OHIO

I have recently dedicated myself to learning the names of all 50 states, so I can potentially contribute to Ye Olde Orchard trivia. But that is not actually why I titled this post after what is apparently the hardest state for me to remember (that, and Wisconsin...don't know why...). OHIO is actually an acronym. No, not the state, but in world of time management: Only Handle It Once. My brilliant friend Kirsten was telling me about this organizational philosophy which seems both straight forward and obvious, and yet is somehow very difficult to abide to.
Take my morning thus far, for instance. I woke up at 6:15, polished off a container of greek yogourt (with my new obsession, chia seeds) and went out the door to yoga. What I did not do, which a true OHIO adherent would, was a) make my bed or b) wash out my yogourt container, thus only handling either of those tasks once. Instead, my bed is still unmade, and the yogourt container was rinsed out so I could put watermelon in it to take to the library today.
This may not seem like it makes a whole lot of difference, but anyone who has been too lazy to do the dishes after dinner or walks into their house and throws their coat across the back of the chair is probably familiar with how quickly those little things build up into huge eyesores and time consuming chores.
I had been obsessed with OHIO when I got back to Montreal. I would walk into my apartment repeating the mantra "only handle it once. only handle it once..." until I started to feel just a bit crazy. But it is very seriously a helpful tool, and though, like with many other things, I fell out of using it, I kind of hope that writing this will be a helpful reboot.

I sort of made the decision this morning "Ok. Starting fresh today." My long weekend included some shameful food choices (4 am poutine???), no activity, and really minimal productivity, and I have just been feeling really sheepish this week. Even yesterday, I slept through my alarm for yoga, and just never went. Didn't go for a run instead, didn't go later in the day. Just shrugged it off. It is that frightening reminder that I was not always an active person, and I could really slip back to 5-hour CSI Marathons and pints of Ben&Jerry's very easily. And I don't want to.
So, until Monday, here's what I hope to accomplish: daily yoga, at least 2 runs, no more protein-bars-as-meals, salad for at least 3 dinners, and finishing my fifth thesis chapter!