Anti-Procrastination: The Simple Things

This Anti-Procrastination challenge has helped me identify so many of the excuses I make for not doing things.  The excuses are many and varied, but are usually such things as “I don't have enough time”, “It's too hard”, or just plain old, “I don't feel like it.”

Today I identified yet another excuse, and I realized yet again that all my excuses are pretty lame.  This time the excuse was that the thing I needed to do was too simple.  Sure, I wasn't verbalizing it in those terms, but when it was all boiled down that's all it amounted to.   Isn't that just stupid?!

What I (we as a family actually) have been neglecting for way too long is to pray for missionaries around the world.  My husband and I both pray for missionaries in our private prayer times, and we as a family will pray for specific needs of missionaries when they are brought before us.  But regular prayer for missionaries as a family has been…well…this sounds so harsh, but it's true…nonexistent.

The reason we kept neglecting it is that the process was just too simple.  We've had a simple system in place for a very long time, but we have never once used it – just because it seemed too simple.  We felt guilty because we should be praying together for more than just missionaries.  We felt like we needed an elaborate system to make sure we were covering all of our prayer bases.  Because we felt like we couldn't do it right, we weren't doing it at all.

A couple days ago I finally pulled out our simple system and just started using it completely impromptu with the kids at lunch.  And while I do hope to eventually come up with something a little more elaborate, at least we're praying for missionaries together a whole lot more than we used to!

Here's the “system”, if you can even call it that!

It's a cheapo 4×6 photo album with missionary prayer cards inside.  We pray for one missionary at each meal.

Sure, I'd like to keep the prayer cards perfectly updated.  I'd like to have a way to list out specific prayer needs for each missionary family instead of relying on our memories.  But for now, our missionary friends are being prayed for by a little family of five on a regular basis.  The kids are so excited to see who the next missionary in the album will be.  They keep very accurate records of whose turn it is to pray, and ask what exactly they should prayer for in regards to that particular missionary.

Okay, now, you know what I'm going to ask you.  What have you been putting off because it's just too simple?  What are you waiting to do until you come up with a more elaborate system?  Just make do with things the way they are.  You can always expand your system later.  It's better for something to be done too simply than not at all!

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Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Getting in Touch

Whenever I hear myself saying, “I need to…” or, “I really should…”, I know I have a great candidate for an Anti-Procrastination challenge.  Instead of just saying I need to do something, it's time to actually do it!

One thing I find myself saying often is that I need to email or call one of my friends.  I made so many good friends in college, but now we've all moved on to various parts of the country and even the world.

Staying in touch with them is not my strong point even though I miss them and think of them often.

Instead of just saying that I need to call or email somebody, I'm trying to actually do it as soon as I think about it, (or at least pencil it in on my to-do list for the day so I don't forget later.)

I just finished emailing a good friend before I starting writing this post, so now it's your turn.

With whom have you been saying you need to get in touch, but just haven't found the time yet?  Make the time today to keep your friendship strong!

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Fire!

I have another post halfway finished that I had planned to finish and post today, but I am feeling the need for a nap instead.

I wanted to share this post from my Mom's blog about a fire they had at their house, and I thought today would be a good day to do it.

“We went to bed that night thinking all was well.  We didn't know that we were wrong…”

Click here to read the entire post.

15 (More) Independent Activities for One-Year-Olds

My first post on 15 Independent Activities for One-Year-Olds has been the most popular post on Imperfect Homemaker.  I figure there must be lots of other moms who are in the same boat that I am and need something that will occupy their little ones for a while!  I decided to round up some more ideas for all of us that are age-appropriate for one-year-olds and can be done independently by the child.

New!  If you like this post, you will love my brand new eBook, 101 Independent Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers! 

Note:  If you click a picture or the link under the pictures, you will be taken to the blog where these ideas originated from.  If you'd like to pin a specific picture, please pin from the blog where the idea was originally posted.

Here goes!

9. Pom poms and cardboard tubes (if this activity is going to be unsupervised, I think it would be best to replicate this idea with larger sized balls that won't fit into the child's mouth.)

10. Connect Four (without the rules of course!)

11. Water Painting

12. Emptying baskets

13. Jars and lids

14. Homemade ball pit

15. Toys!  There are lots of toys that you can buy that are educational, and you don't have to take the time to make anything.  Here's my list of 10 toys for one-year olds.

What activities do you use for your little ones when you need them to play by themselves?

Also See:

Additional activities:

Toys:

The ultimate resource:

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I’m Baaack!

I didn't really expect to be out of the blogging loop for so long.  My husband's family has been in town all week, and we've been enjoying some time with them.  I really thought I'd still be blogging in the mornings before everyone else got up, but I've been pretty worn out and ended up sleeping in every day.  I *think* things should be back to “normal” around here where I can get back on a regular routine.  I'm looking forward to posting some more things very soon!

Anti-Procrastination: Do What You Can

There are a whole bunch of things I'd love to do around my house, but they're just not possible right now due to lack of time, money, or energy.   I'm sure all of you have the same problem in one area or another.

I'm the type of person that just says “Forget it” when I can't do things the way I want them done.

But really, if I'd just do what I can, things would at least improve.  I guarantee I will never have a perfect house, but why should I allow things that can be changed to continue looking junky?

Here's an example of something little that I did that looks a whole lot better.

I'd love to have a new kitchen floor.  The linoleum in there is quite old and worn out, and it never looks clean even when it's been freshly swept and mopped.  But even though I can't get a new floor right now, I decided to at least fix the disgusting vent covers.

And I mean disgusting.

I guess I've just been looking hopelessly at that old ugly floor for so long, that I didn't even think about the fact that I could at least replace the nasty vent covers.

Thanks to my friend Christina at The Frugal Homemaker, I learned that I could even spray paint my vent covers instead of buying new ones!

So I did!

It's not perfect since the linoleum has some cuts around the edge of the vent, but it's much better than it was before!

Do you a project you've been putting off because you don't have the resources to complete it?  Think through any areas that you can work on and do what you can!

If you’re just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. Be sure you’re subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each new challenge!