Productive

I've been feeling so productive lately. I think it may have to do with the books I'm reading, as I'm definitely the type of person to get swept up in whatever I'm reading or watching at a given time. Last week, I was reading both The Happiness Project and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Not surprisingly, I've felt more happy and effective recently.

The first resolution in The Happines Project is to clear clutter. I'm something of a minimalist, but I still managed to clear out two trashbags full of donations from my small apartment. A lot of it was stuff that I felt obligated to keep out of sentimentality or just things I've kept around because they've always been around. I thought that people would think my apartment looked barren or ugly if I didn't keep decorative items on display, but then I realized that "people" don't live here; I do, and I like a clean look. Obvious realization, but helpful, nonetheless.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People had me thinking about how I spend my time. I am anything but industrious. I like to spend my weekends luxuriating in my blankets, passing the time with books and TV shows. Come Monday morning, though, and I realize that I've all but wasted my weekend. Frivolous leisure has its place, but I would probably feel much better if I woke up from my weekend with a sense of accomplishment. So I tried it. 

I woke up on Saturday morning at 7AM and took a shower. {sidenote: showering first thing in my morning makes me feel invincibly productive, I think because I am a night showerer.} I took my car to get an oil change, something I had been putting off for weeks {months?}. The next stop was Goodwill, where I unloaded my donations found last weekend. On to Target, where I bought some supplies for a project and replaced a shirt of Noah's that I'd accidentally ruined. I spent the afternoon working on the project: making curtains. 

Background: My two cats are unbelievably naughty and spend their time breaking things around the apartment (e.g. vinyl blinds that belong to the apartment complex). Constantly monitoring and fixing the blinds was actually becoming a source of stress in my life, so I decided it was time for curtains! Unfortunately, the window in my kitchen is ridiculously dimensioned, so purchasing curtains was not an option. Oh and, by the by, I do not own a sewing machine.

At Target, I bought XL Twin bed sheets in turquoise and two rolls of velcro. I would have been less ghetto and actually purchased a rod for my homemade curtains, but the window is odd & there is not a space for a rod, so Velcro it is! I measured. I measured. I pinned. I measured. I stitched. And stitched. And stitched. Four episodes of 7th Heaven later, and I ironed. And velcroed. And voila!

 

They are not wide enough by about six inches, but I am so not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good here.