21 Day Challenge Day 1: Discipline is a choice

This post is part of the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge (here’s my introduction to the challenge). I’d love for you to join in!

Day 1: Discipline is a choice

Instead of addressing the root issue – my own, personal lack of self-discipline – I convince myself that a fancy new system or a change in circumstances will fix the problem. But here’s the reality: A bad system is not the problem. My circumstances are not the problem.

I am the problem…

I am the problem, but I am also the solution.

My household is running fairly well overall, but not flowing smoothly. There’s a lot of upkeep, and a lot that I just don’t bother to delegate anymore. Life changes, and systems need to change, too. Throw in Tishrei, living in another country, and just the normal stuff of daily life, and you can see where the rescue fantasy comes in.

But I am taking control. I am the solution!

Assignments:

1.    Complete a small task that has been nagging you. I like a clean desk, but my desk is most definitely a hot spot – a place where clutter gets dumped. And some of it isn’t put there by me…but some of it is. Right now, my desk isn’t so bad, but still, I feel it when I sit down to work. Here’s the before shot:

And after – dusted, organized, and shiny.

That felt good! Of course, there are plenty of other things I could do with the short time I spent working on my desk. I didn’t worry about the drawers or try for the whole room, I just focused on doing what I needed to do to make my desk look better. Done is better than perfect, right?

And actually, while considering what to write for this post (some might call it procrastinating!), I cleaned off my kitchen counters, scrubbed down the table, cleared off another side table, did laundry…

2.    Choose a mega-project; Break it down into 21 manageable pieces.

This one took up the bulk of time, and is what I was having trouble getting started on. You can see my brainstorming here:

My mega project is organizing our days. We have a little structure to the schedule, with a babysitter coming in a few afternoons and classes for the older boys, but we’ve kind of been drifting and throwing together a schedule.

This has been hard to break down, but I got my ideas down and then divided them into mini-projects over the course of an hour or so. I know where I want to go.

But putting it into a clear and coherent schedule, especially here on OJH, is tricky. I know that I need a smaller project for Saturdays since Shabbat takes up the bulk of our day, and I know that some of those days are busy while others aren’t…so I have a looser schedule with optional work to add in as I can. I’ll post about each of those little victories as I go.

3.    Complete Part 1 of mega project.

Today I spent an hour sorting out my projects to come, and that became my day 1. I’ve got about a week relating to meal planning and shopping, and the other two weeks covering morning and evening routines, chores, and more.

Did you complete today’s challenge?  What is your mega project, how did you divide it, and what part of it did you complete today?

This post is part of the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge (see introduction).