The Power of 15

So I am sitting here, on a mini break and I felt the need to share a re-discovery of mine. Now prior to becoming a single mom to three dual exceptional childiren/part time employee/full time MA university student/entrepreneur I will admit I kept a clean and tidy house. However, as my marriage disintegrated, so too, did my housekeeping skills. Steeped in depression as I was, I found it impossible to maintain my previous levels of tidiness. Part of the depression was an overwhelming sense of powerlessness that led to a point of incapacitation. Unfortunately I have never been able to regain that ground.

However, it is a new year upon us, and that typically means change does it not? Over the holidays a lot of processing went on. It was a dismal affair. However, it led me down a path that I am quite excited about. So this morning, as I sat with my coffee, I read a few blogs and did some more processing as I took in this information. The results have energized me. To the point of recalling a trick I once used when feeling overwhelmed. So as I sat down with my coffee I derived a to-do list. However, this list looks different, For scheduled into all my to do items, I have timed them into 15 minute blocks of time. For even the most overwhelming task can be managed when broken down into 15 minutes blocks of time. Included in this was a 15 minute break for me (which is now :-p). I set my inevitable time waster, my computer, down and went to work. Now the trick here is to work in one set area for 15 minutes and then move on whether it is finished or not.  So I set the plan in motion and lo and behold, its amazing what you can get down in 15 minutes.  Now by no means are all my tasks done, nor is the work complete BUT, it is better than it was and I feel energized to continue at it. And who knows by the time this is done, I may just have gotten myself into some better habits and got a cleaner house to boot, which will then decrease depressive like symptoms and a sense of being overwhelmed.

Moral: Break it down into manageable time frames
            There is power in 15.