Motivation

Ok - as promised... my "new" system.
I'll begin by mentioning that whenever I suggest some sort of "motivation" or "reward" system for my friend Angel to try with her kids, she gets frustrated and says she doesn't want to try anything, because "even if it does work, it only works for a while, then stops working" and she has to come up with something new. I can totally relate - That IS exactly what happens, however, it doesn't bug me too much, because I am exactly like a kid... I start something, it works well for a while, then I need something new.

For a while, just having a "to do list" was a working, but I've found lately that I don't like having a "list" looming over me, mocking me if I don't get everything checked off. I would also get frustrated when I checked something off, (say cleaning the kitchen) then after the next meal it was totally messed up again so it looked like I hadn't done anything. I knew I needed something new. (something VISUAL...)

I knew I had been having fun charting my progress on the Hinckley reading challenge; I love entering my new page number, and seeing the progress on my charts. A couple weeks ago another flybaby sent in a letter to flylady telling about something she was doing. She created a spreadsheet to track her progress in. I thought this might work for me.

I created a spreadsheet with 3 categories - MIND, BODY, and SPIRIT. In the MIND section, I have household (cleaning and yard work) chores. This follows the thinking that when the house is a wreck - I tend to lose my mind. In the BODY section, it has things like going to bed by 10:30, eating healthy meals, exercise, and drinking water. In the SPIRIT section, it has personal prayer, family prayer, spend time playing with my kids, journal writing, scripture reading, etc...
I get a point for each item I do. (I get 2 points for most items in the spirit section, since these are the least physically obvious, thus tend to be the ones I let slide first; but in truth, they should be my top priority.) The spreadsheet totals my earned points per section and per day, and then averages the daily points for the week. (If this sounds complicated - it's not, I just have the gift of making simple things sound complicated...)

Some of the reasons why I like it?
- If at the end of the day, it looks like nothing got done during the day, I can look at my spreadsheet and see "my points."
-it isn't meant to be a to do list. It is simply a list of things I do (or should do) on a fairly regular basis. There are items on the list that are only meant to be done once a week (like cleaning out the van or the fridge, menu planning, etc...)
- as I got lots done last week, I found that each day I could earn more points, in less time, because the mess wasn't having as much time to accumulate between cleanings.
- when I spend time playing with the kids, or spending quiet time in personal meditation, that counts towards the day's productivity
- I can have good days and not so good days, but it averages out and I can visually see how the week as a whole went. Example - Wed. was my most productive day last week, with a total of 42 points, but Friday I got only 12. My average for the week was 24.7/day. Once I have a couple weeks data, I'll create a chart to visually SEE my progress.

Again - it may sound complicated, but it's not, and it's really been working for me. Yesterday was a not great day, only 13 points for the day ( I spent several hours reading), but today I got up ready to work, and I hit 13 points by 9:30.

SO - for now it's fun and it's working. When it stops working, I'll come up with something else.

Later - gotta go get some more points!


GO ME!!!!!