Sunday, July 13, 2014

Days 9-13: Accountability

Wednesday night I marked my "perfect" spreadsheet. Thursday and Friday night I did not and I can't honestly remember whether or not I did certain things on those nights. So the only thing I gave myself credit for was what I knew I did FOR SURE: Thursday I know I did not eat at McDonalds. (Woohooo!) Friday I went to bed early, did not eat at McDonalds and played with Tina and Lilly.

I don't mean to complain or make excuses, but life is crazy lately in a way I've never quite experienced until recently. The girls are sweet and fun but I only have about two hours a day to myself, if I'm lucky. That happens between the hours of 9pm-11pm and by then I am often so tired that I want nothing more than to watch a movie or a show with Matt and relax. Basically, there are many things I would like to do that are productive that will just not happen for a couple of years. If someone tells me about an awesome book they just read, I think "Oh! Sounds great. I haven't read for a while...maybe I'll take a loo (SPLASH!!) Ahhh! I spilled milk all over the floor! Lilly wet her pants and Tina's crying!"

This video kind of sums it up (the kids are even the right ages):


I realize I am lucky that I am able to have children and I'm grateful for all the joy they bring into my life. I have close friends who have not had an easy time conceiving so I realize how it can be annoying to hear moms complain. That being said, being a mom is not always roses and this video basically nails it.

Now, I'm done whining and ready to report on my progress:

I am not going to keep posting the poorly displayed spreadsheet on the blog because it's boring. Instead, I'll give general updates, while continuing to fill out the spreadsheet for my personal use. At some point I will ask Matt to teach me how to do something cool on Excel to display the data in a way that's worth sharing.

Here's what I've noticed: when I use the spreadsheet as a checklist I do much better. When I forget about it and just mark what I did at the end of the day, I don't. Lesson: Accountability only causes change when I actually intended to do something in the first place. I guess that ought to be obvious, but as a very wise old lady friend of mine used to say: "You live and you learn."




2 comments:

Christina said...

Shout-out to Georgia :)

Update: My first week I earned 20 check marks. Today completes my second week and I earned 27! That's one more per day! Moving up in the world.

Love you Cam!

Emily said...

Just got myself caught up on your perfect month! It's so fun to see what you're up to and what you're working on! It's also fun to see pictures of your cute girls and their cute parents. :)