Creating Habits: Dishes aren’t a Dirty Word Anymore! + Video

Last Month’s Review

For last month I am happy to announce I fulfilled one of my ‘habits’ every day of the month. I posted on Instagram every day! (Lol) I’m so proud of myself. Creating habits is not an easy feat as you can see from my other habits on the tracker.

Dishes – Not a Dirty Word Anymore

One habit surprised me: Dishes. In September, I posted that ‘dishes’ was the d-word and apologized for saying it so many times. Admittedly, as long as I can remember I have hated doing the dishes.

When it was my turn for Sunday dishes growing up, I would spend as much time dawdling as I could. Then I would stand forever and wash the dishes until my legs itched (we went a long time without a dishwasher – so I had to do the dishes by hand for what seemed like most of my life – though it probably wasn’t that long). I HATED doing the dishes.

Patience and Diligence

Months of tracking and trying to improve have paid off. In December, I consistently did the dishes 26 days of 31, and I am happy to say that it has become a habit I do it almost without thinking. My kids are even getting into the habit of checking if the dishes are clean and if not, they load their dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

We Were Both Losers

Defeating this habit of NOT doing the dishes was actually quite the undertaking. Now it is one of the most consistent habits in my tracker. My husband and I used to play a game of who could stand the dishes in the sink the longest. Sometimes I would win and sometimes he would win. But in all honesty, we were both losers in this game. This is a huge reason why I decided to track it in the first place.

A Shift in My View Point – Creating Habits

Another thing that has completely changed the way I do things: 10 Minutes. If you haven’t seen this post, please read it, bookmark it, pin it and put it in your bullet journal. LIFE CHANGING.  Unless you have your life completely together and you never have a sock left on the floor by one of your kids or a speck of dust lingering on your furniture – read it. I can tell you that it has completely changed the way I think and the way I do things around my house.

You know that bin full of broken crayons that the kids never use or the shoe bin that never gets cleaned out but is always in the back of your mind as an unfinished task? Oh, wait, those things are now regularly done. I do think I need to create a secondary 10 minutes task list, so I give priority to other tasks.

This idea is not a revolutionary way of thinking as far as the world goes, but for me, the impact was substantial. I included things on my 10-minute mind map that I often neglect. Such as syncing my finances. Self-care has not been so much a burden. I put make-up on more consistently because I feel like I can take a couple of moments just for me.

I signed up for SkillShare and listen to classes as I cook dinner.

This one little switch in my mindset has been utterly fundamental for me to feel more accomplished and to get more done in the day-to-day. I will even use it to calm down if I have dealt with an obstinate 8-year-old or an emotional 6-year-old and my temper is flaring. As you might imagine, I could go on and on.

Habit Check Progress for the Month – Sometimes it’s the Journey Not the Speed

Now then – here’s my habit check for the month. Probably my most favorite design of the month. I LOVE how the moped turned out. And then I am not sure if I read the quote somewhere, and it was in my subconscious – but I thought of it one day when I was creating my habit page. Sometimes it’s the journey, not the speed. I think it pairs perfectly with the moped and with creating habits. Like I said above, I started in September making dishes a habit instead of a fight with my husband.

It didn’t change overnight. Creating habits takes time. Since I have been patient with myself and my progress, the speed has increased. But the journey was enjoyable – and that may be the best part.

Circle Mood Tracker

The circle mood tracker is one of my most favorite creations ever. I’ve tried out several compasses and tools for creating circles, and the helix tool is my favorite – because it has the degrees around the outside.  I realized that a lot of people out there who may not know how to create a circle. Guess what? I am working on some supplies for you. I’ve decided to scale back my weekly posts so I can create some additional resources for you.

I like the circle tracker because it takes up less space. I added a weigh-in result (TWI) and a weekly tracker for cleaning those spaces that need a little more care. Then I added a blog & video post tracker to the side. Next month, I plan on keeping the blog post tracker but moving the weekly tracked off the tracker page and to the weeklies.

What I’m Going to Change

After I tabulated last month’s results, I decided that for March I may switch back to a color instead of a number; only because it was not easy to count and average all the numbers. But I do like the look of using gray/black to complete the trackers.

Creating habits takes a lot of work! I’ve decided that I need a plan to carry out the habit. A when, why, where – questionnaire of habits. For instance: what do I mean by ‘water intake’? I have worked on drinking more water, but I didn’t define whether it’s one cup or 8 to mark it off. It’s easy to ‘cheat’ and just mark something off if I do it half-way, but I try to acknowledge my true intentions.

I have learned that I have to be patient with myself and developing a specific routine around forming the habit is essential. For February, I think I may remove dishes from my tracker – just to see if it is a real habit now or if I still need the thrill of marking it off in my habit tracker.

So…Have 10 Minutes? A Challenge.

Using my 10-minute method, before I start next month’s habit tracker, I will: write down expectations of the habit defining the when, where, and what so I can honestly improve and make it into a habit.

Here is my challenge for you:

Do something for you or do something that has nagged at you. You don’t have to get it done, just spend 10 minutes and do part of it. Then when you have dinner in the oven, and there are 10 minutes on the timer, do a little more.  Do you have a habit that you are trying to form? As you can see, I have lots to work on, but with a plan and around 10 planned minutes, I bet it would make a difference in how full my tracker is. We will see what happens next mid-month habit check – creating habits is a long-term investment.

By the way, I have had people tag me on Instagram after seeing my post on Pinterest and tell me that it changed their lives too. If you try it out, use #InMy10Minutes and tag me @ChocolateMusingsCreates either on Instagram and completely change the way you task. I’d love to see it and feature you.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

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