As we all know, yard work does not go away when ignored. A row of junipers under my living room windows had been getting overgrown for years while I put off the chore of pruning them. I sternly lectured myself this spring that it needed to get done now, before the sprawling branches killed any more of the grass around them. I started working on it over the weekends, setting myself a deadline of mid-August because that is when the lawn service usually does the aeration and overseeding, which I thought might help with getting the grass to come back more quickly.
 

Junipers with bare spot in grass where they were pruned. 

When I mentioned that to my husband, who is a practical-minded engineer, he said that the timing really didn’t matter because the lawn service people generally don’t walk that close to the bushes anyway, and the bare areas will mainly grow back from the edges because overseeding adds only a small amount of grass seed. Looks like he was right about that because the aeration and overseeding was done this morning, and I didn’t see aeration holes or a significant amount of grass seed in the bare areas.

Still, I would say that setting myself a deadline was good because it kept me motivated to finish the task, even if it didn’t make a practical difference. When neglected chores sit around in plain sight with no definite completion date, they tend to drain mental energy because the subconscious mind notices such things and files them away under the “lots of stuff to do, and it’s not getting done” category. Better to quit procrastinating, get the chore over with, and effectively “overseed” that depleted energy by looking at the positive results instead!

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

6 Comments

  1. Hi Meg, having a deadline really help to have something done. I do the same for certain things around the house. If deadlines work at the office why wouldn’t at home? I do the same with the kids, I say by this day I want this done, generally one week ahead, and for my surprise they do, but if I say ‘now’ , it will never be done. Have a great evening !

    • Yes, saying “now” doesn’t do much because it just adds one more item to the big heap of things that ought to be done now. Deadlines of some kind generally are needed to set priorities!

  2. Such wise words, Meg, we need to know what works for us, and pay heed 🙂
    xx

  3. I am hoping to ground myself in Mother Earth when the weather gets cooler. It is all about prioritizing the priorities! LOL

    Although, I am late in visiting, thank you for sharing with Nurturing Thursday! <3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *