Good Things Not to Do

Lately I've been making an effort to correct some of my "bad behaviors". (I put that phrase in quotation marks because the behaviors aren't necessarily bad; they're just things I need to cut back on.) Starting Weight Watchers has been good for me in a variety of ways. Even though I've been losing weight more slowly than I would like, I am losing, and I've been paying attention to what I learn (or relearn) in the meetings about improving nutrition and reducing stress, among other things. One of the behaviors I'd gotten away from shortly after I joined WW was eating in the evening. I'd had a bad habit of going all day without eating much then gorging at night on whatever I could find. Obviously, that was one of the sources of my weight gain. Planning meals and eating on a more regular basis helped me get away from that; being busy and not planning over the past few weeks led me right back to it this past week. I think I indulged only on about three days, so maybe I'm over it.

Procrastination has always been something I've struggled with, but I've done pretty well this semester. At least, I was until last week. I was off work today, and had intended to get papers graded. I didn't. My plan was good: go back and forth between grading and cleaning, indoors and out. (The weather has finally cooled down.) Early this morning, I got a good start. I put on some Sinatra and swept my porch, organized my papers, and vacuumed my floors. Then a horrible headache struck, so I lay down for a while, which turned into lying down most of the day. I could have been working on my grading earlier than today, even if I did just a few papers at a time. I'm still a procrastinator, although overall I've gotten better at keeping up.

Regarding those two habits, my correction has been mixed. I'm doing better, but I could still use some work in those areas. One of my greatest triumphs over the past year, and especially in the past six months, has been reducing spending. This time of year it becomes even more difficult as all the emails pour in announcing that I need this or that -- and buying it on sale only makes sense. TV commercials and print ads reiterate the idea that not only do I need it, but I need it now. Those ads are easier to avoid, but I have to check my email at least several times a day. I read what's important and immediately delete what isn't -- and that includes advertisements and "big sales" -- and, after I've done all my deleting, I purge the trash bin just to make sure I won't change my mind and decide to order something. At least once per day, my finger hovers over the delete button as I'm getting rid of one ad or another. It's easy to convince myself I need something, but it's more important to realize I don't. It isn't just a financial matter; it's also a space and an enough-is-enough matter. I have enough.