Monday, May 07, 2007

Avoiding my list

Okay, so I know I talked this morning all about how a list works for me. How it helps me not feel overwhelmed, to see what I have going on for a week, and plan it out nicely.

It's not working for me just at the moment!

In fact, I'm writing a blog post to avoid actually getting started on the things on my list, the biggest of which is writing a talk for the weekend.

Okay, okay, you've convinced me. I'm going to work. I'm going to change the sheets on my bed, and empty my garbage, and scrub a bathtub (well, maybe not the bathtub). The laundry is in progress, and I'm going to sit down for at least half an hour (hopefully more like an hour!) and study the stuff I'm supposed to be teaching.

See you tomorrow!

A Week in a Glance

"Personally I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught." - Winston Churchill
I got this quote in an email this morning, and related a little. I feel like I’m living in that place a bit right now. Liking to learn, but not liking the process of being taught. Plus, I’ve always liked Winston Churchill – how geeky of a history major admission is that for first thing on a Monday morning?

So, here’s how my week looks:

Work: slow as has become the norm lately. Lots of surreptitious checking of email and facebook. Lots of writing blog posts in word to sneakily post by copying and pasting, thus minimizing the time that blogger is open on my computer. Getting really excited when there’s more than the usual amount of mail on a given day, because it means it might fill up a whole hour instead of only half an hour. Lots of tea drinking.

Youth: have to come up with something to say for half an hour on Friday night. What exactly was I thinking when I agreed to speak? Also, realizing that I hated this sort of retreat as a teenager, and I’m not looking forward to it all that much more as a grown-up person. I also need to attend the production of “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” at a local high school on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (anyone want to go with me?) because one of my youth girls is starring as the White Witch, and another marginally connected youth girl is playing Mrs. Beaver.

Home: laundry. Change the sheets on my bed. At least five hours of studying (have to do something to figure out what I’m going to say for half an hour on Friday night). Little bit of cleaning. Trying to find a gift for mother’s day. Pick up the shoes I took in to have repaired on the weekend. Take some things I don’t need anymore to the local thrift shop for resale. A quick trip to the library. Pack for the youth trip. Revisit my budget and begin planning for moving out and car buying.

Friends: Lunch with Faye today. Lunch with Crystal either Thursday or Friday. Need to call Megs to find out when we’re getting together this week. Need to mail a card to another friend. Write a nice long newsy email to a friend I haven’t had time to catch up with since last fall. Find out when another friend leaves Calgary to go back to Thailand, and arrange to get together with her and my brother T. before she leaves.

This is a snapshot type version of the “To Do” list that I have begun to create as a way of organizing my week. It worked really well last week, so I’ve decided to try it again. There are a few left-overs from last week’s list that have spilled onto this week’s, but for the most part, I accomplished everything that was really important on the list, and am hoping that this will continue to be a successful way to bring some semblance of planning and order to my week. (It also helps me to have a big-picture list that lets me see everything for the week in one shot, and plan accordingly.)

I hope you all have a fantastic week!