Should I Do It? - Ep 854

Today, We talk about how I make decisions on what to do, and what to leave  - and why this is an important place to make purposeful decisions.

It only takes 60 seconds to unload the dishwasher so why not just go for it if the dishes are in there. Even if you are running late those 60 seconds are not the reason. Featured Event: Earlybird Tickets are Up for the Self Reliance Festival, April 6-7

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Sponsor 2: Emp Shield, Coupon Code LFTN

Livestream Schedule

Monday, 2PM: Should I Do It?

Tuesday 12:30 PM: Tuesday Live With John Willis and Matthew Sercely, AgoristTaxAdvice.com

Wednesday, 2PM: Interview with Brian from The Lots Project on Amazon Influencer Program

Friday, 9:30 AM: Homestead Happenings with The Tactical Redneck

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

• Last 3 Days of the Pantry Challenge and Tonight’s Dinner is the Problem - We are almost out of fresh greens (Thank goodness for the AP) and it is choir night so Taco Salad
• There was some flooding in the Prepper Pantry but nothing was hurt - best to keep things off the floor in there FWIW
• Mason Jar Storage Challenges
• Use up vs fill up - not using as many jars of canned things as usual - I think we have just really moved more into a meat based diet
• Canned Meats This Week

Weekly Shopping Report from Joe

Sorry for the hiatus. We were stuck behind 8" of snow last week and did not get out, but we returned to our usual routine this Saturday, plus a second trip today.

Dollar Tree was first on Saturday. The drink coolers were in very bad shape, with maybe one of them fairly full, but the others empty or nearly so. There were plenty of drinks on the shelves though, so I'll chalk it up to laziness. I stopped in here again on Sunday, and perhaps one of the empty ones had been refilled, but not the others; slackers.

Home Depot was second on both days. A 2x4x8 remains at $3.25. We forgot it on Saturday, so I returned for a snow shovel today, but they just don't stock them. I did grab one of the few remaining bags of ice melt. I will order a snow shovel; rare or not, when needed, it's needed.

Aldi was third on both days. They had no Masa in stock, which Sonia uses a lot (including for the birds, who love it). I asked someone today, and she said it's a core item and should be on the next truck. We found everything else we wanted. Staple prices were: eggs: $1.66; whole milk: $2.93; heavy cream: $4.69; OJ: $3.29; butter: $3.69; bacon: $4.25*; potatoes: $3.99; sugar: $3.09; flour: $2.29; 80% lean ground beef: $4.49. Although the price of bacon had not changed, there was none of the low-sodium variety, and they added a couple boxes of the cheap stuff, which was priced at $3.99. We just got regular bacon.

Finally, I stopped for gas. A gallon of untainted regular at this particular Weigel's had dropped to $3.639.

Frugality Tip from Jed Froggy

During covid, all Ball products were hard for me to find, especially pickle crisp. Upon researching and realizing that it is just hydrated calcium chloride, I found some in stock at a home brewing supply. That supply line is obviously more robust, the container is larger, and the larger container was actually cheaper. Pickle Crisp is just pearled CaCl2 and this looks exactly the same. Despite Pickle Crisp becoming available, I have continued to shop at the brewer instead. While you’re in there, price check other food grade chemicals, and ask if you can leave your name as someone that wants waste mash.

Operation Independence

LFTN 24 is sold out - Wait List

Main topic of the Show: Should I do it?

I was up at 5 today and sat with my coffee for an hour working on the My3Things sales copy before taking the dogs for a walk, doing a 30 minute set on housekeeping, and evaluating My3Things for the day.

Along the way, I glanced over at my sink and saw last night’s dishes drying  - well really - DRY in the put away rack. I frowned at the dishwasher a few times. It was full of clean dishes.

We often spend time putting off doing things, worrying about doing things, and talking about doing things while not doing them – only to discover that they take less time to do that it was worth worrying over.

It only takes 60 seconds to unload the dishwasher so why not just go for it if the dishes are in there. Even if you are running late those 60 seconds are not the reason. And usually that extra minute will not hurt you any more than running late has already hurt you.

On the flip side, if you do fifteen 1-minute tasks instead if heading out to your appointments, then doing those things is, in fact the problem.

I often say, spending fifteen minutes in the morning deciding what is for dinner and making sure you have what you need to make that happen on time is the difference between a nourishing, home cooked meal and either eating at 9pm or getting takeout. Especially if you are lucky enough to practice homegrown cooking.

So when and how, then do you decide to do something, versus put it off for another time

The Underlying Problem: More to do than hours in the day.

>Ask why

• Said yes to too many things
• The “messy” vs “cleany” problem (https://www.amazon.com/New-Messies-Manual-Procrastinators-Housekeeping/dp/0800757262) 
• It is an overly busy time
• No motivation/illness/etc

>But why

• Haven’t decided what is most important

Ah, now we are getting somewhere. To decide what is important, you must decide what is not important. Or said another way: If everything is important, nothing is.

Goal at home: Home that empowers me AND nourishing, home-cooked food that we grow.

Must haves

• Systems that make it so I can find things and meals happen on time
• Space for hyperfocus mode, my income earning endeavors, fun
• Animals are cared for
• We keep up with our food growing projects
• Proper supplies, few household backlogs like Laundry Mountain
• Not too much visual clutter
• Food on time, most of the time, from here

Not important

• Museum clean
• “Going out”
• Common entertainment like movies, etc
• Pointless hobbies
• Everything the same each day
• Decore (Useful versus pretty)

That being said, a non-healthy environment does not meet my needs.

Question: When should I do it? Comes to mind.

Back to the dishwasher - mine did not get emptied until lunch time - why? Because to have clean clothing, I needed to do laundry. To have healthy food tonight - a tough night for it - I had to have my plan and supplies ready to go. To make my 8am call, I needed to do the most important things first to get the outcomes I wanted and there were only 30 minutes for household stuff after I did my book session and walked the dogs.

Laundry takes time to get done, but little interaction, so I knew I could start it, then be on that call.

Dinner has to happen at 5pm (1 hour early), so I made sure we had everything in place for taco salad night, which includes harvesting swiss chard that gets built into my day.

And Monday is pretty important here in the morning. Monday is when the discussion of who is doing what on which day happens, so we knocked that out.

By the time that was all done, there was not a minute left before my first call, so I took it, then hyperfocused on work until it was time to cook lunch - and only then was there space for the 1 minute dishwasher unload.

People often say women can multitask, but this is not how I work. I rapidly task - I fill the breaks with small things, like unloading the dishwasher, while I wait for other things that are not ready for the next input. Example: While waiting for onions to caramelize, I, in fact, finally unloaded the dishwasher. It takes 4 minutes to caramelize onions, so the dishwasher is the perfect thing to add into that tiny space.

And it is these spaces that make the difference between keeping up, and ending up way behind. Filling the empty spaces in your day makes a huge difference.

I know it sounds like a bit of torture, this filling of spaces but think about what it can give you:

• Less to do at the end of the day
• More forward momentum on important projects
• A healthier outlook because when you fill tiny spaces, you make big ones for rest, rejuvenation

Now I know you expected me to dive into why you should ALWAYS do it as part of today’s show but that is not the point. Quite the opposite.

I was thinking today how these little domestic “tweener” projects are foundational to the functioning of the Holler Homestead. And this goes beyond the homestead.

In your “work mode” you also have important little maintenance things that must be done. We sit around waiting that ten minutes from calendar reminder to appointment, afraid we will miss it, when we could be sending a single email to someone, or paying bills, or sweeping the roasting shack.

But in my house, I manage to fit the 60 seconds it takes to unload the dishwasher during the 4 minutes it takes to caramelize onions

Why? Because I can tell at a glance that the onions need stirring so I know I will be successful at getting both done.

But that call? Ah the call is a different things altogether. If I wander off to do the 5 minute sweeping of the shack while waiting for the specific call time, I may not make that call. And there is a simple fix: A second notification.

Setting the calendar for the 10 minute warning AND a your need to start now alarm makes that space usable again.

It is a simple fix. It works. And it gives you back ten lost minutes to add to your afternoon focus session - a powerful gift.

So in answer to should I do it? I don’t know. It depends on you choosing actual, big picture priorities like I talk about in my book, My3Things. It depends on what you have set up to make yourself get the most important things TO YOU or FOR YOUR PROJECT done.

Asking the question is the first step - building purpose into your answer is the answer.

Here’s to a sink full of clean, drying dishes and a dinner that cooked itself while I ate lunch my friends.

Make it a great week!

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

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