I work outside of the home for a whopping ten hours per week. *GASP* I don't even really consider it "working" as I am helping out a good friend. While I am at work, I have a tendency to micro-organize things and demand orderliness; I just seem to be unable to sit still for more than five minutes while there. Last week, I spent a good deal of time pondering why that degree of orderliness does not spill over into my home. I love my home & family and consider being a homemaker one of the highest honors, but somehow my convictions about how our home should be had not materialized over the past few years. While my health has been poor, I do not believe that to be the only reason. It occurred to me that while I am at work, there is no cable TV, internet access, comfy couch to lounge upon, or means of escape....meaning I have to stay there and can't just pick up and leave whenever the mood hits. So to sum it up, my problem at home is that I'm too distracted.
To remedy this, I have deleted 99.9% of my facebook applications (no more farmville for me) and turned off my cell phone notifications from facebook as well. That will automatically eliminate a large chunk of my computer time. If I'm going to spend time on the computer, it really should be perusing encouraging blogs anyway.
As far as TV goes, that will take more discipline on my part. I will actually have to find the "off" button on the remote. To help, I'm going to move a radio/cd player into the den. We used to have a nice stereo, but we moved into a much smaller house where there is no place for an old stereo system with huge speakers. Music is a wonderful gift for setting moods and I am a fan classical music (as well as Jazz, some Broadway, and crooners). Music doesn't necessarily require that I stop what I'm doing to look at something the way TV does and will allow me to work while enjoying it. Not sitting down in front of the TV will also keep my mind more alert and not as groggy....hopefully eliminating the need for most naps.
I've also been considering being less available on my cell phone. I may actually turn it off some times *GASP!* We have unlimited texting and while texting can be a very useful tool, most texts could really wait. Such a large part of real communication is lost through texting or instant messaging or online chatting. There are no voice inflections or facial expressions that help convey meaning. I fear that most of our relationships are (as my dh loves to say) a mile wide and an inch deep. We know when each other is at a certain store or event or who they were with, but we fail to connect on a more intimate level that can only be attained through person to person contact.
Anyway, I'm doing some metaphoric house cleaning and hoping in the end to find more orderliness of home, mind and spirit.
Blessings to you all. :)
