Do you use the “I got nothing done today” mantra?

I remember when the babies were little…..hubby would arrive home from work and the first thing I would greet him with was ….

“I got nothing done today”……

……I loved those days so much…I held onto every second in case I would miss any of it….if only I had known then what I know now……

Every morning I would wake up with a to do list in my head as long as my arm and another one tucked neatly under the other arm……and it’s not that I don’t still have lists, I do. It’s just how I deal with those lists has changed a lot.

Those days were exhausting……. I was a total wreck with it all…not the babies….just thinking about those bloody lists.   I was slowly driving myself around the twist…… and my hubby with me.

With 3 kids under 3 your days are always going to be busy.  I mean have you ever met anyone with small kids tell you that they have nothing to do……

They might tell you they are bored with the continuous feeling of ground hog but they’ll never tell you they are bored because they have nothing to do.

My kids are now 13, 10 and 10 and I’m much wiser so it’s much easier……..

So why then, last night, did I feel overwhelmed and agitated by the mountain of ironing, the unfinished lunches and the house looking a bit worse for wear.

I started the weekend off so well…..I  had great plans …..I’d have everything ship shape by Sunday so I could get an early night and be ready for a good week’s work.

And I know you would think at this stage I would have mastered this……..the fact is I still have my wobbly patterns that creep up every now and again.

To be honest.  I was actually very proud of myself at how I managed my little creepy pattern over the past couple of days…….because I could feel my “I got nothing done today” mantra spinning around in my head all weekend and I’d managed to resist it……

………………we are so good at fooling ourselves at times its hilarious.

I’d managed to resist my mantra when I brought the lads to the football match.  I’d managed to resist it when I got 6 loads of washing done and dried despite the pouring rain, when I got the weekly shop done, when I scrubbed the bathrooms, changed the beds, made the breakfasts, dinners and lunches, headed out with the kids on Sunday, headed out on Saturday night for a family party, brought my mum curtain shopping, prepared for some clients this week, sent some emails, planned next week’s dinners, nursed an allergic reaction to something I ate, got hairs cut, dropped and collected kids from activities….oh and all this with hubby away for the weekend…….

……..Yep I told that mantra who was in charge………

Until last night, around 9pm, when the boys wanted cuddles and stories in bed and I said out load…… “I can’t tonight….Daddy will do it….because I’ve no time”……..and yep you guessed it….my next line…..“I got nothing done this weekend”.

Well it was out….it wanted to come out all weekend….I couldn’t let it out of course..….how could I….I teach this stuff for heaven’s sake…..so I stuffed it in….ruminating all weekend about all the things I wasn’t getting done……. pretending to be present, instead of actually being present…….instead of enjoying every moment without having my to do list bashing me over the back of the head.

So I didn’t get everything done.  Why, well because I set myself up to fail right from the start.  Instead of creating an intention for the weekend I set goals.

And secondly, because when I did achieve something I didn’t acknowledge it. 

If you’ve ever suffered from a dose of the “I got nothing done” syndrome, every time you think or say it or you feel that panic rising in your belly, stop and just breathe.  Think about just one or two things you have achieved so far that day and think of all the other people in the world who feel exactly the way you do.

I bet there are some of you reading this in work now, sitting there thinking about the dishes in the sink….how many of you have sent the kids to school with odd socks or left the beds unmade this morning or that report that was supposed to be finished last Friday…. Does it really matter…seriously does it?

You could do worse than say….hey I got out of bed today…..I got dressed today…..I fed the kids today….I started that report today……do it enough and you might hear yourself say…hey I enjoyed the kids today….I enjoyed my time with me today, I’m really going to allow myself to enjoy my work today.

You could do something else as well…….before you go to sleep tonight write down 3 things you achieved during your day or crossed off your list.

….it sounds so simple but instead of going off to sleep with the mindset of you got nothing done…you’ll drift off to sleep with a mindset of lots done.

And then you’ll wake up the next day feeling like you are going to achieve lots that day too………And it doesn’t really matter by the way if you do actually get lots done or not……but your brain will think you have……

…..The really important thing in all of this though is that you won’t go through the day feeling overwhelmed and stressed about not getting things done.

I don’t know what time of day you are reading this but try stopping for a moment and thinking about 3 things you have already achieved today.   It might be you got dressed, started that report for work, connected with a friend or smiled at that person on the street, who for all you know will be the one thing that will keep them going today.

Ok you have a good day….I might take it off as I’ve already got so much done already!

Much love

Deborah