Dear FlyLady and the rest of the Fly-Folks everywhere,
You requested our experiences with menu-planning. Here’s mine.
One of the things I absolutely love about flying is that I learned to make my steps smaller and smaller.
How this applies to menu planning.
I used to try and do it all in one go:
– think of a recipe
– write down the necessary ingredients (including checking to what extent I already have them)
– go shopping (used to live walking distance to a store)
– cook.
Too exhausting!
Now I have two separate entries on my weekly checklist
– think of recipes and write the name of the recipe on the calendar (with page number of the cook book – I sometimes also put a post-it on page on the cookbook. All to make the next step easier which happens at a different point in time.)
– look at recipes and put necessary ingredients on the shopping list
I moved in with my boyfriend. He’s doing the shopping and all I need to do is sent him an electronic message with my shopping list. (Electronic being his only requirement, I love it).
Anyhow, why breaking it down works for me, is that I’m in a different mood when I think of recipes than when I’m actually writing down the ingredients.
cheers, and thank you so very much for all that you do.
Biiiiiig purple hug,
Elfriede
November we are Menu Planning all month. We are going to learn how to plan our menus to save money and feed our families healthy. This will be a fun habit to learn and to practice.If you have and recipes you would like to share or a testimonial about Menu Planning Let us know! Send an email to FlyLady@flylady.net with Menu Planning in the subject line.
Dear Friends,
Did your kitchen ever get so dirty that you had to spend several hours cleaning? How did you feel when you finished? You were too tired to even celebrate much less want to get back in there and start to cook a meal.
The main problem is that we spend so much time trying put out fires that other things start piling up and then we have to put out another fire. It becomes a vicious cycle. This is how you have lived your whole life.
You can’t even settle down because you are afraid for the next mess that is going to need your attention. Sometimes it isn’t even a mess that has made you hyper-focus. You may have decided to make a bunch of costumes for your child’s play and you don’t even know how to sew. Look out hot glue gun. Our determination is a good thing but also a bad one.
Just how can making a bunch of costumes cause you to be determined? It is all about people pleasing and saving face. You don’t want anyone to know your short-comings and you want everyone to like you. This is why we can’t say NO!
Do you want to stop this merry-go-round so you can get off? It all starts with recognizing what you are doing to yourself. You have been in a tizzy. Or shall we call it dizzy from your merry-go-round. What happens when you get dizzy? You usually end up falling on your face.
I can help you stop this merry-go-round. Here is what you have to do.
1. Go shine your sink.
2. Get dressed to lace up shoes, fix your hair, and face.
3. Do a simple morning routine
4. Get dinner started
5. Swish and Swipe your bathroom
6. Empty dishwasher
7. Quickly Dust mop your floors
8. Feather Dust for 2 minutes
9. Reboot Laundry
When you do your morning routine; this keeps your home from falling apart. It makes room for the fun things in life. Our ability to hyper-focus gets us in more trouble than just a messy house. We can’t take our mind off of our focus; our work suffers. This makes us look bad and puts our jobs in jeopardy.
Aren’t you tired of living this way? I want you to NOT get in a tizzy! Put first things first so that your job and home don’t suffer while you make time for yourself. Spending three hours cleaning your kitchen or bathroom is not what I am talking about! I’ll even wager that you’ll never volunteer for costumes again. Would you like to know how I know this? This happened to me.
I have learned to pace myself; I get my work done so it doesn’t get in the way of my play time.
Are you ready to FLY? Pacing yourself is all about Finally Loving Yourself?
FlyLady
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