Self-Discipline(SP?)

belfastgirl23

I've found with being OS the best way is to try everything once but to only stick with the things that suit me EG with the flylady stuff, don't get me wrong, I really admire people who can live like that but I can't. But her 'baby steps' eg keeping your kitchen sink shiney and tidying up before you go to bed and before you leave for work in the morning made total sense to me. Also the 'fling boogie' which I always think of as a ten minute tidy up But don't ask me to clean the bathroom as I leave it, the guest one always looks pretty much ok but I have to do a panicked clean when we're expecting anyone overnight

On the food front again I find meal planning boring but I'll know roughly what kinds of things we'll eat in the next week and shop for them. I'm also a believer in leaving tomorrow's dinner organised tonight - eg last night I left some bean chilli out of the freezer for tonight cos I know we have an avocado that's about to go off That way you're less likely to waste stuff and it does feel much better to come home and be organised. Especially as you say if you won't be eating together...this would suggest to me lots of stews and casseroles etc that you can help yourselves to at different times. I always think this kind of food is better second (and even third) day too

But do take it slow and pace yourself, otherwise you will give up.

My final suggestion that has worked for me is to give yourself a yearly GC total. That way if you go off the rails one month you have a reason to get back on them the next month.

Lots of luck! Believe me a lot of us have been where you are now....

undercover_angel

Thankyou again!

mummysaver, i may just pop over to the daily thread now and introduce myself, although not sure it's entirely such a great idea as my main problem today seems to be disciplining myself to GET OFF THIS SITE! lol!

x

LameWolf

undercover_angel wrote: »

Thankyou again!

mummysaver, i may just pop over to the daily thread now and introduce myself, although not sure it's entirely such a great idea as my main problem today seems to be disciplining myself to GET OFF THIS SITE! lol!

x

LOL Yes, that's always a problem; I'm supposed to be updating the National Beer Scoring Sheet which I keep for the local branch of CAMRA right now, but what am I doing instead? Surfing MSE.....:whistle:

I found that meal planning didn't work for me, because I have a health condition that is very variable - usually turned out that if I'd planned something that took a bit of preparing, I'd have a day when I could barely function.:( What I would say is try all the different ideas, and cherry-pick the things that work for you. Re household tasks, I do have a schedule in my PDA, otherwise I'd forget basics like changing the bed!:eek:
And what we do with meals now, is work out each morning how I am, and agree what we're going to have that night, always bearing in mind anything that wants using up. F'r instance, tonight is veggie sausages and we'll roast up some root veg that want using, before we go to the market tomorrow to buy more. And as others have said, making more than you need and either having the same 2 days running (doesn't suit everyone, but we often do it) or freezing a portion is a good idea.

Dobie

Mummysaver 'For the bathrooms I give them a quick whizz over whilst I wait for the bath to fill,'

I do this type of thing too & it's amazing how much you can get done in really small chunks of time. I have porridge for my breakfast every morning. I use the 31/2 mins in the microwave to wipe down the kitchen cupboard fronts & the appliances.

Doing 2 things at once is also really useful. A physio recommended that I use a gym ball to strengthen my core muscles & help stop intermittent back pain. I bought one & use it as a dressing table stool so as I'm putting on the slap or straightening my hair in the morning I'm doing my exercise. I haven't had back pain since.:j

I do these things because I'm NOT self disciplined & I know they wouldn't get done if I had to think about it or make an effort to do them.

Jasper27_2

I think you have to decide what things are most important to you and do them and don't worry about the other stuff, lifes too short. If I worked less I'd be more OS. I want to eat well on a reasonable budget and that requires careful shopping and meal planning but once you get in the swing of it becomes second nature. Generally I motivate myself by thinking that if I can save money on the things I can't avoid spending on (mortgage, utilities, food etc) and get the things I want cheaper then there's more for the things I really want like holidays. So I find myself saying that the cheaper insurance amounts to a couple of nights in a hotel, it works for me!

angelavdavis

Over time you work out what works for you. I don't do everything and marvel at how some on here do!

I have discovered the following helps me in my situation:

1) Avoid shopping in person at Tesco.
2) Shop every other week from Lidl for majority of stuff, take a list and stick to it.
3) Place monthly online shop with Tesco for other items.
4) Freeze peppers, grated cheese and parsnips as they don't last in my fridge and this means I can just shake them into a stew/roasting pan or bolognaise, etc when needed.
5) Plan your meals ahead. I usually give myself a list of meals that can be cooked so I have a little choice as I can't stick rigidly to a strict schedule as I don't sometimes fancy what is planned!
6) Regularly check the fridge to check items aren't getting out of date.
7) Choose one sunday every 6 weeks or so to prepare batches of bolognaise, chilli con carne, fish pies, pizza bases, lasagne, salmon encroute, etc that can be easily defrosted and cooked when i get home from work.
8) Make HM bread/rolls and freeze half so there are always spares.
9) Buy my meat from local farm supplier which keeps costs down and allows me to plan what I am going to do with it too.
10) Practice a storecupboard challenge from time to time - not just food, but cleaning materials, etc which I have always been prone to stock piling!
11) Keep a list of items in the freezer with meal ideas for them. I keep it on the PC and update this when I do a big shop, I then cross items off the list as they are used, this then helps with the shopping list.
12) I have never got on with fly lady but there are plenty here that swear by it!

Nitha

You've chosen a brilliant time to start. Pick up a page per day diary and get writing. I'm not old style in the truest sense of the world. I lean more towards living well for less using sales, cheaper alternatives, vouchers etc. However I do cook from scratch which is the best place to start. Another good idea is to get your gift wrap and cards in for next year! I go one step further and buy presents too - just bought my little one a fisher price train set full price 79.99 for less the thirty quid! He'll get that from Santa this year!

EssexHebridean

Hi Undercover, and welcome to OS.

Those that have said take it in small steps and pace yourself are spot on. You might take a look at the "Leftovers" thread - it incorporates the "Don't throw food away" challenge which is aimed at reducing food waste. Something like 30% of the food bought by an average household gets thrown away, so it's an excellent place to start with trying to be OS. As for self-discipline, a lot of it is down to doing something regularly so it becomes as second nature. If you find something in the back of the fridge that needs using up and you can't think what to do with it, post the details on the Leftovers thread and someone will come up with ideas for you. I'm not so good yet on the housework side - I loathe doing housework at the best of times but something I do find works for me is doing things in ten or twenty minute chunks with a reward at the end - I might go and clean the bath, toilet and sink and then sit down with a cup of tea, for example, or give the surfaces in the kitchen a wipe down and then have ten minutes checking through the threads on here.....

One thing for sure - you will find as much help and support on here as you could wish for - good luck!

undercover_angel

I am gobsmacked at the amount of replies this thread has received, you have all been very helpful in giving me lots of ideas.

I have now joined the GC and also started to post on the Daily thread on this forum, I am hoping that these to things will keep me motivated. As well as the fact that I have made a decision that in the summer I want to decorate my bedroom (it needs re-plastering, carpeting, painting, a built in wardrobe, lighting, the whole lot so will be very expensive i fear) so I am going to save towards this and hopefully a mini-break in October....I hope!

Now that I have set targets, actual specifics (providing DP doesn't come out of work) for what the money I save will be for then I feel it may make it more "real" and thus MAKE me do it!

I am going to have a 'cooking' day tomorrow, I was going to just cook up some bolognaise sauce today but it went a bit out of the window so I'm going to do that tomorrow and I'm also going to make lots of mashed potatoes, and roasties as I think I've read on this forum that I can do this and freeze them all. If I can I will make a couple of cottage pies too for the freezer.

Thanks Again everyone, you have been a big help.

Kiwisaver_2

D&DD wrote: »

I find the more time I have the worse I get

Don't beat yourself up is my advice,if it needs to be done it will get done..anything else is a bonus

Everyone is different and what works for one doesn't necessarily do for others..believe me I've tried to keep the house all shiny( :whistle: honest!) but I just can't get a routine going but I do ok on the food front..
We can't all be superwomen *as my OH has found out lol* and something usually has to give at some time or the other..

That's exacty my problem, the more time I have the more I waste and can't be bothered to do stuff. I work best under pressure and can achieve lots more when I am the most busy. Some of the Flylady philosophies, such as giving yourself limited timeframes to do things, often works for me, but I can't stick with it for the full program. I'm an all or nothing type of person.

However, I did Flylady for a while and you can take some good advice from there and build some of the strategies into your life, even if you don't stick with the whole programme. I have taken a few bits of the things I can do easily and if I really can't get motivated I often force myself with mental talks to myself to do 'just' 15 minutes of ironing or gardening or whatever. Because inevitably once I get into it I will carry on and push myself quite a bit more, 'just one more shirt, you can do it', 'just two more things left in that pile and it'll be gone' and at the end I will feel triumphant that I achieved. :rolleyes:

I don't know, it's a crazy world we all live in trying to do too much and being superhuman, although I can lose hours on the internet that could be put to good use, dusting cupboards or folding socks. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's good to talk with likeminded folks, catch up with what other people are doing, writing down your intentions publicly is very cathartic and being inspired by some truly great people, it al helps with focus on the end goal.