Women FLY FRANTICALLY through life.
We generally feel there aren’t enough hours in the day, and if there were more hours, we’d make our TO DO LISTS longer.
That’s what we women do.
We write lotsa’ things on the never-ending TO DO LIST, and feel guilty about the ones we haven’t crossed off.
Not only do I feel like I can’t catch up, I know I’ll never get ahead.
Some days, I feel like I’m hooking-bobbing fleeting time.
I’ve learned to pray about my list, and have the Lord guide me in what He wants me to do, and give me strength and wisdom to accomplish much.
Some days I don’t even make that list. I just listen.
I’ve also learned that the more organized I am, the more I can accomplish. I spend less time looking for things and less time preparing, while flying through life.
“Organizing is what you do before you do something,
so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”
A.A. Milne
This week I am FLYING FRANTICALLY through organizing projects that have all helped in the challenging area of getting out of the house, with or without kids.
The Purse Projects are projects that can be thrown in a purse to fill up little wasted minutes in the car, in waiting rooms or at kids’ lessons/practices.
Women rarely have a spare hour.
But, we all can find 15 minutes in a day.
I got the idea years ago, from the only Sewing With Nancy episode I watched. It changed the way I view my sewing/craft/household projects. She encouraged sewers to break up their projects into 15 minute increments.
These socks sat on my dryer for weeks, until I finally dealt with them. After being worn and washed once, the ruffles started unraveling.
Little girls really, really need white, ruffly socks. It took five minutes to stuff my scissors, thread, needle and the socks in a ziploc bag and put it in my purse.
Both were mended by noon the next day.
My latest purse project began with this summer fabric. I’ve had it over six years. That’s as long as some of you have been married. Some of you have sewn many quilts or dresses in that time. I finally can confess, I’ve been reduced to merely collecting fabric. I rarely sew anymore.
One day I prewashed the fabric.The next day I ironed it. Don’t these ants just make you want to have a picnic. The next free time slot I used to cut out cloth napkins. I counted square rather than measure it to make it easier.
I put the napkins by my sewing machine, which I now leave out, and in between correcting school work, I stitched a napkin or two, again using the squares as my guidelines.
They just need to be unraveled.
My stitched napkins, scissors and seam ripper were put in a Ziploc and taken with me on car trips, and to ball games.
It is slow, but I am making progress. A lot more progress than I made in the first six years of owning the fabric!
Sometimes my purse project is a magazine I need to read. I bring Post-it notes to mark pages of interest.
Other times I throw in a book or a curriculum catalogue.
The idea of The Purse Project
is to accomplish,
not overwhelm.
It has to be something you can reasonably get done in 15 minute increments.
We all have a purse (or diaper bag) and we all have 15 minutes.
What project is currently in your purse or what would you like to toss in this week?
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I carry yarn around in my purse and a crochet needle 🙂
I have to do things like that to trick myself to keep up with my projects. I want to get them done…I just need to integrate them into my life. Great idea for the napkins…I'm going get my cloth cut out this week.
I love the "purse project" title! Great ideas. I like to break up cleaning or organizing into small increments. Even if you're in the middle of watching a t.v. show you can use commercials to load or unload the dishwasher, start a load of laundry, make the bed, etc. Thanks for linking up!
What great ideas! I'm off right now to put a short project into my purse. I have a fifteen to twenty minute wait in the van every day waiting for the kids after school. Less twitter-ing, more crafting. Love it!
I love this idea. I have a whole stack of jeans that have holes that need to be mended. A little at a time.
Great ideas! I loved the little ants on the tablecloth!!
The Purse Project is a great idea! I usually get stuck in my car for at least 45 minutes cause my little guy decides to take a nap. So, I guess I need to have 3 Purse Projects in my purse. hahaha
Great ideas Mindy!! Thank you for more practical wisdom!