Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Clean out those Coupons!

 If you missed it yesterday, I told you that I'm going to start posting an Anti-Procrastination Challenge for you each day.  If you need a little inspiration or motivation to start working on those annoying things around the house, this is it!  Be sure to subscribe to email updates so you'll receive each day's new challenge in your inbox!

(By the way, I will not be asking you to complete any task that I have not first completed myself.)

Today's Challenge: Clean out your coupons and receipts.

Depending on the type of person you are, this could be a small task or a very large one.  If you don't use coupons, you may only have a few random receipts lying around.  Round them up and file them if need be or throw them away.  If you are a big-time coupon user, you may have a big job ahead of you.  Don't just say “I ought to…” or “I really should…”; just get up and do it!  Toss the expired ones, file the current ones where they need to go, and get them all cleaned up.  Maybe you're somewhere in the middle.  You clip a few coupons for things you usually buy and you have a few restaurant flyers lying around that have come in the mail.  Throw out anything expired and put the rest away.

I got mine all taken care of today.  I know everyone has a little different system for how they organize their coupons.  I call my system the “messily neat system”…or should it be the “neatly messy system”?  Either way, it works for me.  Basically, I came up with a way to keep everything corralled into one place and fairly easy to find without spending forever filing it just so.  Maybe I'll show you how I do it one day.   

For now, you've got a job to do!

And when you come back, I'd love for you to tell me how you keep your coupons organized!

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Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Your First Task!

I shared my anti-procrastination challenge with you before this year even began, and I've been plugging away at it ever since.  I told you last week how it has affected my home, and I am so excited to see the progress I've made in just one month!  I left it up to you to establish your own rules if you want to join me, but if you're like me, maybe you work better if someone tells you what to do!  So, I'm going to start posting the challenge for the day to help spur your thinking as to what those little nit-picky things are that need to get done around the house!

Your first challenge is to vacuum or sweep under your living room furniture. 

I mean, actually move it and thoroughly clean underneath.  You may be surprised at what you'll find under there.  Perhaps you'll only find a few dust bunnies, but if you have kids there is no limit to what might be lurking under there!  You know what I just found under mine?  A clementine!  I am so glad it wasn't rotten!  Putting off cleaning under the furniture would have left a nice little odor in my house in a couple weeks!

So, go get started!  If you find anything interesting under there, let us know about it in the comments!

And be sure to keep yourself updated on each day's challenge by subscribing in the box below!

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Yarn Wrapped Faux Fruit {Tutorial}

I was getting ready to throw away some old faux pears that I had since they had been treated roughly and beaten up by the kids.  The stems were missing and there were some nicks and dings in them, but it hurts me so much to throw something away.  I decided to figure out a way to make them lovely again.  This ended up being so easy!

You could do this with any type of faux fruit; just use the right color of yarn and follow these instructions.  I'm thinking this would look great with pumpkins in the fall!

Supplies needed:

Instructions:

1. Squirt some glue onto the top of the fruit.

2. Use your foam brush to spread it around.  Do not spread too thinly or too far down because it will dry quickly, and the yarn will not stick once it's dry.  If the yarn is not sticking, you need more glue.  Don't be afraid to add more than you think you need because it will dry clear and won't show up on your finished product. 

3. Starting at the very top, wrap the yarn in a spiral shape on top of the glue.  Once you've covered all the glue, add some more, spread it with your brush, and continue wrapping.  Keep wrapping until the entire piece of fruit is covered.

4. When the fruit is fully covered in yarn, cut your twig to the desired size, and attach to the top with a nice dollop of fabric glue.  Remember, don't worry – it will dry clear.

5.  You are done!  Enjoy this amazingly simple creation!

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Anti-Procrastination Update: Week 3

I am seriously loving my anti-procrastination challenge!

Before I started this challenge, my mindset was always that I do all the “regular” housework, and then I do anything extra like deep cleaning or organizing.  The problem was, that all the housework was never done!  There were always more meals to prepare, meaning the kitchen had to be cleaned yet again, or more laundry to wash, meaning that it also needed to be dried, folded, and put away.  I never seemed to have time to get around to those “extra” things.

I've made it a priority to get to one anti-procrastination task every single day.  Just something simple like pulling the shower curtain off and sending it through the wash has made an amazing difference!

Here are some ways it has affected our household:

1. It gives me a sense of accomplishment in a much more visible way than regularly-occurring chores do.  There's just something depressing about sweeping the floor only to see that it's dirty again 5 minutes later.  A clean shower curtain, however, gives me a visible reminder that I actually did accomplish something today.

2. A sense of accomplishment brightens my mood and actually helps me enjoy doing the “regular” chores.  It's energizing!

3. Little things like a dirty shower curtain, a disorganized pantry, crumbs in the silverware drawer, etc. were starting to pile up.  Unbeknownst to me, they were dampening my husband's mood when he came home from work.  After I'd been at this anti-procrastination challenge for a week or so, he thanked me for all the little things I was getting done, and told me how it was helping him enjoy our home more!  (By the way, I'm enjoying it more too!  You don't even realize sometimes how those little things can affect you until they're done and you realize how much happier you feel!)

4. My husband's mood and energy after coming home from work has perked up so much that he's started his own anti-procrastination challenge!  He has felt so motivated by the little things I've gotten done, that it has inspired him to start working on his own I-really-need-to-get-that-done projects.  Boy, that has really perked up our house!  My kitchen sink hasn't been draining properly for a while, which made it really annoying to do the dishes.  Now that is fixed!  My husband is also super-organized, so he's been cleaning out the house and re-organizing for me!  He has a whole list of things that he's been chipping away at!  This is great!

Have you been meeting your goals this year?  How has it affected you? 

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Anti-Procrastination Update: Week 2

I've gone two weeks straight without missing a day of Anti-Procrastination!  At least if I stink at meeting my weekly goals, I'm at least accomplishing something every day.

Sunday: I can't remember what this was; I didn't write it down.
Monday: Laminated some stuff for the kids' preschool.  I'm notorious for planning on doing the laminating later, and so far I've done…zilch.  I figured it would be best to start right where I am and laminate the stuff we used today.
Tuesday: Dry Cleaned some stuff that has been hanging in the laundry room forever.
Wednesday: Sewed a button that had come off the boys' hamper.  Removed the bumper from baby boy's crib – he's getting to roly poly for me to feel comfortable with it being on there anymore.  I actually put it all the way in the attic too!
Thursday: Cleaned the crumbs out of the silverware drawer.
Friday: Listed some things on ebay
Saturday: Finished listing things on ebay

So far I am loving the variety of this Anti-Procrastination thing.  It's helping me get something done without getting bored with doing the same old thing every day.  (Even though I still do that too – cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, the works.  It's all part of being a mom, and I wouldn't give it up for anything!)

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