Not in my jammies

Aug 27, 2007

Not in my jammies

I don’t work in my jammies. I’m not against working in my jammies, and I know that many like to, but there’s a reason I don’t.

It wasn’t always so. Way back when I moved to California and started my ten year stint of almost always working from home, there would be entire days when I wouldn’t need to actually get dressed. It never really seemed as though I were getting anywhere, though, and when I did finally get a couple of contracts, it was almost a relief to get dressed and see a change of scene.

A year or so back, tired of all the clutter and mess, I read that famous delutter book, Sink Reflections. You know the one? FlyLady? The one who always makes me think of bluebottles instead of what she actually intended, soaring? It was a very interesting book. My sink stayed clean for, oh, what must have been almost an entire week. My house looked nicer. But reality took over and, well, it’s pretty much back to square one. One day when I am rich and famous I will hire a cleaner.

But one thing did stick. One of the basic principles of the system was to get dressed in the morning from top to toe. Shoes, makeup, the lot. The idea was that if you dress as though you’re going to work, then your mind will start to think it’s going to work. Now, I didn’t ever bother with the shoes–I hate it when people wear their dirty shoes indoors–and I don’t wear makeup, but I found that if I put on my jeans and t-shirt I was a lot more ready to start my day. I might sit in my jammies with the first cup of coffee, reading emails, but if I got dressed, then I was ready to stop procrastinating, turn off the email, and get on with whatever real stuff I needed to do.

I’ve noticed a marked difference in my level of productivity since I started doing that. Less faffing, and more programming/writing, etc. It’s as though I were saying, “Yes I can be bothered,” to the world, and that “yes” resonated for me.

And besides, at the end of the day, I can signal the end of my day by dropping said jeans and t-shirts into the washing machine.

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Comments

10 Comments, Comment or Ping

Rebecca (6 comments.)

Great. Now I joined Flylady. I’m sick of the clutter, we are moving at the end of September. I’ve got a baby due in December. I figure if I don’t get a handle on organization now, then when?

Grrr. I hate shoes. At least that is tomorrow’s step. Today I just have to shine my sink. ;)

Aug 27th, 2007
Marina (86 comments.)

I tried (pre-pregnancy/Anthony) to do the FlyLay routines, had some success, then made the mistake of showing it to my husband (with the primary purpose of showing him what I do all day long). He wrote her off as OCD, and I dropped the program soon after.

Bad reason? Yeah; it’s one of those spousal things you just have to be there for.

Aug 27th, 2007
J. Lynne (36 comments.)

You know, this was a regular disagreement between my therapist and me for the longest time; she kept insisting that on the days that I don’t go to work, I should get out of my jammies right away and that would help with my depression, but I refused to listen to her. However, I’ve really been working at it the last month or so on weekends — after breakfast I have my shower and get dressed and it always seems to get me going; I haven’t wasted my weekends laying on the couch staring at t.v. shows I won’t remember and I’ve got lots done.

Oh, and I tried that FlyLady stuff once and I just thought it was overwhelming. I didn’t make it one day. The emails were like spam and since I don’t work at home, it totally stressed me out to have all of those things that I was supposed to be doing not getting done. ;)

And I agree about the shoes inside the house. Actually, I just don’t like wearing shoes period, though I like collecting them. :P

Aug 27th, 2007
pussreboots (158 comments.)

I agree about the importance of getting dressed before starting work even when working from home. I’ve been telecommuting now for a year but I always get dressed before I start up the computer in the morning.

Flylady, though, isn’t my cuppa.

Aug 27th, 2007
Jo (5 comments.)

There needs to be a happy medium. I feel utterly despondent if I’m not dressed by 9.30 but hate that the school run requires me to be up and at ‘em by around 7.15 (but 9days of holidays left). Ideally I’d pitch for 8.30…….

Aug 28th, 2007
Linda R. Moore

Rebecca: I got overwhelmed by the vast number of emails I received from Flylady, and the sugary sickliness of it all. But the book was a good read, and useful.

Aug 30th, 2007
Linda R. Moore

Pussreboots: Flylady isn’t my cuppa, either. Too much sugar and email. It does make a difference, though, this getting dressed stuff. (Though on a stiflingly hot day like yesterday it’s definitely a struggle.)

Aug 30th, 2007
Linda R. Moore

Jo: Yup, always gotta be a happy medium. I get dressed when I’m ready to engage with the world.

Aug 30th, 2007
Linda R. Moore

Marina: Oh, the spousal unit gets a vote, too. :)

It didn’t work for me–too much nagging and not enough meat. I kept some ideas though: I like the 14 fling boogie or whatever number it is.

Aug 30th, 2007
Linda R. Moore

J Lynne: Yup, waaay too much email. It’s one of the major reasons why I didn’t keep up.

I like to go barefoot as well, as much as possible.

Aug 30th, 2007