Kaizen

I read an interesting book this weekend. I was reminded of it when I was flipping through stations last weekend and saw What About Bob on television. Didn't really watch the movie but the scene where he's Baby Stepping out of the therapist's office was playing. He had been instructed to break everything down into small, manageable steps, and that reminded me of a sales letter I had received that mentioned this book - One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way.

As is my usual policy (that policy being "at least TRY not to buy something if you can get it for free somehow), I went to our little library's website to see if it was there and it was, so I rode on over and picked it up.

This is one of those books that really doesn't need to be written, but ... it does. It's common sense stuff, we hear it all the time. Hell, pick up any women's magazine sometime around March (spring cleaning) or November (Thanksgiving dinner) and you'll basically read the same thing - don't let huge projects paralyze you, break it down.

The only difference between Good Housekeeping and Kaizen Way is that in the book, it's explained how breaking it down works for us. In short, it bypasses the fear responses we have learned over the course of our evolution - or in the last 10,000 years, whichever is your personal belief, I really don't give a damn - because instead of "showing" our brain a huge, intimidating task, we're showing it little things that are simple. Easy. That's right, Mr. Fear Response, you just keep on resting quietly, don't mind us, nothing to see here.

So ... even though it's only been a few days, I've been testing this out. I've been pleasantly surprised. For example - my closet desperately needs attention, but because of wacky work schedules, I can't get in there on the weekends during the day. It's been really bugging me, but even during the times when maybe I could have done it (evenings), I have avoided that whole area of the house. Monday morning, I decided to take two pieces of clothing out of the closet that I knew I would never wear again, and put them in another room where they can be stored until it's time to go to Goodwill. I started out taking only two pieces, but it ended up being more like ten. Yay! But yesterday when I went to look for more, it wasn't so easy to pick out the dogs - so only two. This morning - two. Yes, that's only fourteen items ... but by the end of the month, it will be quite a pile, and it'll be more than if I'd decided to do it all at once at some vague point in the future.

I have another room that needs to be decluttered, and for this Baby Steps project, I enlisted the boys. Every day before school they have taken one thing out of that room and put it where it can be neatly stored. They do the same after school. It takes them about two minutes altogether but the room is clearing out noticeably.

And then there's exercise. I'd like to go walking at work but it's way too hot. WAY too hot. And besides, there isn't a lot of time. What I CAN do, though, is take a long route to and from the restroom and with as much water as I drink every day, that's adding quite a few steps.

So - we'll see how this works. I could see adding little things every day ... and I could see how with the "right" personality, this method could lead to some pretty OCD traits. Not being one to obsess over much of anything, I'm not too worried about it.