here is what i forget every summer...
and it is the reason why we don’t eat very well in the summer. because i don’t cook much in the summer. because i don’t have a plan.
once i have a plan, i am GOLDEN. i get it done. i will check off those boxes or die trying.
pretend that is an actual photo of me cooking.
and once i have a general overview of the week, then i will make a more specific plan for the meals. then i execute that plan. i actually procure the groceries. and i cook the dinner. whenever people ask me what is the key to cooking dinner every night, i tell them something that i read once that i have found to be SO true...
know what you are having for dinner by 10 a.m. that morning.
dinner begins in the morning. or it doesn’t happen. at least round these parts. once 2:40 hits and i begin driving in circles all around the town with kids in the car, dinner better be settled in my mind and ingredients ready to go (or in the crock pot) or it is going to be another cereal night. or as i like to call it “d.i.y.” dinner. we do that a lot in the summer. great on the grocery budget. great for clearing out the pantry. but it is hard on the family time and health quotient. and after several nights in a row, it just gets old. you need a hot, planned, all together at once, eating the same thing dinner.
if i know, if it is planned, if it is written down down somewhere, then it gets made. and eaten. and enjoyed.
and cleaned up by my kitchen crew of three. they are excellent at kitchen cleaning.
i am not a last minute kind of gal. well, not a spontaneous cook at least. i have to have a plan. and once i do... watch out world.
i have recently come to realize (i really should have realized this YEARS AGO, it would have really helped me get things done) that i do much better with external motivation (a list, a plan, something written down, a reminder) than internal motivation (just the feeling that it has to get done isn’t enough for me).
i think that is why i have quotes and poems and Scripture up all around my house. external motivation.
why i have schedules printed up and laminated. external motivation.
why i set alarms to go off on my iphone for all my things that have to be done. external motivation.
why blogging is good for me. external motivation.
why every night as i make myself fold all the laundry i keep repeating, “no laundry left behind”. external motivation.
why after i clean something, i take an extra look and say, “stick the landing” and do something extra. external motivation.
or why the website “home sanctuary” and it’s thematic little “fun” task of the day is so much fun for me. external motivation.
you many not need so much external motivation. but i do. in fact this whole blog post is a result of external motivation. i got a nice email from a friend of my parents who reads the blog (most likely to check up on me and make sure that i haven’t gone totally CRAZY) and it was so motivating because she says that she misses it when i don’t blog. so i was externally motivated to add another entry this week! see how effective that external motivation is for me!
and for an externally motivated gal like me, isn’t it great that God externally and internally motivates us. He is ALL things to ALL people. His Word read daily externally motivates me (especially when i memorize Scripture) and His Spirit internally testifies to the Truth.
so are you internally or externally motivated? and how does that factor into your day...