I’ve come to the realization that lately, a large portion of my time has been spent thinking about the future.

• I’ll do this when I get a new job…
• I’ll finally be able to do this once I have more…
• I can’t wait until we move and I can…

To give some examples of future dreams that are always on my mind. But I also find myself getting lost in the to-do lists of the future. Whether its getting stuck thinking about how busy I am going to be when homeschooling starts again in August, everything we have to prepare for our vacation next month, planning the budget for this month. These are all tasks and goals that will eventually need to be done but why am I letting them stress me out now? Why am I getting overwhelmed now, for something that I’m not going to have to deal with until months from now and in all likeliness will not even be as bad as I am making it out to be in my head.

When you are a new mom they tell you to enjoy the moment while it lasts because you will blink and they will be grown and getting ready to move out. That statement is very much true. When you’re younger it is like time moves at a snail’s pace everything takes “foreeeeeever” as my daughters would say. But when you’re grown, without even realizing it, time seems to hit the fast forward button. One minute you are celebrating New Years with your family and the next you realize half the year is already gone.

So then back to my main statement, why am I wasting the precious time I have with my mind on the future? Don’t get me wrong, thinking about the future is good. Having dreams is wonderful (I have so many of them). But I need to stop getting so lost in ‘the future’ that I am not present in the, well, the present. I seem to get lost in the fog of it and it is overwhelming to think about all of the things I want to do with my life and many times I find that I forget about the accomplishments that I have made until that point and treat them as if they didn’t really matter.

I want to change that part of my mindset, starting now. So I have been thinking about different ways I may be able to do that.

1. Health/Weightloss: Instead of thinking about how much time and work it is going to take to get to my goals, focus on what I can do today. Did I make good choices, today. Did I try to do some kind of exercise, today. And so on.
2. Homeschooling: We are on summer break, don’t stress about the homeschool schedule that is going to be to months from now. Focus on today, what can I informally teach my children today? Maybe they have a question or need help learning how to do something or use something.
3. Household Chores: My nemesis. Let’s face it, these never end. I already implement my strategy of Micro To-Do lists, but I need to make sure I stop adding something to that list if I already know there is no way I am going to be able to finish it. If I want to do something big, like re-organize the pantry, I know I will not be able to finish that within the span of today, not with work and everything else I have going on. So my plan going forward with these ‘big’ chores, is to pick 1 thing that I know I can accomplish that day that will get me one step closer to my goal. Falling back on the example of the re-organizing the panty. I know I wont be able to finish the full re-organization today. But if my pantry has 6 shelves then I can start from top to bottom and re-organize 1 shelf at a time.

These are just 3 main categories from my life. But my method moving forward is to focus on what I can accomplish now. What can I get done today, with the time that I have. I don’t want to give myself impossible tasks that I know I won’t be able to do because I am just setting myself up for failure. If I know I am going to be gone from 8am-8pm then why would I add clean the living room to my to-do list (yes, I have done this)? I’m just going to feel defeated when I see the list and nothing is crossed off. But you know what happens when I assign myself tasks that I am able to accomplish and I get to cross those items from the list? I feel a sense of accomplishment and renewed energy. The same can be applied to my health/weightloss journey. If all I do is focus on the number of pounds I want to lose I will be too focused on the future. Instead I want to focus on what I can do today. I am going to eat well-rounded meals and take breaks from my desk so I can do a few minutes of exercise.

My goal moving forward is to set myself up for success, not failure, and to celebrate the victories no matter how small they may seem to others.