One-a-Days

As the mother of six young children, I know that most of the work I do in my home will have to be redone in an hour or a day or a week. To feel a sense of achievement in spite of this, I try to find a way to accomplish something each day outside of my usual routine. I call it my “one-a-day.”

A one-a-day is a small task I can do in a few minutes that will give me an instant feeling of achievement or bring me one step closer to completing a longer-term goal. It must have a definite end rather than being part of an ongoing project.

Sometimes my one-a-day helps me succeed at my responsibilities outside of my home: reading a lesson that I will be teaching or writing an announcement for the PTA newsletter. Or it may be something I do for someone else, such as mailing a birthday card or jotting down a humorous anecdote in one of my children’s journals. Perhaps it is an uncommon household task like getting the car inspected, installing a robe hook in the bathroom, or calling the sprinkler company about that slow drip. Whatever it is, it will not leave me with an unfinished project or eat a big chunk out of my day.

I keep a running list of possible one-a-days and try to chose one each day that fits my mood and my time constraints.

These accomplishments may not sound like much to a fast-track executive, but they give me an “Aah, that’s done” lift.—Anne Whitney Walch, San Antonio, Texas