Get Up, Put on Clothes

So, in the first chapter of my "sharing your place" book, the author reminds us that a new habit can be established in 21 days. She also says that you should not try to change more that three habits at once, because you'll get overloaded.

Before January, I decided on my first new habit of the year--which on the surface has very little to do with space-sharing, but that I think will be good, and may have some positive fall-out in unexpected places in terms of co-habitation. And, I'm also hopeful it will be good for my writing.

My new habit is picking out my clothes the night before. For various reasons, I'm not crazy about too many of my clothes on my body right now, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to decide which ones to put on. When I wake up in the morning, I procrastinate about getting out of bed, because this very first task is a little bit stressful. Because I stall until the last minute, all the little things that happen after I put on my clothes but before I leave the house, happen in a flurry, badly, or not at all. I don't have breakfast or take lunch, and then I end up spending money and time on my lunch hour and I eat whatever food falls in my path, like cookies and donuts.

On the weekends, I also procrastinate--and it's not all bad, because I like to be like Edith Wharton and write in bed in my pajamas--but when the time comes to move out into the world, it is a hard transition. If I get a call from a friend or work person, I often still need to shower and of course, pick out my clothes.

So putting on my clothes first thing will send a message to my psyche: "You're ready to face the world." And picking my clothes out the night before makes me think about the next day, so I end up packing my lunch or finding stamps for a letter I want to mail.

This morning I arrive on campus at 8:20. Today this meant little, as my job officially starts at 8:30, but when I got part-time, it will be an hour and a half to write, right at the top of the day--and that's a good thing!

Anyway, today was Day 3--and so far so good. We'll see how it looks on January 21st.