On Small Projects
As many of you know, we’ve had a lot of upheaval in 2021. Since last October, it’s felt like we have haphazardly lurched from one crisis to the next. I’ve talked a bit about finding motivation to do things, and that still applies. Trying to pull myself out of a slump doesn’t necessarily lead to the ability to focus on larger projects. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve enjoyed the EPP project I started. I still feel like I’m doing something creative and productive without having to devote a lot of energy to follow through. The practical upshot of maximizing the moments I do feel productive has resulted in starting things, but not necessarily finishing them. Here’s a small sampling:
I washed all the dirty laundry, but the clean laundry is still sitting in the basket to be folded and put away.
Dirty dishes get loaded and the dishwasher run, but the clean dishes aren’t put away.
Trash and recycling is put in the bins, but the bins don’t make it to the curb.The floors are vacuumed, but the vacuum still sits out.
I’m working on seriously combining my office with my sewing space. There isn’t another option really. I’ve been sitting staring at piles of things that I used to use, but now the things they held have a new home and I’m not certain what to do with the old containers. Furniture has shifted, and the dogs are a bit nervous. New pieces arrive from Amazon, and the boxes are piled up. I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen the actual surface of my desk all week. I’ve taken to making my morning tea in travel mugs just so that I’m more likely to not end up sipping a cold cup. It’s almost two in the afternoon when I’m writing this, and I’m still trying to finish my morning cup. Thankfully, it’s still warm – the Yukon mug I got over the weekend has been amazing.
All of this sounds overwhelming and a bit depressing. I hate living in this sort of disarray, but you know what? It’s actually okay. It’s forced me to focus on how I use my space, and the things I really need in my space. Having a dedicated space, even if it’s multi-purpose, has highlighted the things that I need and the things that just kind of follow me around. We all have that box or bag that has been with us for years, but we don’t look into it and we don’t get rid of it. Having this sort of disarray has helped me focus on the things I continue to carry and the absolute existential rage has helped me let go of things.
Are there still things hanging about that need a new home? Absolutely. Will I catch everything in this go round? Absolutely not. Is that okay? Very much so! The point is that I now have a better idea of the things that I have; the things that I use; and the things that I can do without. I’ve set up my space so that I can use things I couldn’t easily use before (my magnetic dry erase board), and have added a project paper to the inside of my hutch. I can close doors in this multi-purpose space when we desire to focus on other things, and that is such a huge relief to me.
It’s reminded me that those beautiful, minimalistic Pinterest spaces are not the way that I exist as someone with hobbies and creative endeavours. I prefer to have a clean house, but I have learned to give myself grace to exist in the chaos sometimes. Organisation isn’t a once and done thing. It’s something that evolves as we grow and change. We are not static entities. I’m thankful that Becky is so understanding of how I operate. She came home and the front room had been entirely exploded – things from my office and sewing supplied were littered over every flat surface, and she just blinked quickly, said, “Oh. There’s stuff,” and moved on. I used a car jack to lift my hutch so I could move a rug, and she’s just rolled with it. Today, I’ve finally managed to basically put everything back together. It also made me think about the small things I’ve accomplished this year.
Having half-completed tasks all over the house has resulted in me feeling like I’m not accomplishing anything and that I’m vaguely incompetent. I’ve been able to apply some gentle, self-compassion over the weeks as we’re flowing into a new normal. I reminded myself that I have completed a plethora of small projects this year, even with all the things that have happened.
The spice cabinet got addressed! We had several unlabeled jars floating around some duplicates. Things were haphazardly thrown in and in danger of falling out. 30 minutes got things reorganised, new jars added, and clear labels added to new jars.
Becky’s parents gifted us three large cabinets that now reside in our spare room. While getting them to our house and into the spare room was a larger project, an hour of my time got the cabinets organised with the things in our spare room that haven’t had a real home.
I have an apron obsession. Ten minutes of my time got them organised and stored so that we’re not in danger of having an apron tumble down every time we open the appliance pantry.
I took an afternoon to stitch a small bag to house the plastic bags we still seem to accumulate no matter how hard we try.
Becky makes all our soaps now. I ordered some appropriately sized kraft labels and wrapped up the last batch that cured. It took all of 20 minutes.
I took a couple of hours one afternoon to rearrange my bedroom furniture. There wasn’t anything particularly major since I didn’t reorganize anything, but my furniture is heavy and I took a moment to really vacuum all the newly exposed floor.
The point is that none of these things are really major, and it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot to show. There isn’t anything grand or social media worthy to share, but they make our lives easier in small ways and make me happy. It’s nice to be entirely sure which soap I’m unwrapping, and we don’t have sniff the spices to make sure we’re using the right one. They’ve all been things that I could handle in a small period of time and could be contained to one area. This method seems to be working, and I’m not going to fix something that isn’t broken. I’m redefining what accomplishment means to me because I can see the areas where I am accomplishing things, even if they’re small. Besides, I have a tiny dog cheerleader who is much happier in our space now.
What sorts of small things help you feel like you’ve accomplished something? How do you define accomplishment for yourself?