October 25, 2008

Never Doing Now

Yesterday I explained my Not Doing Now List. Today, I turn my attention to my Never Doing Now List.

A few of the items currently on this list:
  1. Cleaning the spaces between tiles on the bathroom floor with a toothbrush.
  2. Washing down the porch.
  3. Dusting the tops of ceiling fans.
Funny. I just realized that most of the items on my Never Doing List tend to be related to cleaning. This one works a little differently than the Not Doing Now List. I tend to reserve it for those things that occur to me as 'shoulds.'

So, for instance, I notice Kai looking up at the ceiling fan (maybe I'll do a post soon with some research on why babies and toddlers love ceiling fans and light fixtures so much - I would love to know), then think to myself, hmmm, it's probably very dusty up there. I really should dust it...

But I'm not someone who gets my kicks doing tasks like this. I know some of you out there are, and frankly, I'm a little envious of your spotless ceiling fans and sparkling porches! It really makes far more sense to spend my limited cleaning time on high priorities like making sure all the little fuzzballs and specks of who knows what that Kai manages to locate on the floor are, well, not on the floor.

Never Doing Now lets me acknowledge that a should is something "To Do" but also gives me explicit permission never to do it and frees up valuable brain space from worrying when I might get it done. What could you let go of by putting on your Never Doing Now List?

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