Bertha’s been talking about… change… again. She knows I hate that word… it just seems like me beating myself into shape… often literally… as I force myself to make leaps and bounds in several directions at once… only to fall on my face… and keep doing the same thing… basically nothing… that I’ve been doing all along… and feeling bad that I have once again… failed… yes… the other… f word.
But… there were some things that I wanted to start doing… keeping the house cleaner… cat hair is the bane of my existence… having a regular yoga practice… journaling every morning… that kind of thing… things that I actually enjoy but just don’t quite find the time to do… and… yes… I am retired… and spend 90 percent of my time at home… but I do have a PhD in procrastination… so I did need help.
First… Bertha… consulted Dana K White via… How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind… and encouraged me to put away the dishes I’d washed the night before… and… sweep the floors… first thing every morning… well… after feeding the cats and brushing my teeth. I tried to tell her I didn’t have time… but… honestly… I can accomplish both of those while my coffee brews. And… since I keep things fairly neat… most of my house work was done for the day… sweet! (Actually Dana recommends sweeping the kitchen… but since my entire living space is 400 square feet… I figured I might as well do it all.)
Bertha gave that a little time to sink in and get to be almost automatic… and then… she told me that if I wanted to journal and do yoga in the morning… that I had to get up earlier… which meant going to bed earlier. For that… she programed her friend… Alexa… to remind me to take my nighttime medicine and brush my teeth an hour before bedtime… and… to alarm in the morning… plenty early for me to have some journaling time.
So… we did that for a while… then… she added in the yoga… but… she made it easy… I only have to do two balance poses… of course… I usually practice for an hour… but when I’m pressed for time… or I just don’t feel like it… I have practiced with those two balance poses. She got that idea from BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits… it’s all about making the habit so small that you really can’t fail… he made a habit to floss one tooth! And after I do my yoga… I get to drink a special coffee instead of my usual black. A little reward never hurts!
We also lifted another of BJ’s ideas… anchoring habits. Now every time I go to the dumpster… twice a day… thank you litterbox… I take some extra steps… maybe two steps or twenty minutes… but I do something extra.
The beauty of the little things… is that I can feel successful… even if I don’t do a whole bunch… because… I don’t know about you… but… when I feel like I’m not successful… I’m more likely to just give up and quit.
Bertha… says it’s like saving money… it’s hard to save the dollars… but it’s easy to put change in a penny jar… and in no time… those pennies add up to dollars.
So… today… I had a busy morning… I swept around the litterbox… took about ten extra steps at the dumpster… put the dishes away… journaled for a while… and did a couple of balance poses… and… I felt good about it.
Bertha… is strutting around grinning like a flamingo… if flamingos even grin… anyway… I think I’ll empty out my loose change into a jar… I still have a little time left!
I have the same problem, Jane! Thank you for sharing this! I love it!
Peggy. I honestly believe most of us do. Change feels so overwhelming until we break it down into itty bitty pieces and make it fun even!
Bertha is new to me! Looks like I need to come up to speed, Jane!
Welcome Carol. Bertha is quite a character for sure. Just click on her name anywhere on the website and you can see her on Amazon.
I visited your site and Etsy store… so lovely and soothing.
Little steps and little changes you hardly know you’re making. Brilliant!
Thank you. You really don’t notice it that much.
Sounds like a Roomba vacuum could be good for you 😉
Yes… I think it would… Thelma and Louise would love riding it! Seriously, that is a great idea.
hahahah yes, I’ll try thanking my giant 130 lb Newfoundland for all of the extra exercise I get from his copious amounts of hair and large poopy presents. Nice shift of thinking!
Oh… those are great shifts! I love when I can find the little buried treasure in a situation. And at under 15 pounds each… I appreciate my two cats a little more now that I imagine that 130 pounder climbing your lap!
That Bertha sure does keep you on your toes, but with sound advice. I think we all may need a Bertha in our lives.
She definitely does that! I love sharing Bertha with everyone… so the more the merrier…
Doing something extra. That’s my takeaway on this read!
That’s a good takeaway. Thanks for sharing.