I'm currently reading
'Power Thinking' by Caterina Rando having been seduced by the illustrations. One thing that I am finding really useful this week that's in this book is the view that tasks expand to fill the time allocated to them. She says you can allocate half an hour to get ready for that meal tonight, or you can allocate an hour and a half, either way you will get ready and it will take that long- how true! She recommends setting artificial deadlines in your day by which you have to have completed tasks. well, I've been using this since Tuesday and I'm getting through stuff at a rate of knots I feel almost as productive as
Fairysteps. I've decided that Christmas is a week earlier than it really is so I have to have everything done by 18th December. The reasoning behind this is, every Christmas I think "if only I had another week, I could relax and enjoy it all". So that's the plan this year, let's see if it works....
So, I've made myself lists of things to do and I'm approaching my tasks like the proverbial bull in a china shop. I'm also trying to let go of my perfectionism and finding that some things will just 'do'. so the linocut that I carved for cotton gift bags...
Has also been used for my christmas cards...
& I found I'd freed up enough time to make some Christmas cookies for the local Arts Network meeting
Yum!
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3 comments:
Very nice the biscuits were too!
I checked out the book link - yes what lovely illustrations they are. I will think about how I can apply artificial deadlines to my day - perhaps if I talk to my felt and tell it it has to be finished in a set time it'll cooperate? But I can be a bit of a daydreamer and that wastes time no end, so will try to focus more on what needs to be done.
Cards look great! xx
What that book has to say about time is so right. When I was nursing and we had extra staff we didn't worry about rushing because...we had extra staff. The end rsult was that nothing was done properly and what was done was late. If we had less staff we all worked harder and were more motivated and things got done more quickly and better because we all knew there was less time to do what had to be done. I definitely work better under pressure if I give myself less time to do whatever it is. End result is if you have more time - you waste it. Love the illustrations in that book too and your tree cards are very good. Very Christmassy.
Absolutely Cathy. I was talking to a friend last week -we both have 3 children, the youngest of which have just started school. She said to me "Aren't you much more relaxed about Christmas this year? I mean, I've got time to DO things now at a leisurely pace" "Beware!" said I, "if you think you HAVE all the time in the world, it will TAKE all the time in the world." She looked at me 'gone out', as we say around here, but it sounds like you know what I meant. Thankyou for your kind words, the cards have been very well received so far.
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