My Not To Do List

To follow up to yesterday's feelings of high stress and anxiety, I did what I said that I would do.  I took a good look at all of the things that I had floating around my head (and calendar) filed mentally under "to do".  Not surprisingly, most of them were not vital.  My mantra for the week.  "Not doesn't mean no ever".  I did keep some essentials:  feed children, clean up puppy messes, deliver children to school, brush teeth etc.  But, I gave many a down grade.  Here is what I have moved from "to do" to "not to do" in the next week.

1.  Make bread, granola or snacks from scratch
2.  Mop
3.  Weed the garden (though I did assign this another able body)
4.  Take the kids swimming
5.  Take Liam to toddler yoga
6.  Make Halloween plans with my children (no elaborate costume schemes, no crafting)
7.  Make any classes at the gym ( I seriously can't handle another scheduled event)
8.  Commit to any sort of volunteering (even if for a later date)
9.  Swap out Fall/Winter clothing for Spring/Summer
10. Add on what is already planned for Amelia's Birthday
11.  No elaborate meals (30 minutes or less to prepare)

Ahhh....that feels much better.


I had originally planned my "don't do's" for 2 weeks.  But, an unrealistic "don't do" is no better then an unrealistic "do".  Not mopping the floors before my daughters party would cause me more stress then the 30 minutes it takes to do it.  Also, I love my gym classes, I don't want to punish myself should I be available to make it next week stress free.


Later today, I will move on to my lightened "to do".  Since I have bored you enough with one list, I will refrain from indulging in a second.  I will tell you that my new "to do" will leave me more time to enjoy my family and sweet rare moments of solitude (I have two, 2 hrs. Tues. morning and 1 hr. Wed. afternoon).  An hour with a magazine, walking on the waterfront, writing, or singing sound much better then fighting with my sewing machine or sorting through my closets is what I need "to do" this week.

What can you put on your "Do Not Do" list?