I feel like yesterday, I did 10 million little things… and got nothing accomplished in the process. For instance, I painted ONE side of the trellis that sits above the garden gate.
I need BOTH sides stained so I can string the wisteria vine to the top of the trellis.
I told myself I needed to thin the buds on the Meyer Lemon tree…. but I found the blossoms so intoxicating I just couldn’t do it.
I hauled Monkey Boy’s bathroom cabinets outside to stain… but never got a round to actually staining them. Maybe I’ll work on them today. Maybe not.
I started to fold laundry and then got distracted and went through some my white serving dishes and set them on the family room floor to be priced for the neighborhood yard sale that’s not until JULY. The laundry still needs to be folded and I have more white dishes to go through.
I started pulling up the grass alongside the fence so I could create a new garden bed. But I didn’t finish that either. I just can’t seem get to the finish line.
Oh, speaking of finish lines… I signed up for a race! At this rate I probably won’t finish that either.
And last but not least, I told Lucy I’d take her for long walk… but let her dig in the dirt for an hour instead. She was in heaven.
Are you feeling a little distracted these days too? Or am I going crazy?
~Mavis
Jonnie says
If you are going crazy, you are not making the trip alone. My oldest, suggested it was menopause, nope, post menopausal here. Then said it could be my meds. Nope, been taking the same meds for years. Then suggested Alzheimer, or just old age. Nope, to both, I’m only fifty eight. My doctor told her to stop suggesting reasons, and realize, and accept it. It happens to people who are doing too many things, at the same time. Said the only thing to be done, was to stop trying to do it all myself. Concentrate on one project at a time, and only one, until that is done, then move on to the next. I make a list now, starting with the most urgent to the least, and do them in that order. I don’t start the next one until I have marked the current one done. It is surprising how much gets done now, instead of started and left half done.
Lisa Millar says
Oh this post makes me feel better!!
I am a classic for being in the middle of 20 – plus projects with none finished!!
Our wood is half stacked (and being rained on) the garden not even a quarter weeded, one out of the three bay compost bins got put together, I only thought about preparing the garlic bed, my barrels of rocks that are in the middle of being tumbled have been sitting in a bucket for three days instead of being reloaded back into the tumbler, kilos of apples yet to process, I think I am about in the middle of 5 knitting projects, some sauces and relish got made but as yet are unlabelled… I think I am too frightened to think further!!
I might have to get strict and write a list of “Must Finish Today” jobs to try to keep focused!
PS Its perfectly acceptable to find ANY job to avoid folding laundry. Washing and drying no problem. Folding is just asking too much! 🙂
Brandy says
This is how I am ALL of the time haha. It’s like being manic sometimes.
Question though, what do you do with the lemon blossom buds? I would assume they are edible, salad topper perhaps?
Oh those birdie shakers, and the egg dishes I would be glad to take off your hands!
Cheryl says
Yeah, I’d take the ramekins in no time flat…makes me wish I lived closer!
Melissa says
LOL! OMG! I am so glad to hear I am not the only one this happens to! I have so many unfinished things everywhere I don’t know where to start!
Here I though Mavis was the queen of efficiency and perservance! I read your blog like some kind of fantasy romance novel dreaming away my lunch hour on canning, gardening, and accomplishing things like you do!
No matter how many things I do a day…there just always seems to be more to do. It’s a no win situation! LOL!
Glad to know your human and not a robot Mavis! Love you and your blog!
Dale says
I know the feeling; It is especially bad right before I have to leave on a 2 week trip to Kansas. I need to plant more lettuce and radishes. I need to rotate the compost, I need to adjust the garden gate…….Luckily my GF is super organized and can help direct me to what really needs to be accomplished before I leave. Like mow the grass. Reset the thermostat for the summer weather and wash the dog beds. Always something but without her I’d never finish any of them
Mrs. Chow says
I could have written this post. This whole year has been this way!
Crystal says
How do you go about removing the grass from an area before planting in the ground there? I have a bunch of seedlings that need to go out soon, and have a patch of ground I want to put them in, but it is covered with grass. So I’m just wondering what the most efficient way of doing this is.
Kristin says
Are those mini pie pans? They are so cute!
Ellen in Clackamas says
haha, we call that “red ball syndrome”!!!! it is reminiscent of when you are playing with your dog and a red ball rolls by he will forget you in a hot second and take off after the ball! Can’t keep his focus. Same thing happens with me when I am doing chores, especially outside. I will be trying to cut back a bush and get side-tracked with weeds that need pulling. Or seeds that need planting or the table that needs washing. Making lists kind of helps. What works better is to make a list of everything you DID get done then cross those things off and viola! Look at all you have accomplished!!!!
linda says
Could it be you are just tired?! You do so much. I wish I had your energy and strength. For me fibro. also need to strength build with weights, much as I had to admitt it- approaching mid 60’s- just happens. I love seeing all you do!
CathyB says
I totally get it, it sounds like my life. BTW – I love your white dishes and wish I lived close enough to come to your yard sale. I swear that every week when you show what you are getting rid of there is at least one thing I want in your pile!
Deborah says
This is exactly what I was going to say! 🙂
We could carpool, CathyB. Lol
Cheryl says
Me too!
Veronica says
My mother said she found this tendency (of not being able to work on something for a long period of time) stronger after becoming an empty-nester. She spent 25 years taking care of the kids and only having a few minutes at a time to accomplish any given task. She trained her brain to think about many things in small spurts of time so things like the mail, bills, dishes, laundry, etc got done among keeping the kids safe, fed, taught, and occupied. She is relearning how to focus now.
Mavis Butterfield says
This makes total sense Veronica!!
Marcia says
Me too. I wonder if it’s my age. I used to be able to do a lot of things at once, and switch off effortlessly.
My memory is getting worse, and I feel like I’m trying to do too many things. I’m almost 45.
Lana says
Sounds to me like you just have too many projects going on at once. I think the idea that someone else said about making a list would work. That way when you finish something you get to cross it off and feel totally satisfied. Make the list in order of priorities. Then you may need also to take a day off and regroup instead of pressuring yourself to get everything done.
Margo Miller says
Oh yeah, how well I know this disorder. I think they call it “mental-pause”…. had it for years! 🙂
Brianna says
If it makes you feel any better, I just got my Thank You cards out last week for my baby…..who was born in July last summer! And Thank you cards for Christmas and my daughter’s April birthday. I bought the cards months ago!
Joyce Erickson says
It’s the beautiful weather we’re having; we aren’t used to it.
Mavis Butterfield says
I think you are right Joyce.
Cari says
I have been like this for the last year and a half. We moved to a new house and there is so much to do. It is hard to decide where to start. You get so comfortable and settled into a house, when you are in it for a long time.
Laura says
I live near by and would be happy to take the white dishes off your hands so you don’t have to store them until July for the neighborhood yard sale! All for $20?
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Laura, thank you so much for reaching out to me. Because I’ve been inundated with emails and requests about purchasing some of the items I was planning to sell, I’ve decided the only fair way to handle it is to put everything out in the yard sale as originally planned. It will be a first come, first serve sale so get there early if you are interested. Thanks for being wiling to help me out though. I appreciate it and you.
Thanks,
Mavis
Carly says
What are you using to stain your fence? It’s a gorgeous color.
Wendi says
No worries – This type of day seems common for many as we get a bit older (and our nest empties). I remember watching my mom. I even drew a map to show her 8 hours of her day and how she was all over but finished nothing. (Bad daughter, sorry mom) Now that I’m 57 I do the exact same thing; start one thing, get distracted with another, then another, then another, until it’s time for bed and nothing but supper has been completed. I wonder if it really matters – maybe it’s one of those things we chalk up to, “I am special and my ability to be flexible makes me even better.” Most of it gets done eventually. Some people just don’t get it and that’s OK. It takes all of us to make the world go round.