"Warn people and do 15 minutes"

July 21, 2011

Today’s Bits of Advice…

1.       “Warn people before you take a blog break – They might miss you.”

2.       “Do what you can for 15 minutes.”

I don’t usually give a double bit of advice.  I do have a lot of advice but I write my extra advice in a list to use in the event I have writer’s block – haha!  But today called for a little extra advice because it has been so long since I’ve taken the time to write.   This has been a strange summer “vacation” for me and I’m still having trouble getting settled into any type of routine.  Summer seemed to come on too quickly without they typical end of the school year wind-down.  I just wasn’t ready for this!  And my blogging has fallen by the wayside as I’ve tried to figure out what I’m doing.

I knew it had been more than a week since I had added a bit of advice but, honestly, I didn’t think anyone had noticed.  I really don’t know how many people read my blog but my guess would be three.  Maybe four on a good day.  Tonight, a friend mentioned to me that she has been checking daily for the next blog entry and hadn’t found any in quite a while.   Wow!  Maybe I have five or six followers. So, in honor of Mary (don’t all my friends like to see their name mentioned at least once here?), I recommend to all my blogging friends that you send out a warning before you take a blog break. Don’t leave people hanging, wondering when the next great word of wisdom will arrive.  Let your friends know they can go on vacation without worry that they’ll miss something.  J

After Mary mentioned that she had been looking for a new nugget of advice I asked her what she thought I should write about.  She didn’t have to think too long.  Quickly she came up with “Tell me how to get my kids to clean up their rooms”.  So, Mary, my advice is “tell them to do what they can for 15 minutes”.  Sometimes the project looks too big and it’s easier to pretend the mess doesn’t exist (as if that’s really possible!).  But spending 15 minutes on a small part of the problem and seeing the results is a good start.  It makes the next 15 minutes seem possible.  And, after spending a few of these 15 minutes chunks of time on the mess, the rest just gets easier.

We’ve lived this advice in our home this week.  Our daughter decided this would be a good week to “tidy up” her bedroom.  Apparently she was not fazed by the fact that temps are in the upper 90’s and the heat index is hovering around 110F!  Our upstairs rooms are NOT pleasant in that kind of weather.  She started with her closet, moved to the bookcase and clothing armoire, and ended up with the under bed mess.  Instead of working on one small area, she tackled large spaces that were impossible to complete in short bursts of effort.  By the end of the day, she had everything pulled out on her floor, could not get to the bed, and had nowhere to sleep.  She was not happy and could not figure out how to recover from this new problem.  Today, we implemented the 15 minute principle and are slowly putting the room back together (with the help of a window AC unit!).  The room is not finished but it is on its way.  Remembering to only pull out what you can complete in a reasonable amount of time is such good advice to bringing about a successful outcome on this or any other challenging problem.

So that’s my advice for the day.  For the week.  Oh heck, my advice for half a month.  I’m sure I’ll get on a better schedule soon!

Hope you enjoyed the read.

“Shop With Your Eyes”

July 7, 2011

Today’s Bit of Advice…

“Shop With Your Eyes”

My children are able to quote many of my bits of advice despite the fact that they are rarely able to follow the advice without many, many reminders.  The one I’ve ingrained most into their heads over the last few days is “Shop With Your Eyes.”  There is a second half to that quote that I don’t always add since the first half seems to be enough: “Not with your hands”.

Seems that we cannot get through any store without the kids stopping every 18 inches to touch the merchandise.  It really doesn’t matter what the store sells -grocery store, drug store, Target, Walmart, hardware store, furniture store.  They have to feel the fabrics, smell the items, pick up things, sit on sofas, and see if you can flush display toilets.  And on and on.

I remind and remind that we need to shop with our eyes and only use our hands when necessary to check the price, size, or comfort of items we actually intend to purchase.  This habit of shopping with our eyes makes running errands incredibly time consuming.  Today we had to pick up four items at Target yet it took over 30 minutes to get out of the store.  I had children checking out bikinis, carrying toys through the store with the hope that Mom would buy them, reading Wii game boxes, sniffing toothpaste options and the like.  This doesn’t even include what happens in the checkout line with all the candy, gum, and toy selections right up against our cart.  That’s touch city!

Shop with your eyes, not your hands.

For adults the same advice is actually quite helpful.  Have you ever noticed how much easier it is buying something once you’ve touched it?  It’s as if you start to own the item in your mind just by picking it up off the shelf or rack.  I can go in a store with the intention of only buying one item and then fill a cart just because I started touching things.

Since I’ve been doling out the “shop with your eyes” advice to the kids, I have had more pressure to model the same behavior myself.  It really does help me keep my money in my wallet.  I look for deals and still buy some spontaneously but it is much easier to remember what I went to the store to buy this way.

Shop with your eyes, not your hands.

Try it.  I bet you’ll find that it works.  And think of all the great deals you can get with all the money you save!

I’m off to the Farmer’s Market this afternoon.  What is the chance I’m not going to pick up some fruits and vegetables to check them for their wonderful smell? Or the cheese bread that I’ll have to touch?  LOL – sometimes you have to shop with your hands (and nose) anyway!

Hope you enjoyed the read.