Pregnancy Update + A Week of Unfinished Projects
This last week the nesting bug hit hard, and in my case, that means a strong urge to Kon Marie our possessions (we need to make room in our already cozy apartment) and organizing everything.
I’m trying to take advantage of this bit of momentum and that fact that I’m finally able to be on my feet a little more, I’m still on activity restriction, but all my recent results have been excellent, well outside the danger zone, so I’m doing what I can, while I can. With my first pregnancy, I went straight from working 60 hour weeks for a startup to strict bedrest until delivery when I had a preterm labor scare at 29 weeks. It was a huge shock and meant that I couldn’t do much in the way of preparing for our new arrival. Instead, I was in and out of the hospital, and all of our energy was focused on keeping the baby in, instead of worrying about what we would do when she came out. We figured things out on the fly, literally ordering items next day delivery off Amazon from the hospital when she made her arrival and sending friends to pick up our online orders from Target for essentials like diapers and wipes. While we made it work very much by the seat of our pants, I’m looking forward to avoiding some of that stress this time around by being as prepared as humanly possible.
One of the ways I’m starting out is by taking inventory and trying to tackle some unfinished projects around the house. I love a good DIY as I’m sure you’ve seen on the blog, but one thing you haven’t seen is the number of “works in progress” I have going at all times in many stages of completion. From the macrame extension cord (to match the light in our living room) that I ran out of rope for months ago, to my daughter's dollhouse that has been sitting half assembled since Christmas, I took a week to try to finish up as many half-completed projects as possible before starting anything new. Here’s how it went...
1. Do I have to? I’ve found that while momentum is a powerful driver, inertia is equally strong. It’s tough to motivate yourself to pick something up when you’ve put it off for so long, and your initial excitement for the project has fizzled. But...
2. The sense of accomplishment was addicting. Finishing something that’s already halfway done is like cheating when it comes to the satisfaction you get when the task is complete. I live for that feeling so this was by and far my favorite part of the week.
3. It lightened my mental load. I never really realized how much mental energy gets sucked up into noticing things that need to be done and attempting to commit them to memory/talk yourself into taking it on. Once you finish, it’s not only great to be able to check it off your physical to-do list, but it’s a relief to take it off your mental one as well.
4. It creates space for you to move forward. This is true both mentally and physically. Once you’ve pushed through completing a project, it allows you to reclaim some real estate (hello, desk!) and frees up your mental energy to work on the next thing, guilt-free.
If you decide to try your own week of unfinished projects, I would love to hear your experience in the comments below!
