Mr. Shrinking Knitter and I are getting ready to move my little office from our house into a bit of space in the large office/family room which is otherwise known as "upstairs" – the second floor of the garage. We designed the garage together and had it built about five years ago, I think. It seems like it's always been there. And it's always been his office.We'd like to turn my office in the house into a tiny den/TV room, as neither of us really likes having a television in the bedroom, and our living room – well, there's no place to put one. On one side of the room is a large fireplace; the other walls are all sliding glass doors. We did not design the house.
In order to accomplish this move, I need to go through filing cabinets, bookshelves and storage bins to weed out what I no longer need and to determine what will go where. In other words, it's time to purge.
But I don't wanna.
We've already had a two-line phone jack installed, in order to hook the computer up to the very slow dial-up internet connection. [While arranging for this, a Verizon representative told me it looks like broadband will be in this part of the Middle of Nowhere February 17. I'll believe it when I see it.]
At any rate, I'm at a point where if it is to be, it's up to me. And I Just. Can't. Get. Started. It's overwhelming. I need Flylady standing over me, cracking the whip every 15 minutes.
I'm a crafty kinda gal. I need a clear surface for working on paper crafts, beading and bookmaking. And the stuff one needs to do these crafty things takes up space. I have several storage tubs full of supplies, as well as a six-cube storage unit stuffed full of, well, stuff. Most of my yarn and knitting tools are already up there; at least that's done.
What does this have to do with weight loss or getting healthy? Not much. But maybe talking about it here will spur me on to some action.
Thank goodness this inertia hasn't migrated over to the fitness part of my life. I'm following my training program to the best of my ability, which is to say I'm not quite getting the mileage in for the speed drills, but I'm pushing myself farther each week. Speed drills have always been my least favorite part of training. Fartleks – a Swedish word for 'speed play' – are more likely to happen than a sustained 11-minute mile.
I'm going to make up the missed mileage from yesterday sometime today. I was supposed to have done five; I did three. About half of that was at 5.5 mph, and I felt good when I was done. But it wasn't long before I felt really drained and, consequently, no work got done in the office.
Hopefully these almost-daily runs will become routine soon, and I can work on the rest of my life.
Since this post isn't terribly inspiring or motivating, I invite you to go visit Jonathan, who has some really terrific thoughts on how losing weight has changed more than his body. He really does maintenance well, and offers lots of good reasons for continuing to whittle away the pounds, if that's what you're trying to do.
4 comments:
Hey Debbi -
I remember reading a few years ago something that linked a messy environment to holding on to weight. I can't remember the premise exactly but it had to do with not being able to let go of "stuff" - be it junk, or pounds. I have no idea if it's true, but it's an interesting idea, given your post today.
Boy, your running inspires me! Do a mile for me, will you? :-)
You go, girl!
I so understand what you mean. It is overwhelming to just think about what all needs to be purged at my house and garage. That's the perfectionist in us talking though--if we can't do it all, don't do nuthin.
When it's right, the time will hit you. It's going to take a lot of energy, and it WILL show up for you and you WILL get in there and get it done. It's just not exactly the right time yet. And then, since you mentioned Flylady, you know all about breaking things down into 15 minute increments. You can do anything for 15 minutes.
That's a nice 3 mile run you got in. Hope your long one is a good one, too.
I'm totally with you on the overwhelmed by purging thing! As a natural born, come by it honest, pack rat, it's painful for me to part with anything that I can justify as having a possible use - for me or anyone I can think of.
Sometimes when the chore is so big, it even seems too big to break down into small pieces. Once you get finished, you'll wonder why you waited so long - it's the starting that is no doubt the hardest part.
That, and knowing when to stop. I have made a rule in the last few years that I will work on purging until I recognize that I'm holding a marginal item and working hard to justify keeping it. That's my personal point of diminishing returns. Working beyond that will only result in me keeping more than I should and most likely even getting things back out of the throwaway pile 'cause, after all, if I'm keeping this, there's no need to throwaway that!
I've found I generally have about a one hour tolerance for purging stuff before I hit that point. So, it takes a while for things to get done, but in the end, I get rid of more when I take that approach.
But then, that's just me, so take it for what it's worth. Like I said, starting IS the hardest part.
I'm just envious you have an office of your own! I'm dreaming of that day for me. :)
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