Autumn and Expansion

Originally published on 12 September 2006.

The onset of cooler temperatures always signals to me that playing time is over, and it is time to get to work preparing for the winter. It is a matter of physical as well as mental preparedness. I feel driven to tidy up, settle in, and buckle down to some new activities.

This weekend I found myself musing about what I should be learning and doing. It started with a trip to the craft store, where I was looking for items to get my daughter started learning about the handcrafts that had been passed to me. I found myself uncontrollably driven to pick up supplies for a craft I had never done before. And this was heedless of the fact that I have multiple craft projects underway, two of them rather large, and plenty of crafts listed on my someday/maybe list.

In large part, thanks to my consciousness of what is on my lists, I was able to put those supplies back, and think on the craft projects I had waiting at home. This is a first for me. I am terrible at bringing crafts to completion when they require more than an hour’s work. But I was able to do it, as well as come home and enjoy doing the crafts I had underway.

It’s an interesting shift in my mental focus. It’s a combination of the GTD methodology (the lists) and Flylady (not adding to clutter and guilt). What else will these keep me from starting unnecessarily? That is a question I will be looking to answer in the coming months.