Musings for a Migraine Day

I have a migraine today. Migraines for me are pretty much incapacitating. This one is almost over, since it started before I ever woke up at seven this morning. So now I'm a bit more coherent and able to make a post, but I'm still pretty out of it. Migraine days are, traditionally, the only time when I give myself an unqualified pass on my to-do's. So my to-do list today consists of "get over this migraine!"

Yesterday's progress, you ask? Sadly, not brilliant. I only got half of Goal A accomplished, totally missed Goal B and once again, the easy half of Goal C is done but those Dratted Clothes aren't folded or put away. However! There was still quantifiable progress made in the order in my home. So for all I was extremely distracted, and kept procrastinating until there was no more time left, I'm calling yesterday a moderate success. 

Part of the reason I'm calling it that way is that a friend recently told me that she's been following my posts ( *blink, blink* I have readers???) and she expressed some concerns. She said

"I think it's really great that you're keeping track of your progress in changing your life. I worry, though, that you're taking on too many goals at once. The individual goals themselves are not a problem - they are manageable. I just worry that working on three every day will cause you to burn out....I would recommend having one goal that you have to do every day and the remaining two goals can be your bonus goals. You'll be much more forgiving of yourself if you don't do all three." 

I have to say I think she's somewhat right. I'm very hard on myself, and even though I've said "I'm calling yesterday a moderate success", I'm really not happy with myself. Expecially because today is a Migraine Day. And I was wondering if I should do something like that, break them down more so that I can check more things off on good days or make them simpler, or something. But I wasn't sure how/what to do to help myself be most productive; and thinking I couldn't do so since I'd set this up for accountability reasons, and if I change it that's just like giving up. And then I got this message from her today (well, this morning, but for migraine reasons didn't get it till this afternoon, lol) and it was like God was telling me "Hey, Girl, don't be too hard on yourself. You'll be your own worst enemy, and greatest stumbling block, if you are!" And he used my friend to do it. In her message she also said 

"I also worry that you're too hard on yourself. You do stuff all the time! You do creative projects, like that baby blanket for your friend and taking pictures of your family every month, the cabinets you were working on last time (we) visited you and Mike, the headboard for your bed. You have accomplished a lot despite your health. And I really doubt that your choice of husband was dumb luck - he is kind and calm and loving and I don't think he sees you the way that you see yourself."

She said more, but one of her ideas will be a post for another day. So here's my thought. The thing I struggle with the absolute most is the whole laundry thing. One of the reasons that I have such a hard time keeping the whole house clean is because clothing ends up all over the house, both clean and unclean, and I loose track of what's clean and what's not. Then when I get stressed and do a "I'm freaking out! I must Tidy!" cleaning spree I end up re-cleaning already clean things. And it's an enormous waste of time, water, electricity and my personal energy. Which leaves me thinking that my main priority needs to be to do one full, start to finish, load of laundry each day. Including the dreaded folding and putting away. Since the thing I need the most to make me more able to do any of these is physical strength, "exercising for 15 minutes each day" is now bonus goal #1! I'm somewhat on top of the whole "15 minutes each day" thing, at least once each day. So I'm going to make "15 minutes of cleaning/de-cluttering-three times a day" my bonus goal #2

If I get my main goal done each day, then the day is a Good Day
If I get my main goal and my #1 bonus goal done each day, then the day is a Great Day
If I get all three done, then it is a Fabulous Day, and I get to take half-an-hour of Guilt-Free-Kid-Free-Personal-Time. i.e. Do my nails, work in my craft room, eat chocolate and read a book, etc. Mike's on board with that idea, so I've got the home front support. And just so no one worries that I'm not giving myself enough "mommy" time, Mike gives me "mommy time" all the time, but I never feel like I deserve it. So giving myself permission to take a moment for myself (which I already do) without the guilt (which I never do), on a day when I feel like I've "earned" it? Fabulous Reward!