what to do first?

I got up & swam this morning for the first time in two weeks. I came home clear-eyed and focused, ready to crank. Had five different topics for blog-posts ready to go…

…but there were a few things I thought I should do first.

Some, like showering, dressing & eating, I’m good with putting to the front of the queue. If I don’t eat, Things Get Ugly—even when I don’t notice that I’ve not eaten. Showering… I’m less fussy about dressed-for-the-day vs. not, but sitting in the upholstered desk chair in my wet swimsuit has unpleasant repercussions . Might as well shower & dress at that point.

Howsomever, while I was eating I started thinking about Getting Ready for Housekeepers. This drill takes at least half an hour, and sometimes more, depending on how much picking up the girls have actually completed and how many random things in the kitchen are waiting to be handwashed.

My dilemma:

do the important, habit-forming stuff first?
do the keeps-the-family-humming stuff first?

It’s sort of the Steven Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People setup, important vs. urgent. And one can ABSOLUTELY argue that, in the 10- to 50-year view, pulling the clean sheets out of the linen closet and putting them on the bed for the housekeepers will never be remembered. On the other hand, part of an affirming, enriching home ambiance is “home-making“—the home in repair, tidy, clean, so that all one has to do is walk in, sit down, and say, “Ahhh, so nice to be home after a long day.” An unmade home generates a feeling, a ‘vibe’, that eventually destroys my ability to do important, habit-forming things.

So sheets are, ultimately, important to me. Which does not help the dilemma at all!

Add into this mix TIME. Time as in “when will the housekeepers arrive?” (always an interesting variable). Time as in “I have to drive over to work in time for our staff meeting.” Time as in, that gives me an hour and a half before I need to leave the house… so how will I spend it?

As it happens today, I spent it first Getting Ready for Housekeepers @ .5hrs, and Habitforming for the rest.

I wasn’t crazy about my choice as I was walking the house, but I was pretty sure it was a .5 day and not a 2h day… and I was right. Maybe part of habitforming is playing Tetris with time… ?

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