You Need to Sit Down to Read This!

Sit Down, Mom!

"If I sit down now, I won't be able to get up!" Have you ever said this? This morning, I found myself standing up  unnecessarily. We spent time talking about the importance of getting off our feet whenever possible throughout the day at our recent Busy Mom's Organizing Workshop, and one of our attendees  was sharing with me how helpful it is just last night! Yet, I found myself guilty of breaking that rule this morning, and knew you probably have the same challenge as well....

Isn't it so easy to "grab breakfast" standing in your kitchen, or to flit from one thing to another without pausing "because I just have too much to do..."?

Having established ways of managing your energy helps you stay focused and productive, as well as pleasant. It is VITAL for joy in your family. One of my personal favorites is this: I NEVER prep fresh green beans standing up anymore. Instead, I take a the bag of beans and a colander to the table and string them, letting my son break them in half and place them in the colander. In the end, the strings and ends are in the bag, and the beans are in the colander ready to be rinsed. This really helps stave off the mealtime whine, because he gets so absorbed in spending time with mommy for few minutes and afterwards hops off to play. Do you see the benefits? Here's what I get from this established way of ordering and managing my energy:

1. Time spent with son (this means teachable moments, too).
2. Opportunity to praise son.
3. Teach son to be helpful.
4. Teach son how to prepare and clean food.
5. Be productively relaxed.
6. Stay pleasant and create that atmosphere, even at mealtime.
7. Teach son to enjoy sitting at table to interact with family.
8. Reduce stress.

Now that's a two-fer! I once heard a millionaire mom say, "You profit most from that which you resist." If you find yourself resisting sitting down at work, home, or play, just try it, and creatively mix up how you do it!

Change the Way You Think About Standing Up

If you are concerned about procrastinating on important stuff, start developing a mindset that some things can or should only take a few minutes, and associate standing with that. For example, if you have been putting off an important online financial management item that only takes five minutes, say aloud, "It will only take a few minutes!"  Then jump in and do it quickly without sitting down! Recondition yourself to associate standing tasks with "quick and simple" as it relates to commonly disliked tasks, or "I will only spend a few moments on this because this is not  high priority today" for things like checking Facebook or answering social phone calls.

Are you sitting down?