Tip of the Day

If you are like me you can easily get sucked into the cyber-world after sitting down at the computer to quickly check your email or Facebook.  The intention is to check-in with the rest of the world and quickly "get-off" so you can work on the to-do list that has been sitting on your desk for days, maybe even weeks. I've tried the "I'll give myself 10 minutes" and then I'll move on to the laundry, or cleaning, or scrapbooking, or making dinner, or a million other little things a home-owning wife should probably be doing... but, nope! The 10 minutes turns into 30. Then 30 turns into 60. Then sixty turns into, "Oh, shit! I've been cruising the net ALL night!"  


Well, today I have a snow day. I am cozied up in my scrap studio with the intention of finishing laundry, cleaning the master bathroom, cleaning/organizing my walk-in closet, and finishing up my Project Life 2010. Where am I? "Checking-in with the world." (while watching the baby squirrels  romp, play, and jump from tree to tree during the snow storm... so cute!).  A solution I came up with last summer TOTALLY helped with my internet A.D.D. I use this tool at work and it also helps children get focused on the task at hand.  So, today I am returning to this useful resource... an online stopwatch. I pull it up in a tab in Google Chrome (LOVE Google Chrome... if you have more than one computer or you want access to all of your "favorites" from work, this is the tool!).  I throw in a load of laundry, come back to my computer, set the timer, and go about my merry way working on other tasks.  The timer rings at the end to remind me to switch the laundry... so helpful!  In the past, I'd throw in a load and forget about it until 4 hours later... not a good thing if your intention is to finish the laundry that day.  So, try the stopwatch... for whatever tasks you need some time accountability... maybe it is cleaning out that hallway closet.  You won't end up spending the whole day cleaning out a closet that you only intended to work on for 60 minutes!