I often find myself cringing at the criticism of the nagging voice in my head that asks me, "And what did you accomplish today?"

Usually, I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. I get things partially done. I move two-steps-forward-one-step-back on projects. I switch from task to task and multitask in hopes of keeping on top of everything. It's exhausting, but it doesn't feel significant.

So today I decided to make a list of the things I've accomplished before lunch.

• Woke up (that's always a good thing)
• Weighed myself...172.0 (I was 171.6 yesterday morning, darn salty Mexican food)
• Did the morning rounds of turning off alarms, opening doors and windows, checking on kids, etc.
  
• Trash day (hauled bins and such to the curb)
  
• Ate breakfast and drank coffee (had another night of insomnia and needed the boost)
• While eating breakfast, flipping channels, and waiting for the coffee to kick in, I found myself sucked in by Forces of Nature (a movie I hadn't seen before and really liked)
• Helped kids with a variety of "Mommy can you help me..." tasks (it's all a blur)
• Split my huge Outlook file into more managable, smaller files that are faster to backup
  
• Repaired a network problem on my home network that needed to get fixed
• Discovered an Internet problem that would make it impossible for me to work on my site, and called my husband to find out if he could connect to my site using another ISP to determine if the problem was my computer, my network, my ISP, or my site server... fun
  
• Repaired that darn Internet connection problem
  
• Repaired a synchronization problem between my phone and laptop
  
• Calibrated all of the computer monitors (nothing like looking at neon on one screen and nearly grayscale on another; it makes it hard to do design and image work, both of which were on my to-do list)
• Discovered that my kids were destroying the house like little tornadoes while my back was turned and calmed myself down enough to handle the issue in a civilized manner
• Convinced my kids that cleaning up after yourself is important because if you can take care of yourself, you'll be a happier, more confident person, you'll be a better pet owner (we're trying to get a dog) and a better parent, you can enjoy your space more, you can have more friends over, you won't get hurt by tripping over things, and people will notice your awesome creations instead of your overwhelming messes (after which they actually decided to clean the house themselves... yay!)
• Answered a phone call from my husband to hear about his day at work (just another mundane morning of working with multimillion dollar machines and laser beams)
  
• Checked my email (no emergencies, urgent matters, or bad news... good day)
  
• Downloaded a new alarm program for my phone so my husband doesn't have to listen to the obnoxious alarm, which he hates (instead of waking up to BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEP, I'll now wake up to "Don't Worry, Be Happy," a much more cheerful way to start the day I think)
• Made a smoothie for lunch (strawberries, blueberries, soy yogurt, and vanilla soy milk)
  
• Drank my smoothie while watching my neighbor wash his car (he loves washing his car) and watching my kids clean the dining room and kitchen and fold a load of laundry (that 30 minute lecture was so worth it!)
• Looked over my task list (I so have to get my recordings for the Personal Defense Podcast done and sent off... Sorry Alex)
  
• Realized that I haven't done my morning core strength training workout yet today, haven't changed out of my pajamas, and haven't done any of the other things I had planned on doing before noon; NOTHING has been checked off of my checklist (grumble grumble)
  
• Wrote all of this down (in this post) to make myself feel better (while repeatedly being interrupted by kids who suddenly want to know the answers to all the questions in the universe, and each answer takes 5 to 10 minutes to explain)
  

Now I just need to figure out how to get my kids to stop running around the house and farting and burping at each other (it's like tag, but way grosser).

Labels: I Actually Accomplished Something, My Life