In the second post of this series I put up a link and briefly discussed the idea of “suffering for 15 minutes”. The idea is to set a timer and work for just 15 minutes at a time on some project that is overwhelming you and seems too large to complete. By limiting your “suffering” to 15 minutes at a time, you can eventually get the job done. As some people have put it, “You can do anything for 15 minutes.” Instead of having it hanging over your head and frustrating you in the background of life, you can actually get through the job, or at least make some movement toward that end. This has some very practical applications and can actually help to reduce stress! :-)
Awhile back I decided to tackle my small-but-stuffed sewing room. It was a mess and discouraging. Of course, due to it’s size and content the results are not as stunning as some other area of work might have been, but I certainly felt better about it! :-) I took photos so that I could share the results.
I did the job in several “installments” of 15 minutes. The first time, just as I was starting, my sister-in-law showed up and kindly offered to help me. So, I had the added blessing of extra hands and someone to talk to while I spent the first 15 minutes on this project! What a blessing! :-) Once I saw some results I decided to push on, but I was interrupted at some point, so I just turned the timer off and came back to it later. I did a second and a third installment of 15 minutes each (not all on the same day!) to finish the project to my satisfaction.
Before
This was the view looking straight into the sewing room door.
After
This is quite an improvement and probably the best feeling area in the room.
Before
Half way
All that fabric that was draped all over the pace got gathered up and folded nicely. :-)
After
Before
It’s hard to get an appreciation for the size of this pile here, but it was really way too big!
After
You can see on the left that that huge mountain has disappeared. :-) Yes, there was actually an “L” of the desk over there holding it up!
Before
That is the same pile on the right as is shown above.
Half way
After
Well, I had a new pile on the left of the machine, as you can see. This pile was things that I wanted to get done sooner rather than later. Some of them did get done, or discarded. :-) [Remember that sometimes it’s good to get rid of an unfinished project.]
I needed to spend another 15 minutes on the top shelf of the desk, but that didn’t happen. Since I do use this room, it has reverted to some extent and is probably ready to be tackled again, though it’s not as bad as it was.
This picture cracked me up when I took it. I just had to laugh when I saw that denim bag (unfinished) actually hanging off the top shelf. You know sometimes it’s better to laugh at ourselves than to stress over it. ;-) Too bad I didn’t take an “after” shot. [Yes, that is water on the top shelf. We’ve had ours go out more than once, so we keep several gallons on hand, and strangely enough, somehow it ended up there. Weird, I know.]
As you can see, my sewing room is far from being a model room, and there’s no way I’ll ever appear on any organizing show with the “after” results. Ha. But, I was happy with the results and it was good enough for me to be able to work in there again without feeling like it was going to cave in on me! :-) And, after all, that’s what really counts. [Remember our discussion of “good enough” in the Perfectionism “chapter”? :-) ]
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