So given it is ‘Get Stuff Done‘ day on my 30 Day Challenge, I promised to share a sneak peek of my progress. Here it is! A sneak peek from one of my new ‘Style Builders’ – which will soon be your one-stop-shop for building a nest that matches your style and personality. Sound exciting? Well my website will go live on 31 May, so you only have 12 more sleeps till you can find out more!
Today is ‘get it done day’ on my 30 Day Challenge. I’ve been procrastinating on starting my next design scheme — so today is solely dedicated to getting (sh)it done. Apparently procrastination is quite common at this stage of the challenge and John Wiliams reckons it’s because of two things:
1. The pull towards doing the task isn’t as exciting as it was in the beginning.
2. The push to get off my bum and get started also isn’t that strong.
John’s theory is that there is a certain tipping point when the pain of doing something is outweighed by the pain of NOT doing it. John also reckons that you can quite easily manipulate these two things to make sure those scales swing in your favour. So with that in mind, here’s today’s strategy for getting stuff done:
Reduce the pain of starting
Increase the pain of not starting
I’m a self confessed perfectionist. I used to be able to say this with pride — as I saw it as a mark of quality or commitment, particularly in my work. These days, however, I realise that the drive to get things ‘just right’ is more Top Dog than it is ‘me’. It’s an attempt to prove myself to my inner critic. It’s also a major stumbling block when trying to get things done.
If I ever want do justice to the big ideas inside my head, I have to be prepared to let go and get comfortable with putting stuff out there that isn’t perfect. Yes, there will be mistakes at the start and yes, there will be an uncomfortable period when I know that what I’ve delivered doesn’t match the vision in my head. But at least I can take pride in knowing that I’ve taken the first step in narrowing the gap between my ambition and ability.
After my mini-meltdown on Saturday morning, the boy and I took off took off to visit family for the weekend. Even though it felt uncomfortable pulling myself away from my play project, I’d been given strict instructions from my 30 Day Challenge coach to take time out. And (part of) my brain told me this was the sensible thing to do. I would never have guessed, however, what I would end up spending the first hour of my mini-break doing…playing with lego!
All my christmases came at once when I walked in the door of my in laws house and saw my 7 year old niece surrounded by a pile of lego. Heaven! After having a show and tell of her creation, I promised I’d make her a two storey house to show her the next day — this gave me an excuse to sit in front of the telly playing with lego that evening.
The whole family chipped in in the end. Hubby made a letter box and built some stairs – while my father in law, who happens to be an architect, was giving design advice along the way. We were missing roof tiles and not all the colours matched — but we made do. And at that point someone (it’s still in debate as to who) came out with an absolute pearler…”Life is like lego”.
Why? Well you might not always have the right blocks but you have to be creative — you have to make do with the set you’ve been given. And while your imagination is infinite, when it comes to building, you have limited blocks. So to get what you want, you have to think outside the box – literally.
I’ve posted some photos of the results of our play time. I’ve also posted photos of some 1950s lego my mother in law used to play with when she was little. Half a century on and it’s still a hit with the kids (and me).
