FLY

Today is New Year's Day 2022...Happy New Year!  Have you ever read the book "One Word that will Change Your Life?"  It is easily found on Amazon both in paper and digital.  It is really a thought provoking book.

I've been thinking the past couple of weeks what my word this year will be.  I struggled because it seemed as though the word would need to encompass so much.  I thought of building better relationships in my family, time management, finding joy in the small things, and taking care of myself.  Then it came to me, FLY!  I know to some of you this word may not have anything to do with the list above, but actually it is all encompassing.  I've been following the Flylady system (flylady.net) since 2002 and the premise of the system is to FLY (Finally Loving Yourself).  It came to me one day that if I FLY all the important things will naturally fall into line.  

Areas I have been struggling in is: keeping my house clean and organized, taking care of my body, putting my relationship with God first, and building up my relationships.  I have a solid plan for the first 3 but still need to plan and implement the last.

I've always managed to keep a fairly neat house but I have struggled with deep cleaning and being able to do anything on the weekends because I'm always working on housework, laundry, and meal prep.  Which of course brings out the martyr in me and no one likes that me, not even me.  Did I mention I have 4 kids, 6 dogs, 1 cat, and live in the middle of dusty, windy fields and work 50 plus hours a week?  I think I have come up with a solution to lessen my weekend exhaustion and give me back some time which should help me work toward spending more quality time with family and friends.  

As I've said I have spent the past 20ish years loosely following Flylady's system, which is most excellent.  I learned to make meal plans from her and what it means to be okay with imperfect.  But I have had trouble with house upkeep not to mention deep cleaning.  Enter Stephanie from the Secret Slob (youtuber and blogger).  She introduced me to the 5X5 method.  This is when you pick 5 rooms/to do's you need to work on and set your timer for 5 minutes for each.  You work on it for ONLY the 5 minutes and move to the the next.  If you finish a room or to do in less than 5 minutes you can return to a room you need to continue to work on till that time is up.  See the link below to watch Stephanie explain it!  I just love her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXBzOq8c5c

I figure I can work on my house 25 minutes at a time a few times a week and even hit some deep cleaning while I do this.  Also, I use an app called Tody to hep me manage when things around my house should be completed.  I did pay a small amount for this app but it was totally worth it to me.

As I mentioned I also intend to work on taking care of me.  This means my health.  I have been following the keto lifestyle for a bit but since COVID began, I have found it hard to be consistent.  I am ready to not only work on being committed to my healthy eating but also work on strengthening my body 15 minutes at a time.  

I have scheduled time with God each morning for twenty minutes each morning.

I am using a daily planner to help track my progress and to keep me on track.  I will go into much more depth on each subject, and show you the planner, what I'm using to exercise, share how I meal plan, how I'm using the 5X5's, my plans for family quality time, and the resources I use to help me in my journey.  

Continue to follow me on my journey!  Post below to share if you have a word for this year or areas of your life you'd like to concentrate on.