Sticky Notes & Blank Boxes

I had this great planner post planned for y’all, talking about how much I love my Happy Planner and how helpful it’s been in helping me at least somewhat control the chaos and how I use the pretty stickers I’ve found and/or made and the usefulness of sticky notes (you know the kind- you’ve seen a thousand of them!), but it didn’t end up working out the way if planned (much like everything else in my life!)

You see, as I was getting ready to get pictures and adding my pain tracker stickers I made, I was becoming upset at how many “boxes” of things I’d put in the calendar to be done were left unfinished at the end of the week.  I was feeling rather unaccomplished, and down on myself, and was going to scrap the post, when I realized that I was ignoring the REAL post hiding in my planner!

Y’all, it’s so easy to be hard on ourselves. It’s easy to look at what hasn’t been accomplished and let the ugly voice in our heads tell us we’re failures, but maybe THAT is my lesson to learn today.

This week, there have been several days where I have run out of spoons. Pain and exhaustion have just gotten the best of me, and most of my tasks have remained undone.

But there’s plenty that has been done. 

I know that, when my AS is flaring up, I have to limit myself. I can cook AND clean, but if I do that, I can’t go to work. Or, I can go to work AND cook dinner, but I can’t clean. I know, that at the most, I can accomplish 2 of these things, but almost never all three.  It’s not plausible, and attempting to do so can derail the entire week.

One way that I’ve unintentionally built this flexibility into my planner is via the use of sticky notes.  Priority tasks  and inflexible tasks, like work, for example, are inked into my planner in the correct color. Less high priority tasks, like craft projects, and tasks with some flexibility, like cleaning under the sofa, are put on sticky notes.  This allows me a certain flexibility. Didn’t get the ironing done Monday? Move the sticky note to Wednesday. 

Arg!  Not a single "check box" checked!  That's ok!  Move it to another day!

It’s important not to be too hard on ourselves.  It’s important to acknowledge our successes, while tackling our failures.  As my health is often fragile, I have to remind myself to prioritize, and to give myself time and rest. 

Sometimes, we need to allow ourselves some sticky notes and blank boxes in life’s calendar. 

How do you build flexibility into your life?