New Routines That Stick

[Life_is_Simple]

Last summer I decluttered. A lot. And something weird happened.

When I am in the kitchen making something to eat... waiting for toast to brown, or something in the microwave to get done... I will put away a few clean dishes from the dishwasher, or put dirty ones in. At night, I will wander around in my kitchen, and do the same. Also at night I find myself picking up a few things here and there in other areas. On the weekends, I find that I don't have to do major tidying, because things are already in place! :0!

This is very WEIRD behavior on my part! It's not because I have trained myself in to a new habit. It is because I see the neatness, and have the vision in my head of extreme neatness from the decluttering, and like to see that in reality.

Odd, odd, odd... It makes me think that trying to get yourself into new routines is hard. But when you have this VISION in your head that leads you to the new routine, that is more powerful.

Speaking of odd... last night I dreamt I was at a football game, went out onto the field and pushed Adrian Peterson out of bounds as he was carrying the ball. I think this VISION may contribute to me exercising today. ;)

[razz]

Funny about the football game but the visuals of goals really do help.

[Blackdog Lin]

hee hee. Pushing Adrian Peterson out of bounds. Actually, snort snort, I'm laughing that much. :)

[Life_is_Simple]

hee hee. Pushing Adrian Peterson out of bounds. Actually, snort snort, I'm laughing that much. :)
HAHA to the snorting! :laff: I missed your response before.

I also recently had a dream where Brett Favre was teaching a Sunday School class. :D

[Lainey]

I also recently had a dream where Brett Favre was teaching a Sunday School class. :D

One of my friends calls these "guest celebrity" dreams. I have those fairly often, and I can't figure out why. They're both male and female celebrities who pop up in all kinds of settings. They're not people I want to emulate, or really have feelings about either way - just strange that they are in my dreams!

[AmeliaJane]

Like many people here, I read the Mr. Money Mustache blog as well, and he just had an article about forming useful habits. One thing he was discussing was "watershed" changes...new habits that then cause a cascade of other good changes without actually trying. His example was bicycling--if you go most places on bicycles, you might for instance break a shopping habit, because it's hard to carry things home, or eat better, because you need fuel for all this exercise, etc. It sounds like decluttering was a "watershed" for you.

[Fawn]

Ha Ha Ha. This is me. And then I start removing furniture from the house cause it feels "too cluttered." And then I offer to help my kids "cull" the toys they no longer play with. And when my mom asks me to help her find a particular piece of financial paperwork that she "thinks" me dad left on his desk (he has been gone 10+ years) I show up with my shredder and start a 20+ hour project to organize her financial papers. With her approval.

And when I go to patient's houses, I organize the nursing supplies that have been sent them.

And I have been like this my entire life. When I was 4 years old and we went to pick up what would turn out to be the most wonderful family pet ever--a toy collie mix named Gal. I was sent to the second floor of the house, where 4 children lived, while the parents "visited." The place was chaotic. In two hours, I had them all organized, clothes put away, toys gathered in one area. To this day, I do not know why the other children, all older than me, followed my orders to clean up their rooms. I was a bossy child...but really, they could have just tossed me out a window and my parents would not have noticed till it was time to go.

[saverchic]

I like the idea of making a "watershed change." Even more inspiration to declutter! Sadly, I've never had a celebrity guest appearance in a dream.

[Life_is_Simple]

One of my friends calls these "guest celebrity" dreams. I have those fairly often, and I can't figure out why. They're both male and female celebrities who pop up in all kinds of settings. They're not people I want to emulate, or really have feelings about either way - just strange that they are in my dreams!
Lainey, Ok, I had another "guest celebrity" dream. This time it was Jim Nabors who worked in housekeeping at a hotel. If you were lucky, you got to hear him say "Golllll-y!" ;)

[Life_is_Simple]

Like many people here, I read the Mr. Money Mustache blog as well, and he just had an article about forming useful habits. One thing he was discussing was "watershed" changes...new habits that then cause a cascade of other good changes without actually trying. His example was bicycling--if you go most places on bicycles, you might for instance break a shopping habit, because it's hard to carry things home, or eat better, because you need fuel for all this exercise, etc. It sounds like decluttering was a "watershed" for you.
Very interesting that there is a name for my experience. Thank you for telling me! :+1: