that being "Do one thing every day".
If I were to equate my adaptation of those words to another quote for better understanding of what I mean... it would probably be "Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in. and day out." by Robert Collier
We all have stuff we want to get to but somehow never do because life is getting in the way. Whether it is sorting out the kitchen cupboards, rearranging the living area, clearing out a cluttered garage or room - or whatever. Looking at those tasks in their entirety is often what causes the problem of procrastination and delay in the first place, which is unfortunate because we all know the terrible feeling we carry around with us when we ignore the things we intended to do and they start to pile up into little internal mountains.
So, "Do one thing every day" started for me with the kitchen actually. Instead of feeling like I had let myself down because I had not "started" - I decided to begin the task with one drawer. One day - one drawer. Another day - another drawer... and so it went. I adopted this into my every single day, no matter what that "one thing" was... and I was actually really impressed at the enormity of the positive impact that tackling one little thing each day had on me.
It didn't take long before the culmination of these little daily tasks started to make a visible impact in my personal space too, and that only further compounded all the "good feels".
Last week, I wrote a post about beginning a herb garden in a rather large section of my garden... I actually "started" this process or thought process rather, some months back and have already had to clear the space several times, because all the grass and weeds grew back during the intervals each time - and even though I had made some good progress in one little spot, I was becoming a little despondent because I began feeling like I was not actually getting anywhere in the grand scheme of things.
Precisely like I mentioned above, the progress of the entire space was becoming overwhelming, which in turn caused me to procrastinate and ignore it - which only perpetuated the problem. It's a pretty negative loop actually. One which I think many of us has experienced more than once or twice in our lives.
After some time, I got annoyed enough with myself and said "what the heck Jayne - if you want it done then start getting it done!" Now, I don't know why I didn't just do this from the beginning, but I decided to "do one thing every day". I suppose we ourselves forget even our best advices or sage wisdoms, lol!
Nonetheless, that was one of the things I got stuck into this weekend. I took a wooden pole and drew lines in the sand of approximately where and how I would like the stepping stone paths to meander and this in turn created smaller sections. It was staring at the reduced portions which actually sparked the lightbulb moment, lol - just tackle one small section at a time. One section is better than no sections and eventually they will become the whole!
I have been saving some bell pepper seeds for some time, so I picked a good spot for the peppers and began clearing out that small spot. Another thing I have not gotten around to doing as yet - is to buy myself a garden fork - which is a far more appropriate tool for getting rid of grass by the root, but nonetheless, I have a garden space... and I used it! I say this often and I will say it again... gardening is not for sissies, lol!
Clearing that one small section properly, took a good hour but I think I successfully managed to get rid of about 90% of the grass, lost about 100 kilograms in sweat and had a nice turned piece of land to plant the seeds in!
I scattered the seeds, covered the area with some mushroom soil and then dug in some wooden poles in the hopes that they will deter the large wild birds from stomping all over the seedlings, because we have quite a lot of avian friends which frequent the garden. Once the peppers are established I will remove the sticks and then hopefully re-use them in the next spot, if they prove effective.
So there it is! Do one thing every day! I did one thing! and I will say this - I feel SO much better just having made that small little start, that suddenly the "whole" space no longer has me feeling down... but rather, excited - because I remembered precisely how to tackle it.
I hope I have offered a little inspiration and motivation for anyone facing anything similar at the moment!
Have a beautiful week everyone!
You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Country Bumpkinland, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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I'm so looking forward to the progress of your peppers.
No doubt, your post was inspiring. Got me thinking - one drawer in one day!
These little reminders are very important. Either we get them from others or from within...
Wish you all the success with your garden. xoxo
Hi @soulfuldreamer <3
Yes!!! me tooooo :D It will be great to be able to pick them straight from my own garden!
So very true!!!
Thank you so much for the lovely comment sweetheart and for taking the time to read! I hope you have an amazing start to your week!
Much love!
Gosh... brings to mind something I learned longer ago than I care to think about. I was working in the IT industry and had that whole "overwhelm" thing going. One of my managers said something to the effect of "you need to learn to 'chunk small!'"
Instead of thinking about 100,000 lines of code, think about the 800 lines you're going to deal with today as the entire focus of your work.
I still get wound up when there's too much going on... but that bit of advice has stuck with me.
P.S.: When you're trying to "terraform" land, black plastic is your friend. Just lay it down and let the summer sun "cook" the weeds... then clean up little bits at a time, as you're ready. It's not pretty, but it's effective.
xo
hahahaha!!! Oh my goodness, ,I don't think I have ever heard that one before "chunk small". but yes! Spot on!!!
OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!! I am SO going to try that!!!!!
Approx. how long would one normally need to leave the plastic there for? I think I have a black plastic painting drop sheet in the garage... I assume that would suffice?
Wonderful post showing a practical philosophy of how we can function on a day to day basis.
Thanks so much for sharing @jaynie
Esp
Thanks so much @xaviduran, I appreciate you taking the time to read it!