22 October 2009

Complacent with Clutter

I've never been one for order. I mean, I like having orderly, but I don't live a very orderly life. I'm complacent with clutter. I learn to get over it. But with us moving into our very first house in a matter of weeks, I want to turn over a new leaf.

I think I've eased my way into a good mojo with working out using the Couch to 5k Program. I've been really good about getting my butt to the gym at least three times a week to get my workout in. Now I just need to adjust my life so that things are less cluttered, more organized, and less stress inducing.

And I admit that it's been a team effort in becoming complacent with clutter. My husband has about the same tolerance level as I do. Unfortunately, we're both "pilers, not filers" and fall victim to just stacking things up and deciding to come to them later. And when we get into the new house, I don't want it to be this way.

I started reading David Allen's Getting Things Done and I think it's a very doable system. But it has to be done. It has to become a habit. One of the things that he says is a must when implementing a good life/work management system is a home base. A place where you always go to take care of business. Right now, in the apartment I don't have this. I do work all over the place. In fact, that's why I sometimes have to make myself go to Starbucks in order to focus and get work done. It's kind of silly, but true.

A couch is not a home office.

We should be moving in soon. Like in 2 weeks. My plan is to take two days once we're settled and start the GTD system. Because I can't be complacent with clutter anymore.

09 October 2009

Time flies when you're living...

You know, when I set out to create this blog, I promised myself that I wouldn't neglect it. And while it's only been left alone for about two weeks, I suddenly have this immense feeling of guilt. Because I had set out to write here. Consistently. And it's easy to make excuses for not writing. And it's easy to make excuses of having better more productive things to do. But no. I'm not going to fall into that trap.

Here we are about two weeks before we close on our first home. I'm so excited about it and have even already been to Home Depot to peruse paint chips. I'm already strategizing the colors. Seriously, though, I never thought that we'd be able to buy a home so soon. Now just to keep on chugging with our humble incomes and keep everything in check.

Speaking of finances. Personal finance is a beast. It's sometimes scary and overwhelming, but definitely necessary to tackle on a regular basis. Like it's often said, how can you know where you're going if you don't know where you are. I'm getting better at reviewing my finances and whole-heartedly recommend the online program Mint.com - it's free and easy to set up and secure! It was just purchased by Intuit, the creators of QuickBooks and Quicken, so it's sure to have the back up of a great company now. I'm so thankful that my husband is religious about checking our finances. With a freelance contract position and a budding small business, my income is less than regular and steady.

So in attempts to make this little blog less random and a bit more structured, I'm going to dedicate certains days to certain types of posts. That should help. Lord help me.