Word of the week - Things

There are always so many things to do, things to think about and things to consider. Things that get done automatically, things that get done last minute, things that get put off and put to the bottom of the list and things that get forgotten accidentally and sometimes on purpose.

People tell me I'm so good at remembering things, getting things done and I'm good at working things out. They also seem to think I enjoy doing things.

To be good at remembering things, you've got to want to do things...I write things down. I write lists, I have a birthday list. I write a journal, I have a yearly calendar to look at. I write and address and stamp cards at the beginning of each month and they sit in the hall with the date written in the corner so I remember to post them. I carry gifts in a bag in the car so I can drop them off as I'm out and about.

I've bought all the Christmas presents and cards for family and friends abroad and have written all the letters and posted them for Australia, America, Canada, Germany and South Africa to make sure it all has a chance of getting there in time. 

But I also have lots of other things that have to be done daily, weekly, monthly or just as a one off.

Things I've been putting off:

Anything to do with the loft. The stairs are narrow and slippery and it's hard work getting up and down them if you're carrying things. So bare foot is the only way to go and I'll have to clear everything off the stairs first. As the camping gear needed to go up and the Christmas decorations had to come down. I decided to focus on putting things away that were accumulating at the bottom of the stairs and take the time to sort the rooms once I took the Christmas decorations down so I had space to tidy things before taking the camping gear back up.

I re hung a photo that fell off ages ago and has just been sitting on the stairs.

There are always things sitting around the house waiting to be done, but not getting in the way. This mirror needs to go back on the wall in the downstairs loo and the bag is for the car. It's got my walking boots in it and two books to give to a friend.

There is always cat hair to be brushed off blankets and sofas.

There is always washing up to be done and the dishwasher to be emptied. You can add washing and ironing to the list of things to do also.

There is alwasy recycling to be put out, but as we store it in the house, in a cupboard, it often becomes a mammoth job as it overfills.

We're always on the look out for a permeant storage solution for our things.

Then there are the things that no one can be bothered to do, or don't really matter. Like fixing this blue cable for the outside camera so it's out of sight. it's been like this for two years.

Finding a home for the bag of compost. It'll take me two minutes to put it in the bottom of the cold frame.

There have been lots of other things I found to do this week. My desk was finally tidied and paperwork filed away. When we rearranged the lounge the other week after the flood we ended up with a spare unit that I've now found a home and a use for in the back room. 

When my head is full of things to do, I don't relax or switch off fully. I've given myself a couple of hours every week after work, my run and dinner to get these things done before sitting down to watch TV and into bed by 10pm. I've also made time to read and whilst I still have the Christmas decorations to put up and the boxes to put away. I've got an awful lot of things done that were bugging me and next week I have space and time to do some more of the things I enjoy.