At a conference once, I shared a hotel room with a gal from East Texas. I had never met her before, and I decided she had a really strange habit. It made me gag to watch her every morning as she performed her ablutions.

She filled the sink almost full with water each morning. First, she dipped her toothbrush into the basin and brushed her teeth. Then, she washed her face with the water from the sink, even though she had spat into the water while brushing her teeth. Then, she used that water to rinse her legs and shave them. One morning as she brushed her teeth, I watched her dip a cup into that sink full of water and take a sip out of it!

I watched her do that the first morning. You can bet I was standing the with my mouth hanging open and my eyes as big as breakfast sausages. I asked her why in thunder she did that. With a somewhat superior air, she said, “I’ve been taught not to waste water.”

Well, maybe so, Honey, but I would not be surprised to hear that you have died of Typhoid or some other horrendous disease. But, don’t you worry. I bet that in your eulogy someone recounted, “And, she never wasted water.”

I think it might be possible to find other ways to save water! Ick! I don’t even like to touch a hotel room sink, let alone drink out of it. Especially after some of my experiences in hotels.

Do any of y’all remember me telling you about the horrible hotel room I had in the Uncomfortable Inn in Beaumont? If not, you can go read about why I don’t think business travel is exciting. That was one of the nastiest places I’ve ever encountered.

That gal I roomed with might have thought twice about using water from the sink if she had taken a gander at this one.

That’s the sink that the housekeeping department at that motel left for me! Do you wonder why I was appalled? That’s exactly how I found it when I entered the room.

Now, on that trip, I happened to have these two boxes of Magic Erasers.

One is the Mr. Clean brand and the other is the store brand (which is a dollar cheaper per box). I had been planning to see if there was any difference in their performances that would warrant that huge price disparity. They were in the car, because I was too lazy to take them out and put them away.

In fact, I use these magic erasers in my housecleaning because I am lazy. I don’t like to waste a lot of “elbow grease.” Have y’all ever tried them? I love ‘em. I use them on my stove to get the gunk off of it, I use them to clean the sink, I use them on the toilet (and I use a different one for each site, aren’t you proud of me?). They really do remove dirt, grime, and stains without having to use scouring powder that might damage the finish.

I decided to try my test on that hotel room sink. I used one brand, and then tried the other. Though they made a big difference, even magic couldn’t save that sink. It needs some bleach or scouring powder and a whole LOT of disinfectant. Or, maybe just a new sink.

Anyway, I discovered that both brands work equally well, so save your money. If you want to use them, buy the cheaper brand. Then, you can use the money you saved to help buy a latte at Starbucks to fortify yourself for housecleaning.

Please note that this is NOT a pay per post. I have eschewed doing those because I thought it might ruin my credibility with you.

But, come to think of it, I probably don’t HAVE much credibility with you. I ought to be doing pay per post! Give me the right product, and I know I could make more money than I do with Google or the other ads on my sidebar!

Then, I wouldn’t have to enter writing contests just to earn money for Share A Square. Have y’all voted for me yet? Matty did and Janet did. Susan Helene Gottfried did and Bermudabluez did and Jen did. Robindid and Robin did! Rebecca and Annemarie did, and they aren’t even bloggers (they just made a comment). Aaron voted for me in his reflections, and he even entered the contest. How am I going to win that $100 to send out more afghan kits if you don’t?

Just go here and make a comment. Better yet, put the following into a post

Simonne at All Tips And Tricks is having a group writing project asking…’What is Your Best Blogging Achievement?’ You can see the entries here. I vote for Shelly to win.

The least that Simonne deserves for giving away $100 is a little link love. And, if I win, you have helped donate enough money to send 6-10 afghan kits to the kind volunteers who will stitch them into afghans. I hope your day is enjoyable. Use your powers for good.

Technorati Tags: Magic Erasers, housecleaning

Time makes me cuckoo. There is never enough time in my day to get everything done. Once in my life I was considered to be a very organized person. So much so, that I was asked to give seminars on the subject. Y’all get up off the floor and quit giggling!

OK, the truth is that the people who thought I was organized were other storytellers, and we are an “artsy-fartsy” bunch of folks who aren’t always thinking in our right mind brain. But, I was organized, and I lost it somewhere along the way.

If you had been a fly on the wall at my house in the last few months, you would have thought it was a natural disaster area. I have definitely looked like a good candidate for some federal assistance; it’s been the most disorganized mess you could imagine. Time has been my enemy. There just is never enough time to do all the things I “want” to do AND all the things I “should” do. Believe me, I’ve been wasting a lot of time feeling guilty about it.

In my defense, I have been trying to “juggle a lot of different balls.” I’ve had the Share A Square project, my storytelling business, my family, my house, my blog…. But, everybody else on God’s Green Earth is doing the same thing. Whether you are a high-powered executive or a stay at home Mom, whether you are an engineer or a day laborer, you all have a lot of different roles you play in your life. How are we supposed to keep all the balls in the air? How can we get all the things done that must be finished in a day? How do we make the most constructive use of our time?

I’ve been pondering those questions, and trying to remember the organizational tools that worked for me “back in the day.” I realized that there were things that I was no longer doing. They are things that seem obvious, but I had decided I didn’t have time to do them! That was my biggest mistake.

The first thing I had stopped doing was making a list. It seemed like a waste of time. After all, I knew the things that had to be done. The time spent making a list seemed pointless. Wrong. A list is essential if I want to be effective in my use of time. Without a list, I can forget things. If I forget something important I get so upset that I waste more time in being agitated.

My problem was that I always made my list in the morning, when I was “fresh.” However, I found myself tossing and turning all night worrying about what had to be done, so I wasn’t really very well rested in the morning. Now, I make my list at night before I go to bed. Somehow, it seems to help me rest easier knowing that I can plow right into the tasks the next morning.

I have two kinds of lists. One is a master list where I write any task that needs doing (from getting the oil changed in my car to paying a bill to writing a thank you note). As I think of it, I jot it down. I use the master list each night to create my “to do” list of the chores that I can reasonably do in a day. The key word is “reasonably.” I have a tendency to expect too much of myself, so I write a humongous list and then am disappointed and deflated when I don’t get it all done. I have to remember to give myself the opportunity for success. I struggle with it, but I try to prioritize my tasks and list what I know I can do in my day.

All of us have a “peak time” for productivity. I knew that morning is mine, but I was ignoring it. I get up before the sun. While the rest of you are snuggled under the covers waiting for the alarm clock to ring, I’m on my third cup of coffee. By mid-afternoon, my brain is mush. Anything that requires creativity or cognitive skill has to get done before noon. Instead, I was using the morning hours to crochet for Share A Square or to tidy the house. I’m trying hard to remember now to schedule the “thinking” projects in the morning, and the mindless tasks in the afternoon and evening. I’m much more productive that way.

Not too long ago, I wrote about my Mamaw’s “Kitchen Sink Philosophy.” Mamaw knew that if you “clean the kitchen as you go along, you can sit back and enjoy the meal.” She wasn’t just talking about “the kitchen.” Julie commented that she also uses that philosophy, but calls it “do a little as you go along, and the little never gets to be too much.” Whatever you call it, do it!

I had gotten into the habit of not putting things away. If I didn’t finish a task, I left the tools necessary for it out where I could see them the next day. I didn’t want to forget them. It doesn’t take long to get “buried” that way. When there is a mess everywhere, I waste a lot of time looking for the things I need. Instead, now I clean up as I go along, and put the task on my list so I won’t forget. I can work much better if I’m not flustered by clutter.

It’s been amazing to me to find that doing these six simple things has helped me get my train a little bit more on track.

Maybe one day people will think I’m organized again? Probably not, but maybe I’ll get organized enough to quit whining about it.

[This post was written for Inspiration Bit's Group Writing Project: Time Management. Many people are writing posts on this topic, so check out the site to see everyone’s tips on managing time. If you hurry, maybe you can write a post and add your own tips! I bet you have some, too!]
These are the folks who participated: