I tend to procrastinate on the things I least enjoy. For me, that’s usually laundry. (No shock there, eh?!)
It’s silly, I know, but I’ll put off folding the pile of clean laundry until I am down to my very last outfit (it’s probably a good thing I only have a few outfits, otherwise I can’t imagine how behind I’d get on laundry!). The laundry pile will hang over my head and burden me down, but I often don’t do anything about it until it becomes a necessity.
Prioritize the Hardest Things First
Mark Twain wisely said, “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.”
Brian Tracy wrote an entire book based upon this quote called, Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. One of his main premises is that if you start the day out by doing the things you like least first, you’ll get them out of the way so you can enjoy your day more and be more productive and fulfilled.
Eat That Frog is an excellent read and it challenged me to go into my day with the goal of doing the hardest things first. When I get the most dreaded things out of the way right off the bat, it gives me so much momentum for the rest of the day!
I’ve been trying to apply this idea to my laundry pile. Instead of letting it sit and grow to an overwhelming size, I’m trying start a load of laundry first thing in the morning, switch it to the dryer before breakfast, and then fold and put it away mid-morning. So far, I’ve not been successful at doing it this way every day, but on the days that I have done this, I’ve been amazed at how well it works.
And honestly, when I just do one load a day, I’m able to stay on top of the laundry, it never gets out of hand, and it really takes no more than 15 minutes a day to keep up with. Why has it taken me almost nine years of running my own home to figure this simple principle out?
Save the Best for Last
Once you’ve accomplished your most dreaded tasks for the day, reward yourself with some of the tasks you enjoy doing. This will give you something to look forward to when you’re in the midst of doing your hard tasks and will probably give you motivation to accomplish them more quickly.
Practical Application
1) Read this great article: Start Your Day By Eating a Frog for some great step-by-step help in prioritizing your day.
2) Determine what you tend to procrastinate on and develop a plan of action for making it a first priority.
3) If you have a chance, check out Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time from your local library. It’s a quick read and it’s packed with helpful inspiration.
Note: I’m taking the weekend off from posting this daily series, but will be back with the next installment on Monday. Enjoy a little breather–but keep on with your discipline goals and projects!
Whew! While the floor sill looks bad in my opinion, it is much improved. I could have scrubbed it more, but need to pick up my older kids from school now. Thanks for the motivation, Crystal. I think start to finish it was only 20 minutes. (And if/when I stick to my plan, it will probably take at least half the time!
Way to go!!
I wish I had read this post this morning! I’m happy to report that I’m using that chore checklist again today, and it is helping me to stay focussed, and get into the groove of my every-day chores. Now after reading your post, I’m thinking I should move my slot for “day of the week chore” somewhere before lunch, because I tend to poop out after lunch, which is my favorite time to read/comment on blogs!
Mondays and Thursdays I am supposed to mop my kitchen floor. Embarrassing admission: it hasn’t been mopped since mid-August, when we started an unplanned kitchen renovation. The renovations are done, except the floor really needs to be replaced. But that is my flimsy excuse for not mopping it. Now I’m going to mop it before I go any further on my list. And I will report back here when it is done. You all are my accountability witnesses! Here I go!
I actually got to read this on Saturday but I am just now getting a chance to comment.
Straightening up the kitchen before bed is still going great and it is inspiring other little things which is good. However I still have a long way to go in the keeping the house clean area.
The worst thing for me is laundry and I think it is because it is in the basement and because my daughters have a lot of clothes (and they are teens who change way too often)
Anyway, everyone tosses all their laundry in the basement and it piles up and even doing one load a day I don’t seem to keep up. (maybe cuz I don’t always follow through on the folding and putting away)
Saturday I went and got a large hamper for my room and one for the girls room. The new rule is that all clothing items go in the hamper and when the hamper is full it will go to the basement to be washed. The only thing that can be tossed downstairs are towels, sheet, blankets and wash cloths.
I plan to wash mine and hubbys clothes together and the girls clothes together. Of course the girls will be putting all of their own away.
I am really hoping that once I finish the 4 unwashed loads in the basement already that I will be able to get this beast under control for once and for all.
Oh and btw Crystal, I have been married almost 18 years and still struggling with the laundry. 🙁
I’m actually trying the complete opposite of this. My husband and I have spent the last couple of years investing in high quality under garmets and we now have a ton of them. I also have a ton of t-shirts and work clothes and I never wash pants (I mean, come on, how dirty can they be). Okay, maybe I wash pants once a month. Anyway, sick and tired of living out of a basket, we have adopted……….
ONCE A MONTH LAUNDRY DAY.
I know. It’s insanity. How can we have that many clothes?? It’s a mystery to us, too. I shop at Goodwill and garage sales. A lot. Anyway, once a month, I take a Saturday or Sunday and wash all the clothes in the house and put them all away on the same day. And then it’s over. No more laundry guilt for a month. It may not work for everyone, but it works for us.
I do my kids’ laundry about once every other week and put their stuff away the same day. My daughter’s still in diapers and my son, well, he has a lot of underwear.
Can’t wait to see what you all think of THAT!
This is such a great idea! And I love the idea of saving the best for last. We’re all different & my favorite chore is doing laundry, folding it, and putting it away! Thanks for a great post!
Crystal, will you be compiling this series into a downloadable pdf? It would be such a blessing to be able to print it for future reference!
Yes, that’s the plan. 🙂
Laughed when I saw this. My husband has had this teaching before and he tells me all the time, “Go after the frogs”. Lol!
I dont have much of an issue with actually doing the laundry these days, but if a pile of laundry starts growing (cuz i didnt have time to get to them) then I will start playing the avoidance game.
When I was a young mother with 2 little girls & baby sat 5 others (most not in school yet) I had my entire house cleaning on a schedule and it usually took no more than 10 to 20 minutes most days to keep my house spotless.
I got up, prayed, read the bible, jogged if I was going to, made breakfast, woke the hubby up, sent him off, got the kids dressed, grabbed all the dirty clothes & laundry (except Dads) and did at least one load while I was washing the dishes & cleaning the kitchen. One day I would mop, one day I would dust, one day I would vaccume, one day I would clean the bathroom, one day I would change the sheets and do whatever else needed done. I swept the kitchen floor daily and did at least one load of laundry, and whatever was that days chore, usually all before 8 or 9 am. I had the rest of the day to enjoy playing with the kids, doing crafts, cooking, and gardening.
The kids had dedicated naps, snacks, and craft/fun activities times and it was a great time in my life.
Im nowhere near as regimented in my life these days, but I keep thinking about getting back to it. It sure made chores so much easier to tolerate, instead of letting them get so out of hand that it takes hours on end to get them all accomplished as it did today..
I have listened to Eat That Frog on dvd at work.. It makes total sense! I agree, its a GREAT book!
This reminds me of my mom. I remember her as supermom, keeping the laundry going, home cooked meal on the table each night, sewed my clothes, etc. She has turned into such a procrastinator – ha! She complains about not having enough time to get things done and I think, yeesh, I’m the one with two small kids. You only have to deal with you and dad! I guess necessity really is the mother of invention.
I used to dread doing the laundry and dishes until one day I used a kitchen timer and found out it only took me 3 minutes to unload the dishwasher and less than five for a load of laundry. The thought of ‘it takes less than 5 minutes’ to do these things is a much better use of my brain/time/energy than dreading doing the chores all day long!!
I put off doing the dishes, which ironic since dirty dishes in the sink are the one thing that really bothers me. A vicious cycle! 😉
I started a similar laundry process about a year ago and LOVE it, however it’s gotten even better recently as I wash and dry on your schedule, but at night once the kids are in bed my husband pulls the stuff out of the dryer and folds it for me, then puts it in the kids rooms for them to put away!
I’m amazed at how much that 10 minutes of help on his part reduces my stress level, and I soooooo love waking up to an empty washer and dryer each morning. Can’t believe it took me 15 years to ask him for help with this one! 🙂
Crystal,
I LOVE this series! Thanks for taking the time to write it.
It’s great that you are planning to sleep in until 7am a few days a week (and also that you are taking a breather from writing this series over the weekend). I’ve noticed that I burn myself out when I try hard to be disciplined! Perhaps being disciplined in having some down time is the key to sticking with it.
I just looked up Eat that Frog at my library and it’s available as an audiobook download. So, I’ll be listening to that later tonight!
Mopping is my most dreaded chore…so I’ve scheduled it for first thing Monday. That way it’s not hanging over my head all week and my chores become more “enjoyable” as the week goes on. I just implemented this last week and it went very well! The only problem…it’s almost Monday again! lol
Loving this series!
I read this book after the last time you recommended it and it has been life changing! Whenever my kids start complaining about their chores, they hear about how we all need to eat our frogs first thing 🙂 It is so discouraging to get behind on things you know you need to get done when you feel like you have been swamped (no pun intended) all day. This book has really helped me to focus on those things that never seem to get done and feel like I am getting some traction on my “to-do” list. Thanks for the recommendation!
This reminds me of the quote my dad always used to tell me growing up. It irritated me as a kid who wanted to play instead of do homework, but I appreciate it now, and find myself repeating it to my own children:
“Do what you HAVE to do first, and what you WANT to do second.”
This applies to time, self-discipline, finances, overall life.
If you really have a problem getting the clothes folded,fold each piece as you take it out of the dryer. That way they are all done,folded and in the basket and you don’t have to mess with them. And it only takes a second longer.Then it’s not sitting there saying “Fold me,fold me”.
I agree that it is easier to fold as they come out of the dryer. Also, keeps your clothes from getting so wrinkly by sitting in the laundry basket!
Since I’m in the middle of our morning homeschooling when I usually pull the laundry out of the dryer this wouldn’t work for me because I need to be right near my children teaching/overseeing, etc. However, it sounds like a great idea for someone who isn’t homeschooling or who does their laundry at a different time of the day.
Thanks for sharing!
I also don’t like to do laundry, but with 3 kids and a hubby it is necessary evil and I have to do 3 loads a day to keep up. However to lighten the load why don’t you have the kid put their own laundry away? My youngest is 3 and she has been putting her own clothes away also for about 6 months now. She actually does better than my older two, 9 and 11. I wash, dry and fold it then put the kids piles (even hubby’s) in their rooms and it is their responsibility to put it away.
I express to the kids how it takes teamwork to make a family run without loading down mom with all the work. Then we have more time for fun if I don’t have all the work to do alone.
Just a suggestion, I am glad to know I am not alone in my dislike for household chores.
Michelle
I’ve had them start helping out with this in the past few months and it’s helped out tremendously–and that’s one of the reasons we can get the laundry done in 15 minutes or less every day, so long as I stick with it and don’t get lazy!
I hate putting clothes away. I have found that it is much easier to fold them as I take them out of the dryer… Now the socks are a pain and if my husband takes them out before I do they won’t get matched. I match them as I take them out and it seems easier. I will actually rewash the socks if he takes them out. lol
I have a sock solution for you!
Keep a bunch of safety pins in your laundry room and pin each pair of socks before throwing them in the washer. After they are washed and dried, they’re ready to be put away. Saves you time on sorting and matching and you won’t end up with missing socks. 🙂
I think doing the least favorite thing first can really make a difference in a person’s life. I try to work out first thing in the morning because then even if nothing else goes right that day, I have at least accomplished something. Otherwise I spend the entire day dreading my workout and coming up with excuses as to why it can wait.
http://thefrugallery.blogspot.com
I agree with going after the “big rocks” first (this isn’t new – especially if you’ve read the Stephen Covey books), but as I’m trying to get my 11 yr old to be more disciplined with his time so he can participate in all the things he’s decided are important to him (Band, Scouts, AWANAs, Basketball), I’ve coached him to sometimes recognize when he should go after the “low hanging fruit” and do some of the tasks that are easy, quick wins for him to get done. (Ie – getting his practice log complete, studying something easy like his spelling words.) I think we have to use discernment in this as sometimes in order to keep ourselves going, we have to see an accomplishment to keep us motivated. When he can check a number of things off as completed, he can focus better on the bigger “frog” or “elephant” –one bite at a time. (I hope this makes sense.)
There is a lot of wisdom in this. Funny as it may sound, I practice both of these (frog & low hanging fruit). Routine I’d really the key to me keeping things going in the right direction in our family. To create the right routine, I’ve found you have to experiment a bit to figure out which items are frogs and therefore need to be done first thing and which can be slightly delayed while I cross ae few things off.
For example, I have learned that if I don’t exercise in the morning, I won’t do it. I’ve also found that running the dishwasher at night and unloading first thing is (for whatever reason!) key to the day goings smoothly. That said, I try to get smaller things done first for work and then move on to the more complicated tasks because otherwise, I feel like I have a hundred things hanging over my head while I’m trying to concentrate.
Ugh…typos. New iPad is killing me…
I love this principle. I’ve been working with developing routine time blocks throughout the day. For example, I have a list of five things to accomplish before breakfast and a list of five things to do right after breakfast. This really helps to jump start my day.
You are so right about this, Crystal!
I am going to put those books on reserve today.
:-). Thanks.
I have laundry and dishes down. I need help with mopping.
Oh, me too! LOL.
I am perfectly fine with laundry and hubby does the dishes.
We need mopping elves or something….
🙂
Lea
I have always dreaded mopping. So I hire my kids to do it. It’s been passed down many times and right now my 12 yr old daughter mops every Monday morning. If we miss a week for some reason, no worries, cause once every 2 weeks is waaayyy better than what it was when I had to do it!! LOL!!
Funny enough, for about 25 of my 30 adult years, I hated mopping too, until I got one of these at a Home & Garden show.. http://www.amazon.com/Starfiber-Starpro-Microfiber-Version-Green/dp/B000QZ3DCQ
This mop makes cleaning downright pleasant. I know that sounds crazy, but it cleans so well and so easily. When Im mopping, I’ll pull the cloth off, rinse it with my sprayer at the sink, wring it out, and continue on. Its fast, easy, & efficient. I usually dont even use any chemical cleaners on my floors except the bathroom. If I need to use a cleaner, I use a spray bottle with vinegar, lemon juice, & water and my handy dandy mop. It also cleans walls sooo fast & easily when Im doing Spring & Fall cleaning! Love it!
I love Mark Twain’s quote about eating the frog, it’s on my personal Facebook as my favorite quote! There are so many ways you can apply this to your life. Laundry isn’t a problem in our house, for me it’s errands. I’ve been making an effort to do them while I still have choices versus stressing about getting them done while also needing to be somewhere else. It truly does pay off. Last week I had a lunch date cancel at the last minute and decided to do some critical errands at lunch. It was so nice to leave work and not have to worry about doing them, especially since I was running a little behind without the errands!
If you think about it, it’s very similar to eating your vegetables before desert. You get to savor your desert to much more knowing the yucky vegetables are out of the way 🙂
Good post Crystal, I’m enjoying the series.
Well laundry isnt my most dreaded task but i do the same morning routine. Start a load of laundry in the morning and unload the dishwasher. Seems to keep the whole house running smoothly when i stick to those 2 tasks first thing!
I don’t know why, but I would rather fold 10 loads of laundry than unload one load from the dishwasher.
How about we trade? I’ll unload your dishwasher and you do my laundry! 🙂
Don’t tempt me. With that awesome health food store you have and a guarantee I wouldn’t have to unload my dishwasher, I may just move to Kansas.
Ohhh laundry…Washing and drying is fine, but folding {and especially ironing} are not something I tend to look forward to. But today I completed a load of my kids’ clothes and diapers. Believe it or not, I look forward to washing diapers – they’re just so cute! Still blogging about this series here: http://www.sewingsunflowers.com/ss2/Blog/Entries/2011/11/18_Do_The_Hardest_Things_First.html. Have a great weekend!
I found two things that totally revolutionized my laundry and I actually look forward to laundry now. I have a machine that has a delay start on it. I put the clothes in and then set it so that the washer is finished about the time I want to get out of bed. My washer also has a timer on it, so it is my alarm clock. Then I put a load in the dryer as soon as I get up. That way, if my morning allows, I can have it folded and put away before 8am.
The other thing I figured out that was causing me to not like folding my laundry….I always had so many piles. A pile of shirts for each kid, a pile of socks for each kid, a pile of pants for each kid. When I started washing shirts, pajamas and underwear on Monday and pants and socks and kitchen towels on Thursday, it made it so much easier and manageable. Sheets and bath towels whenever…
One last thing I did that I know most people might not be able to do, was I moved all my kids clothes into the laundry room. Put up a few shelves and a hanging rod. (My laundry room is only 5 1/2 feet wide and 9 feet long). Now I put away literally as I fold and amazing how much time it saves me.
That is my dream – I would love to have the space to keep it all in the laundry room like that. Well, I sort of do already; it’s just in piles on top of the dryer and ironing board! I only put them away when the piles are about to topple over. The older kids put theirs away. Everyone knows to check their pile if they need clothes!
I actually schedule laundry in for whatever day of the week that I’m going to be home the most and get it all done in one day. Every time I put a load in or switch to dryer, I set the timer. When it goes off it will keep buzzing every minute until I turn it off so I cannot ignore it. Another thing I do is stack and fold laundry on my bed. That way it has to get folded & put away before I can go to bed at night! I don’t love laundry day either (who does?), but it’s nice to just get it all done in one day and then not have to think about it again until the next week.
I do most of my laundry on one day of the week too. I like not having to mess with it the rest of the week except for the occasional load of kid clothes or towels.
I think I should pick working on my “Take Action” paper pile or budget (keeping track of expenses) as my frog. I have a tendency to put these things off to the point of not getting them done at all.
Thanks for getting me thinking about this. I loved Tsh’s post, too!
LOL! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who has taken years to figure out how to handle the laundry monster! I am just now getting into the habit of doing a load of laundry every day instead of once a week (or sometimes once a month when I’m really lazy).
I LOVE the idea of doing what you despise doing first thing in the morning. For me it would be the paper monster since I HATE organizing my paper work (the sight of my dest would give you nightmares, eek!).
Thank you for being honest about not being consistent all the time with getting your hateful things out of the way first thing in the morning because it gives me a chance to be realistic with myself: it will be HARD to get into this habit.
At the same time you give me hope that it can still be done. Thanks!!!
Have I told you yet how much I love this series? I’m going to miss it over the weekend. I’m looking forward to the next installment!
I agree with your statements above also. I love getting the stuff I dread out of the way that I can do the stuff I love.
By the way, after reading your the first chapter of your book, I pulled out good old Dave Ramsey (TMM), double-checked our balances on Mint.com, and wrote up our financial goals again. I wrote up a blog post about it if you’re interested: http://theabundantwife.com/our-financial-goals-paying-off-debt/. Thanks for inspiring us to stay focused on our goal of becoming debt-free!
i used to do all our laundry on Mondays.
some days i was able to get everything washed, dried, folded and put away on that day. most days, i did not. 🙂 so clean clothes sat in the laundry room all week, and i had to look at them all week.
i switched to doing one load (sometimes two) a day every day, and it works so well!
Monday is my daughter’s clothes and bedding.
Tuesday is my son’s.
Wednesday is my and hubby’s whites. this is our smallest load, and this is our busiest day of the week.
Thursday is my other son’s.
Friday is my and hubby’s darks. biggest loads. but hubby is home on fridays!
Saturday is sheets. I do this every other week, ’cause we have 2 sets of sheets, and I wait until they are both dirty to fill up the load.
Sunday is towels.
I’ve tried doing mine this way, too, but always wound up with someone having an empty load (forgot where the laundry chute was, huh?) and it messed up my rhythm. Now I just try to get everyone to put their dirty things down the chute every day, and I just do the load that has the most stuff. If there’s a day when there isn’t a full load of clothes, I toss in the towels or sheets. (I have 2 sets for each bed, so we do change them each week.) My kids, though, still haven’t realized that a sock crisis on their part does not mean an extra load of laundry at 5:30 am for me – see above comment about laundry chute location. 😉 Suffice it to say that my 7 yo son has worn some of his dad’s socks to school, and my 5yo daughter has borrowed her brother’s socks, too.
I think that the laundry situation is just one of those continually evolving chores. What works today probably won’t work in another 18 months and I’ll be scrambling for a new system.
I can certainly relate to this post! Laundry is the house chore I dislike the most. Washing and drying are okish but folding and putting away is like pulling teeth with me. I recently (like this very week) had my laundry pile so big it covered my entire couch and was as high as the bottom of the picture on the wall above it. It took me over and hour to fold and put it all away…. I feel like hiding admitting that! Anyway I too am trying to do the laundry one load each weekday to stay on top of it and it seems to be much more manageable. Well on the days I actually do it that way it works!
I purchased the ebook One Bite at a Time, 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler after reading NaturalMomTalkRadio’s review. And eating the frog is project one.
So far this week I have called the cable company and got my rate back down to a cheaper price. I actually had Vonage offer 2 months free to keep me as a customer and let me decide in 2 months if I wanted to go with a cheaper unpublished plan.
I haven’t yet finished that pile or writing that guest post I want to submit but I am getting there:)
Wow, just this morning I was talking to someone about eating the frog when I went to the gym bright and early! (by the way, I got out of bed and got myself to the gym because I had your “voice” in my head!). Even though I am very much a night owl and have a really hard time getting up and going in the morning, I’m starting to make an effort to go to the gym right after my 8 month old wakes up (which, unfortunately, is very early nowadays!). If I plan to go in the evening, I often don’t end up going because I just feel too exhausted, or another excuse. Plus, I think that going in the morning gives me more energy throughout the day.
Great job! I did manage to get to the gym right away this morning, but I often struggle with that. Like you, I find that if I wait until later to do it, I end up being way too exhausted or other things come up.
AAAHHH!! How have I missed these last few posts??!! I need to read this. Discipline has ALWAYS been such a weak spot for me. I am so looking forward to learning and doing and becoming more disciplined. Maybe this is the start of a good change.
Crystal, two things that have worked for me with upkeep are to
1. Put the laundry in to wash last thing before I head up to bed… Then it’s ready to be hung on the lines or put in the dryer and folded right after breakfast.
2. Load the dishwasher after dinner and set it to run in 4-6 hours later (love that timer function!) This way it’s done, but doesn’t interfere with bathtime hot water. And really, who cares if the dishes get done in the middle of the night? Then, they’re ready to be put away first thing in the morning.
Do I do these things all the time? No, but it surely makes things easier if I do. 🙂 Thanks so much for this series! It really is a “growing edge” for me.
I’ve been putting laundry in the wash before I got to bed this week too. To me it feels like it breaks the chore up a bit more so it’s not a big ordeal I have to get through all day long. It’s just a little bit at night and a little in the morning.
I was just going to suggest your tip about starting a load of laundry before bed. I do that all the time, especially if I need to get out the door earlier than normal the next day.
I do this a lot as well. I’d love to only have to do one load of laundry a day, but with two little ones in cloth diapers and a husband that wears a uniform to one of his jobs I have to do at least two load on most days.
Starting one load before bed really helps me get it all done.
This is a good idea, but I have a front-loader and the clothes smell incredibly moldy if I leave them in over night. 🙁
I have a front load washer and set the timer function to start 7-8 hours later. It is ready when I get out of bed in the morning, then I just toss it in the dryer and have it folded before we have to start school!
For the longest time I had been putting off sorting the the stacks of papers accumulating on & near my desk. These are all the odd/not easily file-able items. Bills and such are quickly paid then into the filebox. These papers require more thought, do I need a new folder or subfolder? Do I even need to keep this? What is this? And, I can’t get rid of it, but where in the world should I keep it? Those types of things. Well tonight I set a timer determined to spend 15min on it and take care of some papers. 15min turned into 45 min and i’m not done, but I got a start. Recycled many papers, created new folders, filed some things quickly. I might not even be half way done, but the stack has gotten smaller. The task seems more manageable. If i just aim to spend 15min at a time, just a few papers at a time, the stack will eventually be take care of. Glad I finally took a step.
I know what do you with coupons you might use or pieces of paper you only will need 15 minutes after the garbage man drives way?
I want to get one of those scanner thingys. It scans and auto loads into your computer.
I want to get one of those too! I’m just worried they don’t work as well as they claim that they do. Does anyone out there have one?
TOTALLY relate to this!
I have the same problem. The bills and things that have a nice file, I have no problems putting away immediately. It’s all the odds and ends that I’m not quite sure what to do with. I actually have a blank file in the front of my file drawer where I put all that stuff, so at least it’s not creating clutter on my desk. However, that file is getting super full, and I really do put off cleaning it out.
This morning I woke up early and threw in a load of laundry and *gasp* emptied the dishwasher within 15 minutes of waking up.
It’s amazing how much more relaxed my morning (and rest of my day for that matter) was! I definitely agree with doing the hardest thing first. Now I just need to work out first thing. THAT’S going to be a hard habit to get into.