Breaking It Down Into Bite Size Chunks: Tips to Fix an Unraveling Day

It's only 8:30 and I've had the morning from hell.

I wake up to my 3 year old in my face yelling at me to snap her shirt. Shirt snapped, we go into the kitchen to have a bowl of cereal only to see that a cup of milk that was left out after dinner last night has split - only it's chunky by now and smells. It spilled all over the bag of cereal we're about to eat, so I have to clean up the chunky milk off the counter and cereal bag while my nose is neatly tucked in my shirt.

We sit down at the table and I pour the milk into her bowl, you guessed it - chunky! Guess the glass hadn't been left out after all! Someone must have poured the chunky milk into the glass, left it on the counter and then put the carton back in the fridge!

So I dump out the now ruined bowl of cereal and have to go get more milk from the garage fridge. I'm gagging by now and there's no way I'm having cereal, fresh milk or not. So I pour Zilla hers and go to make some coffee. The cats come rushing up on the counter to get their morning 1/2 can of food. So I decide to forgo the coffee for a minute and feed them. Zilla wants to open the can. OK, I tell her and continue the coffee. Uh-oh, mom… I broke off the tab. That's ok, I tell her, I'll just use a fork to pry it up. Yep, the juice goes flying all over the counter, the carafe, the cats, and me.

I finish cleaning that up and now the garbage is full, so I pull the bag out of the can and it rips. Pieces of a plate that my son broke at lunch yesterday come out along with coffee grounds, a tuna can still full of juice, and the ziploc from last night with the raw chicken juices still in it all pooling together on the floor.

Determined not to cry and break down in front of my kids because I'm always telling them that things like this are no big deal and if you can get through them, you'll laugh about it later. But at this particular moment, I'm thinking there is NO WAY I'm going to laugh. It's 8:15 for goodness sake - I just want to go back to bed.

Then I remember some more advice I give to my organizing clients: Break it down. When the task ahead seems so overwhelming, break it down into bit size chunks that are manageable.

I laugh at the word chunks and all of a sudden I can see the light. First, go rinse the can. Wipe it dry. Ok, that's done. Double bag the ripped bag and take it out to the garage. Done. Put a new bag in the trash can. Got it. Clean up the floor - nope, that's too big. Vacuum up the coffee grounds. Wipe up the liquids. Disinfect. Done. Wash hands. Put a new roll of paper towels on the holder because I've used them all up. Breathe. Go write your blog. Go back to bed.

Posted October 23, 2007, filed in Just for Fun