Motivation- The process of taking action to achieve a goal
Procrastination- the action of delaying or postponing something.
If procrastination was a person it would be me. To what extent do you ask? Well I have had a gym membership for a year I purchased the upgraded package where I can go to the gym and swim I have used my swim pass a few times but I have been meaning to go to the gym for the last year. Ive been a member of this gym for a whole year and never used my gym pass! I have always meant to go to the gym but just havent quite got round to it yet. The definition of procrastination.
This week I wanted to begin to make those small steps to pull me out of the procrastination stage. Its not something that I am going to be able to conquer overnight but small steps would be a start.
I figured if I could do small tasks at a time but regularly, it would bring me closer to my goals instead of continuously sitting around and thinking about it but getting no closer. If these were tasks that inspired me then these small steps would not feel like laborious to do list.
For ages I have wanted to get back into the hobby of sewing, I had this idea to to make more of my own clothes. I have the ability to do this but just could never find the time.
I needed to do things that inspired me to spark my motivation whilst also coming up with solutions to the things that caused me a impediment. I love to pattern cut and I love to sew but, I hate cutting out fabrics its mundane, time consuming, and my fingers always get sore from using the scissors for long periods of time. I started to research alternatives to 'standard fabric scissors in dressmaking' and ended up purchasing some cordless electric scissors with some practice these became a godsend, heres a link to the exact ones I purchased: https://amzn.eu/d/9EuGVgv they were cheap but do the job -small steps.
To keep up the motivational trend I needed to physically go into fabric shops to grasp inspiration. My theory was that if I went to the fabric shops I would become encouraged to buy some fabrics I loved and then having these at home would make me take action to start sewing again.
When I first started my business I would regularly go into London and head to places such as Goldhawk Road and Berwick Street to do fabric shopping for my next collections. I would always feel so inspired looking at different types of fabrics and coming up with ideas on the spot for new products. But for some reason I stopped doing this, I think the fact that I would have to dedicate a whole day to do this just made it difficult for me to make time so instead I just bought fabrics online as it was more convenient.
My favourite shops along Goldhawk Road have always been Toni's Textiles and A-Z Fabrics I started with these first and ended the trip heading home with 3 different types of fabrics.
Having those fabrics at home did inspire me, I bought some beautiful silver holographic leatherette and I really did just want to turn it into something great. Throughout my collection I have created some signature bomber jackets, the idea is to make one of my own that no one else has and that I will never sell.
It can be difficult at the weekend after a week at work to encourage yourself to become focused and to complete additional tasks. To overcome this I use music, I listen to the most upbeat songs with a good base and rhythm to put me in a positive mindset. I turned my music on got my pattern master out and drafted up some new pattern pieces after a few hours I had cut out and sewn up 3 jacket shells.
I tend to procrastinate in all areas of my life this also includes parenting, being a parent seriously is a skill. I have been trying to get my little man into a sleep routine since he was about 6 months old and its a minefield. Some nights we have really good progress and others we don't. This weekend particularly has been a tough one.
I have been disappointed in myself that I can't seem to get his routine right. To be fair it is difficult as we are not always at home. Working 5 days a week means my little man sometimes spends his days with different family members. Yes I am super lucky to have the support of my family otherwise I can guarantee you I would not be working. But this means he can spend up to 2-3 nights at my mums and I will usually also spend that time there as it just makes it easier for me to commute to work in the mornings rather than getting up at 5am to do childcare drop offs. I say childcare I also have a 2 year old staffie who I also take for morning drop offs, and yes I do sometimes get mum and dog guilt but we will go into that on another blog.
Anyway this weekends sleep routine has been tough sometimes it will take me 20 minutes to settle my little boy, sometimes it can take up to 3 hours after about a hour I tend to feel myself becoming irritated that it is taking so long when I have so many other things to do or just want to sleep myself.
I love my little boy to bits but this clingy stage he is going through is hard his 20 months old and regularly co sleeps with us. I am currently writing this at 22:30 on the notes section of my phone with him clinging around my neck as I have given up on the sleep routine this evening after about 2 hours of trying. I am going to try to settle him with me and then put him back into this own bed later.
I keep telling myself that I need to create a repetitive bedtime routine that he can get used to and to enable him to associate with actions that will help him understand that its wind down time, but I never do it, its really hard when you are trying to juggle everything.
So anyway this evening as I was loosing the will to live I took him into the spare room to try and settle him, after about a hour he fell asleep and when I tried to move him into his bed he woke up got up and ran out of the room. I felt myself feeling really angry as all the effort I had just put in went up in smoke within about 5 seconds, instead of chasing after him i tried to practice patience and just stayed in his room until eventually he came running back in.
I tried to lay down on his bed next to him in the hope that he would fall asleep but his bed is tiny and I wanted to give him the space to get comfortable and try to sleep. So I laid on the floor next to his bed and used one of his toys as a pillow. The minute I got off he followed me put his arms around my neck and also laid on the floor next to me. Obviously this wasn't ideal as the point was to encourage him to stay in his bed, but in that moment I realised how much he sees me as his comfort, he would rather lie down on the hard uncomfortable floor than to sleep in his warm bed to have that sense of security and to feel safe with me. Instantly all my anger disappeared and it was filled with love because ultimately our children just want to feel loved when they go to sleep.
What I have learnt from this is that I need to practice patience, attain the motivation of the bedtime room and stop procrastinating.
Quote of the week: Stop trying to be a perfectionist and start getting things done.