STRATEGY TWO: FOCUS

FOCUS.

Hmmm.... Pretty sure I need a lot of this in my life right now. I had the best of intentions to wrap up the FerVent book in the first week or two of January. Here we are halfway through February and we are only on the second strategy.

Lack of focus?

Probably.

I must admit, I didn't expect me to take so long to map out my prayers. I am being meticulous about finding scriptures that fit and asking God to guide me. That takes time.

My life is pulled in different directions. I am definitely all over the place. My apologies. I hope you have moved on ahead and mapped out your plans. Maybe after I start praying for a focus we will be able to hustle through the rest of the book. Maybe.

Love the quote above.

Focus protects your goal and dreams from being consumed in small bites. So true. I lost focus and my goal of finishing this book in January got diminished.

Day by day, my lack of focus killed my goal.

That is just what the Devil wants. When we begin to work towards our dreams and God's promises to us he has no choice but try and derail us. He doesn't want to see us succeed and therefore sets up as many road blocks as possible.

ANNOYING.

How do we keep this from happening?

How do we stay FOCUSED on our goals, dreams, and our relationship with God?

PRAY.

Wake up in the morning and put on your Armor of God.

Devote a few minutes in the morning to thank him for all he is doing in your life.

Where do you need to focus?

Your Work Life?
Your Family?
Your Friendships?
Your Relationship with God?

I can honestly say YES to all of the above.

When I should be focusing on my kids, I am thinking about work. When I should be working, I am chatting with friends online. When I should be spending time with God, I am thinking of all the things I need to do for my family.

The cycle is vicious, but there is a way out!

JOIN US IN THE BOOK CLUB TO SHARE YOUR PRAYER STRATEGY!

>>> FACEBOOK GROUP/BOOK CLUB <<<

PRINTABLE CLEANING SCHEDULE

Let's talk about jobs and transitioning into a new one.

I am having a very difficult time getting things in order with my new job as a stay at home mom. It is a strange feeling, not knowing where you should put your focus every day. I feel like I spend too much of my day wandering around my house (usually chasing a 17 month old) thinking about what I should be doing and actually accomplishing NOTHING.

When I worked in an office, I had 1 job. I simply showed up and did it. Now my job has no start time and no end time. I am always doing something. The problem is, if you were to ask me what I did - I couldn't tell you. Most days I have no clue. I simply exist. I count heads at the beginning of my day and count heads at the end. Somewhere in between I pray the numbers are the same.

For my own sanity this has to change. I am typically very driven and productive. I'm sure the fact that my baby is now a toddler doesn't help. It is a whole new ball game now that we are walking, talking, and VERY CURIOUS.

She's cute though.

I decided it was high time I created a few schedules for myself. I need to live each day with purpose and direction.

I need a daily compass. An outline for my day. I have mentioned schedules before. I do follow a schedule, but now I need to get even more specific. This "let's see where the day takes us" stuff isn't working for me. I'm not exactly pumped up about cleaning daily, but it is now a part of my job description. A detailed schedule for cleaning is basically the best thing ever. You do what is on the list for the day. Nothing more, nothing less. Once you are done with the list you are FREE. Unlike my current situation where I clean all day (or so it seems) and the house is still a complete wreck.

I used the book Sidetracked Home Executive as my guide. They actually suggest an index card system. I used that for a while. It doesn't work for me. Too many moving parts. You have to move the cards to the next day, week, month, etc... once they are complete. I couldn't keep up.

It is official. I am a checklist kind of girl.

I went through all of my index cards and created a word document that has all of my chores listed out and organized by frequency. I did shuffle a few things around to fit my personal preferences as well as my home size.

>>> HOME CLEANING LIST <<<

You should be able to download this word document and edit your own version to fit your household needs. So far it is helping A LOT. I am much more productive during the scheduled "cleaning" hours. I no longer wonder what I should be doing. If I follow this list over the course of a week my entire home should be clean. Wouldn't that be something?

How do you keep up with your house? Do you have a system?

I would love for you to share in the comments!