Ok, so I was semi-right on my prediction that I made for my January 1st-2nd entries. They’re not meal ideas, instead a few lists; a grocery list (this is why I consider I was semi-right), a to-do list, and a habit list.
Let’s get the grocery talk out the way. I won’t get too much into it and yes, I could very much go into a thousand different topics based off a grocery list that has to do with America, Holland, stores, food, etc but instead I’ll just give the fun facts that come to mind.
- I remember writing this list because it was really hard for me to eat vegan when I first arrived in Amsterdam [Yes, I was vegan but most of the time vegetarian for 3 yrs]. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was obsessed and addicted to bread and nutella my January in Europe, just ask my Swedish roommates at the time Filippa and Rebecca.
- The health foods stores in Holland are about 3x the price found in the States. The sad truth is that I haven’t walked into a Whole Foods since I came to America. <bear tap> “looove you”
- I still haven’t returned to being a vegan. I prefer a more protein based diet now-a-days. And now that I found the french press in my parents place (waiting on that espresso maker sister) I can’t resist putting half and half in my coffee.
- I had no idea how much I missed cantaloupe while living in Amsterdam. It’s been my candy these days.
The orange melon
- I love going to the Aldi’s market here in Martinsburg. It’s currently the strongest connection I have to my days living in Europe. Confession: I even put in an application to work there PT. German companies treat their employees WAY better than American. Aldi is the only store in America where they allow their employees to sit while checking out groceries. I hope Europeans don’t take that right for granted.
The Evolution of My To-Do Lists
I wrote a to-do list in this entry and I am 100% sure I did not complete my list that day which is always my intention every time I write one. I write these lists ALL OF THE TIME. I have a big tasks list and then I look there to see what I want to get done for the day. I always come up with at least 10 things to do and I’m pretty sure I’m at 99.5% rate of never completing a list. Just check out the latest list I wrote.
3 out of 10
Why do I never finish a list? It probably has to do with the amount and the type of thing I want to get done because that ‘thing’ is usually a project and will take me a few hours to complete if I’m focused with no distractions [I’m not ashamed to say I can be a slow worker].
To make me feel good so that I can have the satisfaction of checking off a task, I usually end up putting daily habits that I know I’ll complete anyways like working out or biking [as you’ll see in the entry ‘biking (exercise)’ is actually written just so I could feel the glory of crossing something off my to-do…ummm duh Kristin, of course you’re going to bike in Amsterdam today]. Sometimes I even write tasks that I have to do no matter what because I made a verbal commitment like going to an interview or visit grandparents. And yes, I get excited when I come back to my list after I did it just so I can check it off.
What’s really hitting me is the fact that the tasks that are very important and therefore urgent to me take forever for me to complete because I see them all together. I feel overwhelmed by all the work that I imagine will come with doing everything on that list…and putting the pressure on myself to have the expectation to do it one day. This paralyzes me.
Then when I look at the list at the end of the day I end up with a feeling of defeat. Why couldn’t I be more disciplined to complete more things off the list? But let’s be honest, even if I was able to check off more tasks, big tasks where I’m proud of finishing, I’d still be disappointed because I didn’t complete the entire list. So every night I look at the list on my white board and silently confirm that I lost the game with my to-do list.
This can wear and tear on you.
The new strategy. No more 10+ tasks on my to-do list. For the next 7 days I am committing to putting only 2 tasks from my big task list. A pretty darn small to-do list. That’s 12 hours/task a day and pretty much puts me on the top ten list of Women of Action but my theory is that these small victories every day will provide me with the encouragement and increasing moral especially as I work by myself these days [a big change from my days working at the Knowmads Greenhouse]. I also believe I’ll end up getting more of the things I want to accomplish done faster. Not that I’m really in a race to get things done anymore*, it just feels nice to see progression in my goals.
*This isn’t 100% true all the time but I like to think I’m heading in that direction because really what am I racing against?
kristin goes knowmadic 