As I share the things I do each day, I’m often asked how I get it all done. This has been a question that’s been asked and answered many times over the years, but it’s always worth talking about. I think it’s natural to look at the work produced by someone and wonder about their process, routines, habits, approach, and mindset. We’re always looking for that secret sauce recipe that seems to work well for someone else and just might work well for us.
While I don’t have any secret sauce recipes to share today, I hope I can offer some encouragement by giving you a glimpse at how I approach my work.
If you’ve followed me for a few years, you know I’m someone who thrives on productivity. I just enjoy working, having something to show for my time, and creating. I’ve been that way since I was pretty young, so I don’t know how to break that down into a formula that someone else can implement. It’s just sort of the way I am. Being driven by productivity sounds great, but there are downsides. I’m not great at just sitting and being. Just being quiet, being wholly present, and being still. I have a hard time relaxing (and sleeping) when there are things I want to get done or things I’m excited about. I have trouble doing something just for the sake of doing it without any real point or an end product that I can enjoy, share, or sell. I can also push myself too hard to a place of burnout. And I can ask for that kind of productivity-driven mindset from people around me when they aren’t built that way.
The upside is that I get a lot done. I typically have a lot to show for my time. I find joy in most work and I can approach my work seriously, even when the scope of the work and deadlines are completely self-imposed. And, as you have seen, I will throw myself headfirst into projects or learning new skills and that keeps me growing.
All of that being said, there are three specific things I can share with you that may be the ingredients you need to get a few things that have been on your list for a while done.
Annoying Project Day
As much as I like being productive, I avoid annoying, tedious, not-fun projects with the best of them. But, what I have learned, is that we inflate those projects in our minds and easily talk ourselves out of doing them, even if they will only take an hour or so in reality. A few years ago, I started instituting an official “Annoying Project Day.” I would make a list of the annoying little projects that had been bugging me and commit to taking a day to do them. There is something about labeling the day that made working on the projects more tolerable. At the end of a day, I had sashes and spindles painted, trim was finished, a chair was stripped, and the interior of a cabinet painted in three coats. These things that felt so heavy on my plate, were not a big deal at all and now they were behind me.
If you have a lot of little things to do like that – organizing, little home projects, finish work, even prepping for a larger project, put an Annoying Project Day of your own on the calendar and do it. Put on some good music, treat yourself to getting dinner out, and get ready to cross a bunch of stuff off your to-do list.
(Just a note, make sure these projects are smaller projects. Don’t tackle a massive project on Annoying Project Day or that will be discouraging!
Eat the Elephant
My current elephant is wallpaper. Oh, all the wallpaper in this house! What was I thinking?! Well, the deal is done, this is our house, and we have an overwhelming amount of wallpaper to strip. Because we were having new hardwood floors installed in our bedroom, my mom and I pushed to get all of the wallpaper (that was easy) and glue (that was not easy) off of the walls so they could be primed and painted before the new floors went in. I’m glad we worked hard and made that happen, but it made me avoid any more wallpaper stripping for a few months!
It’s not time to start tackling it again. I’d really like to get some of these walls primed and painted and, sadly, the wallpaper has to come off first. It’s too big for an annoying project day, but it’s the kind of project that can be achieved in bite-sized chunks. So, I’ve been averaging a “steamer full” a day. I fill up the tank, which equals about 40 minutes of steam time. When the steam runs out, I stop for the day. It’s worked out to about an hour a day working on removing wallpaper glue. It is slow and tedious, but I am making progress and I know we have a measurable amount of wall, so it’ll eventually be done.
I’ve been working on this wall for the past several days and I’m getting sick of this wall, but it’s coming along!
If you feel overwhelmed by projects on your list, try taking them one hour at a time, one row, one side, one steamer tank, and it’ll eventually be done.
Commit to a Challenge
If you want to do something or be something or grow in an area or get better at something, commit to some sort of challenge. It doesn’t have to be anything official or a challenge that someone creates and shares online, but it has to be something you will commit to and take seriously. I wanted to be an oil painter, so I committed to painting 100 landscape paintings. You can read more about that HERE.) I was so encouraged by my growth and what I had learned that I committed to painting 100 still lifes from life. I have done various other challenges over the years, but they have all been a part of the process of growing as an artist.
If you want to be a writer, write every day. If you want to play guitar, play every day. Whatever it is, do it every day for 100 days straight and I guarantee you will be impressed with yourself. Growth is unavoidable!
So, whatever that thing is, make a reasonable commitment, stick to it, and see what happens.
After painting in spurts and starts, I have finally committed to painting every day and I have been doing it since Christmas. It has felt so good to gain some momentum and to start feeling a bit more confident at the easel again. I’ve also been having a grand time in my sketchbook and can see my drafting skills improving. I’ve been painting so much that I’m running out of prepped panels and space on the drying shelves. I’m playing more, experimenting more, and producing at a reliable rate for my commercial licensing clients, and to be able to have regular original art sales again. Even though I know regular practice is a proven habit, I’m still impressed with how much I’ve gained from it, even in just a few weeks.
So, no secret sauce. Nothing flashy or novel. It’s just about stealing away pockets of time and using them to your benefit. It’s about committing to doing the things you want to do, so you can be who you want to be. The great thing about these tips is that anyone can do them. They are free and they are endlessly at your disposal whenever you’re ready.
They will wait patiently for you, too…
I get that you need to monetize but so many ads!!
Great article! Project day is a great tip!
I use an ad block and I don’t see one ad on this site or any other. Maybe you can install one of those.
Thank you for sharing how you have managed to create more than 24 hours in a day!!!
I have been following you for years and It is
trulyamazing what you accomplish.
I think your idea of doing one steamer tank a day with the wallpaper is a great idea. Breaking things down into smaller sections is always a good idea when it feels tedious.
Great tips! My project recently has been to organize the photos on my external hard drive. I had a computer crash on me about 9 years ago and while I was thankful to be able to rescue all the files, they all got dumped onto this drive, with no organization whatsoever (and I somehow ended up with duplicate files/folders too!)
It’s been hanging over me for 9 years, but this is finally the year. I’ve been trying to do the same; 1 hour at a time, sort through and organize one folder, and then shut it off. Otherwise it gets so overwhelming! My goal is to be able to finally print some photo books, once the photos are all organized. It’s nice to have a goal to work towards as well.
I love your idea about “annoying project day” too!
Good tips. Thanks for sharing.
I’m going to try this with cleaning my house ( I get overwhelmed by it all ) and clearing out excess crafting supplies. I find the less supplies I have the more creative I am.
Great tips, thank you! The peace of mind when you get those annoying projects off your mental list is worth a lot!! I’ve learned too, that with little ones, it’s better to plan to paint a wall a day instead of doing the whole room. Now, today I’m working on an annoying project that’s been hanging over my head, so it makes me feel better to hear you have some of those too! Best wishes on the wall paper removal!!
Hello, I sympathize with you on the project of removing wallpaper. We bought a 1928 Tudor Revival home that was wallpapered from top to bottom. Once we removed the wallpaper there was a glue residue on the plaster walls that nothing seems to budge. Steam, every cleaning product imaginable, scrubbers, steel wool, nothing seemed to work. Just when I was about to give up a young girl told me to buy fabric softener dilute with the warmest of water, spray on the walls, let it sit and then take a putty knife and start scraping. I had the walls done in a few hours, whereas before I had spent days trying to remove the glue. I then washed the walls with TSP, primed and painted. Hope this helps.
I second the liquid fabric softener suggestion. I have used it also with great success. The secret is to spray it on warm and let it sit until the glue starts to turn to jelly, and then scrape it off. And it smells great too! 🙂
Thank you for sharing what works for you. I’m going to adopt the 100 day challenge with rewards every 25 days as I have a problem with being consistent. Also I have ad blocker on my phone & don’t see any ads when reading blogs.
Amazing, I wonder how that person knew to use fabric softener, a thing I never use in the laundry. A gigantic room in France is waiting to be stripped of the wallpaper from the 60’s I guess. I considered to paint over it. The problem I have is that the very old plaster attaches onto the paper in some parts when pulled.
No idea what I will do when back there. The height of the walls: 12feet and 25 to 30feet in length, wish me luck.
I’ve been benefiting from annoying project day idea for a long time, and it is so helpful!
My attic is my nemesis. It needs to be cleaned out and organized with “to donate,” “to store and keep,” and “to toss” piles. It’s a big attic and it’s been storing crap since 2008. We want to rent a driveway dumpster to toss stuff in but it’s expensive to rent one and I’m afraid that I won’t have enough to toss to justify the rental. I’ve been putting it off for at least 4 years now. To complicate matters I don’t know the correct way to store things I’m keeping (keepsakes, old letters my dad wrote home during the war, etc.). It’s not stuff I want to display but it’s more things I just want to keep because they are sentimental. I use every excuse in the book as I am doing now in typing this to you to keep from starting it. ha ha Do you think you could travel to Tennessee and do it for me? Just kidding.
I would at the very least take phone pictures or scan your dad’s letters with a phone app scanner or scanner & printer combo. Light and time can erode documents & letters . Do the attic 1 box at a time that way you don’t have the pressure to be done by X date when the dumpster gets picked up- because we know life happens & sometimes our projects get derailed.
You should definitely scan in pictures and letters to have at least a backup and to share with other family members. It is daunting, but you can do it in bites. I have been slowing purging things over the past couple of years and it feels good to let it go. This year is the basement. At least it’s not too bad, but it does involve a little more thought and care. Check out the blog by A Bowl Full of Lemons. She offers great tips on organization and cleaning. I would say she is a minimalist, but you can glean a lot from her. One statement she made was “Things do not control our memories”. That resonated with me. Good luck.
How do you remove all that wallpaper glue? I am beginning to hate wallpaper, and have promised myself, no more in my house!
Removing the glue is very important! I have stripped every room in our house but didn’t get all the glue off of one bathroom. Due to excess moisture there, the glue has been popping through the paint. It looks awful! Now I use a wide putty knife to scrape the glue after scrubbing with soap and hot water. Do it in small sections at a time. I keep plastic grocery bags handy to wipe the glue off of the putty knife. When done, go back and wash wall again. Tedious but necessary!
Great post. And it sounds like you I are very similar! I have a few tried and true techniques that I use to get stuff done and feel productive (which makes me happy) and those you listed are some of them!
I often find a challenge in trying to not expect the same from my family and coworkers. I know they don’t all operate in that way, and sometimes I have to work hard not to say or do something that might make them feel inadequate or less in any way.
Dear Miss Mustard, I’m not a “wallpaper Person” and have stripped more than my share from a series of antique houses. I see all the work you are doing to get to plain painted walls which are beautiful, elegant and classic. I shook my head when I saw the last Southern Living magazine doing over a complex of older houses with strident wallpaper everywhere. Wallpaper grows old, dated and stale so quickly! Paint “ages” better and if you want to change the color it’s the work of a day or two for an entire room. I’m loving your newly stripped and painted walls. I also like your “one tank of water in the steamer a day” technique. Thank you for all your inspiration.
I love this idea. So much, in fact, that I stopped reading and wrapped 2 packages that needed to be done by lunch time tomorrow. I am a terrible procrastinator and the idea odfdoing things in smaller time frames seems to me a great thing. Thanks for these ideas. I will be implementing them starting now.
These are three truly life changing tips! Thank you! I especially have a hard time with “Eat the Elephant” at times. I usually save that “thing” for the day I have 4 or 5 hours to do it, and when that day doesn’t come around, then it doesn’t get done or even started! I have so much on my plate this year….some I chose and some that is outside my control. So, the first thing I am going to do is write these three tips in my planner and commit to putting them into practice on a regular basis! Perhaps we should have a recap to see how we all do at the end of the year! 🙂 Thanks, Marion. Happy Creating!
I’ve implemented the “eat the elephant one bite at a time” in the last few months. I find it pretty fascinating what I can get done in 15 minute chunks of time and, often, seeing some immediate results from that 15 minutes, I’m encouraged to keep going at it a while longer.
I’ve always been a horrible procrastinator but doing things in small chunks of time has changed my mindset a good bit. I’ve also implemented the mindset of…present me may not want to do it but future me will be ecstatic that I sucked it up and did the thing so she doesn’t have to and can do something else that’s more fun or rewarding…and it works the vast majority of the time. It works especially well with housework in my case. I stunned myself the day I decided to see how much I could get done in the three minutes the stuff in the microwave was heating up. I can wash a sink full of dishes in 3 minutes and wipe down the counters!
Many years ago when we purchased our 1st home, a cape cod, there was paper wallpaper all over the place. I found a product called “Diff”. At that time it did not work well. I moved almost 2 years ago and I saw some wallpaper. It was only 1 room, bought the ” Diff” spray bottle. What a difference, I scored the wall paper and sprayed the Diff, the wallpaper didn’t took only a short time. It was my 1st project here and it was so easy. I am sure of a few things 1, I am sure the Diff has been improved 2. I scored the wallpaper. 3. This wallpaper can’t be more 20 years old whilst the one in our Cape was at least 50.
Thank you for this Marion! I have had a real problem with being motivated to do projects for the last year at least. Or I start projects & never complete them. I took encouragement from this blog post.
Haha.. Marian, your “to do,” or should I say your “want to do” list overwhelms me!!! I told my husband just yesterday that I am going to Google “Motivation for Dummies”.. he laughed and said why.. Oh my gosh~ why? What a sweet man! I have many things I want to do daily and I just don’t get started. I feel as though I waste so much time just thinking about them… walking, writing, my basement, even after a move from Minnesota five + years ago, haunts me, …and painting, I started watercolor during Covid and my pretty paints are waiting right out on a table. It seems as if I am waiting for something to come to me. I will now make a list. I will now follow that list..gently 🙂
I have often wondered how with two boys, a husband, a dog, cats, your home and work, etc, you do all you do. It seems humanly impossible, and then you so graciously write about it all. It has made me wonder about how little I do~ and how much more I did at your age. Thank you for sharing. Let’s see how this goes for me. 🙂
Take good care!
I love the windows!
I’ve often wondered how you accomplished all you do. Thanks for sharing the tips that work for you. Much food for thought and how I can apply to what I want to accomplish to be who I want to be! Thank you!!
Like you, I want to paint more, but I sit down at my computer to blog and the entire day is gone before I know it because there is still so much tech I am learning. I am trying NOT to get sidetracked!!!! Things pop up and I think I need to know about that right now. I probably just need to do what you are saying for 100 days and blog and paint…and just stick to those two things. Hoping the blog will grow.
Marian, I have to admit I agree with Caryn D. about the number of ads in your post. I truly think the amount causes interference in the technical quality of your article. I, too, understand your need to monetize but perhaps not as much. I subscribe to an excellent blog called “Home is Where the Boat Is” and her monetization is achieved through listing Amazon items at the end of her post.
I truly enjoy subscribing to your blog and love your style…
I love the tips! My energy goes in spurts and I have been known to put off the tedious jobs because they overwhelm me . I love the idea of not trying to accomplish those large projects in one day, and doing a little each day until you reach your goal. Thank you for inspiring me!
I am a compulsive list maker and if I put it on the list, it gets done…eventually. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become more forgiving. No one will suffer or die if I don’t complete my list every single day. And yes…eat the elephant is definitely a strategy that works for me. The other thing I’ve been trying recently is shortening the time commitment. If I commit to half an hour a day of doing an activity (yoga, practicing my foreign language skills, cleaning) rather than an hour, it somehow feels way less daunting. And I often end up doing more than a half hour anyway. And yes…your windows look GREAT! Enjoy the process, right?
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by what needs to be done! Something you said a few years ago made quite an impression on me, however. You wrote about setting just three goals for each day. I’ve found that organizing what I want to prioritize each day helps me get to it! Also, breaking those big projects into workable chunks helps it not be so overwhelming.
Fantastic idea “annoying project day”. If I put it on my calendar I won’t be inclined to decide I’m not in the mood for if when it arrives. I’m the kind of person who is so ‘squirrel’ , easily distracted by anything and everything. I’m sharing this tip with my friends too. Thanks for your inspiration in so many ways Marian!
I am re-reading this blog a couple of times, it’s that good. Your wisdom amazes me. I’ve followed you for years and I’m sure you have said all this before but it totally bears repeating THANK YOU. (BTW ads are everywhere, whatever!)
Your drive certainly comes through your blogging! I’m amazed at how diligently you post, keeping things interesting for us readers. Your blog is the only one that I follow daily.
I absolutely love your art, Marian. I am not an artist, but you have inspired me to appreciate art on another level.
Your kitchen plan drawings have been something that I truly envy! I love how you take ideas and visualize them through art. It’s a gift from God.
Thanks for inspiring us!
Thanks for the motivation bc I’m looking at you basement with about 3000 bins of collected stuff over 35 plus years!! That definitely fits into the “Annoying Project Day!” But I like the elephant idea too!! That could also apply. Thanks for the tips!!
I am a compulsive list maker and take great satisfaction in crossing to-do-projects off the list. A few years ago I discovered Bullet Journals. Much like a daily planner, the idea is to plot your tasks in the journal on the day you think it should be done with a bullet at the beginning of the task. Then “X” out the bullet at the beginning of that line when it is accomplished. I find it really works as the tasks are spread out over however many days you choose and no one day is overwhelming. You can make the bullet into an arrow if you want to postpone the task a day or two. If you Google Bullet Journal you will find lots of people decorate their journals with drawings or stickers. To me that defeats the purpose if you have time to sit and doodle in your journal. I am a professional artist and to me, the two, bullet journals and art, should be kept separate. I use the bullet journal to keep me on task to have time for my art.
Great tips and great job on that wall! That light fixture coming out of the side wall is very unique!
You make a best suggestions to accomplish tasks in and outside the home! They make life easier and I appreciate each idea. Do you have a suggestion for keeping blinds from getting dusty?
I use a professional wallpaper stripper for big jobs. He is AMAZING! Not sure what is in the tank of his large back pack sprayer other than hot water but he can do a couple of rooms in a few hours. The last time I used him, it was $250 for two large rooms. Those of us in the local home decor profession call him the wallpaper guru…he must have a secret in the tank!
If you want to be a writer, write every day. If you want to play guitar, play every day. Whatever it is, do it every day for 100 days straight and I guarantee you will be impressed with yourself. Growth is unavoidable!
` well stated, Marian. I need to get to work. I myself enjoy reading so passionately that I can literally be a sofa sloth for days. I worked so so hard my entire life that now in my later years I can relax like no one’s business. However, that basement will not organize itself. I think in the morning I will work on it one hour to favorite music and just get that first step going. It is the getting started phase 1 that has stalled me for longer than I’d ever admit. I just order a whole bunch of new storage baskets for the food area of the basement = that’s a start. You are such an inspiration to me. Thank you, again.
I love your “sofa sloth” phrase!
Great tips! Thank you!!
I have found that “bite sized”, measurable chunks of a project, time make it easier for me to accomplish things. I find I need to accomplish Something almost every day to feel good. You have great ideas.
Great tips. I’m happy that I don’t have wall paper removal on my lists; still have memories from the past.
I loved following along on your 200 days of landscapes and still lifes, and it got me started with oil paints too. You have me making a new commitment today ….. to create something every day, big or small.
I think as spring approaches, at least for me, I can get a lot done. Like yesterday, I “had” BIG plans to clean out a back bedroom. I thought, since it was so windy and cold outside, I would have a cup of hot tea first. Since I can’t sit still and just drink tea…I will pick up my crochet afghan and work it for a bit. Mind you, this was at 11:30 AM…..next thing I knew they were announcing the news!!!! It was 4:30 PM!!! Wellllll, too dark in that back bedroom to do anything now. I did get a LOT of rows on the afghan done!!! Time management is not my talent.
As reading this, I was thinking for you…. I know a lot of us like to do projects ourselves if we know how to and can save paying out for them. BUT…wouldn’t it be better for you to just pay a professional service to come in and take all that glue down. It could be 1-2 days and be done. You could be painting while they are doing that. Your painting sales always sell out and I think you would come out way ahead with spending part of it. AND…isn’t painting a LOT more fun than removing the glue!!! Yes, I get it that the selling money would probably help with other projects but can you put a price on frustration projects….that are just better to be done with….just my thoughts. Oh!!…Yes, I have done the wallpaper glue removal thing….NOT FUN!!!
Where do you get those small display shelves that you use for your paintings.
I really appreciate these tips. I’m very active too and I do get a lot of things accomplished, but sometimes some of the skills that elude me, I wish I could do, could be a goal. Your methods are great.
Karen B.
Last January I took all the stairway wallpaper down. The wall paper was easy, the glue residue was awful. I washed and washed and washed those walls. My husband started to cut in the paint and found that I didn’t reach the very top near the ceiling so the paint did not stick along the edges. The painting is still not done a year later because he has a herniated disc and I am too short to reach to the ceiling. I don’t think I will ever choose wallpaper again…
Annoying project day – brilliant! I really need to schedule one of those! Great ideas…I’m feeling motivated!
Shelley
The tips you just mentioned are really helpful. I want to know how you manage the stress of your day-to-day activities.