You know What Makes Me Productive?

No. Not REproductive. I mean, productive. Like having the ability to get things done during the day? So, wanna know what makes me be productive during the day?

PRODUCTIVITY.

That’s real helpful, isn’t it? Let’s rewind a little bit here…

Remember my New Year’s Resolutions thoughts? One of my big goals was to get up before the kids. It didn’t matter WHAT I got done, but just SOMETHING: a shower, reading my Bible, making breakfast, anything! I did it for one whole week. And then Blissdom happened. Then I was tired. Then I said, “I’ll start Monday…” And this morning? Lydia woke up at 5:30 because there was a thunderstorm. LOVELY.

So. I noticed last week that I was online a lot. I’d start off just checking my email during breakfast. Then I’d let the kids play a few minutes while I finished doing some earth-shattering thing online. Next thing I knew the only thing I could think about was this long bloggy-to-do-list! It was one of those crave-what-you-feed-on kinda things.

Anyway, I was comparing this to my one big on-purpose week before Blissdom. I was keeping the dishes done, making double portions of our food so I could freeze it, I swept the floors and even scrubbed the toilets. It’s what I WANTED to do!

When I have a productive day (or even an hour!) I want to be more productive. If I sit around and watch the dirty dishes grow, then I have ZERO desire to do anything about them. But when I get my fly-lady on and make sure that sink is shiny before I go to bed, I hop right on the dishwasher when I wake up!

Now in case you were wondering, even after our new bed-mate at 5:30 this morning, we have had a very productive day. Can I brag on myself a minute? I made blueberry pancakes (and extras to freeze) for breakfast. Lydia and I made 2 pounds of meatballs for dinner tonight (and to freeze for other meals) during Asa’s first nap (which was 2.5 hours, by the way!). I also set out black beans to soak last night and during lunch today I froze the equivalent of 8 cans of beans! I scrubbed the shower, washed the bathroom and even made my bed. Not to mention skyped with Jill during Lydia’s nap.

And guess what? I want to keep going. I want to get the stairs cleaned off, my clothes hung up and the hardwoods mopped vacuumed. Even a small step towards productivity motivates me to do more!

Now. For full bloggy disclosure. I did not come at this honestly. None of these ideas are original to me. I straight ripped them off of other people’s brilliant blogs. Here’s who’s teaching me to be productive…

Whole Foods. There’s something about eating “real” food that makes me motivated. I want to do yoga, eat an apple and chuck my Girl Scout Cookies. I’m still in the middle of my twobooks (I told you I already believed them before I even read them, so I kinda stopped reading it). But I’ve added a bunch of new yummy whole-food type blogs to feed reader and I’m lovin’ them.

So. Was that a bunch of crazy? I know you’re probably thinking, “She’s been productive for one whole day and she’s excited?” For me, that’s all it takes. I need one baby step. That step makes me excited about doing more. So, if there’s something you’ve been wanting to do–take that first step right now!