Little Bits Add Up

 Our neighbors have a beautiful garden.  They have hired people to do some things, but one thing I have noticed is that my neighbor comes up multiple times in the day and spends just a few minutes.  Sometimes it is pulling up weeks in a small area.  Sometimes it is watering a plant here or there.  But, those little things add up.  

This morning when I was taking out the compost, I decided to spend just 2-3 minutes pulling weeds in one area of the raspberry patch.  I didn't get all of them, but I pulled about 8 hand fulls and it looks better than it did.  If I did this regularly, imagine how much could get done.

A few years ago, I read a post about someone sharing how they canned 1 1/2 cups of jelly.  I thought to myself, "What a waste of time!"  It takes a while to heat up water to can and to cook the jelly, etc.  But, within a few weeks, this person had a lot of things canned, just by doing a little at a time.  Things don't always ripen at the same time with a garden, so doing a little at a time has some real merit.

Zucchini and green beans are really coming on.  So, instead of trying to eat it all fresh, which is my preferred way, I decided to just freeze some.  Today it was just 1 bag of green beans.  Yesterday it was a bag of shredded zucchini and 2 bags of onions.  It may not seems like much, but little by little I am getting quite a good amount of frozen veggies.  This year has been a bad year for raspberries.  Temperatures were below freezing later in the spring and it did some damage to some of the plants.  But, because I froze a bag of raspberries here and there last year, we have enough raspberries to make it through this year as well.  Little  bits add up.  

This morning I had a load of dishes to do.  I wasn't too excited to do them, so I turned on the timer and gave myself 5 minutes to get done as much as I could.  It was amazing that I could empty and fill in that time.  Sometimes it takes a little more than 5 minutes, but not much more.  The kitchen is clean and looks great, and it was only 5 minutes of work that made the difference.  

We may not feel like doing a little bit makes a difference so it isn't worth the time.  Try it for a week and you will see what a difference it can make.  It is easy to do and it is amazing how good you feel seeing the progress.  Whether it is decluttering, cleaning, gardening or whatever else you do.  Little bits really add up to make a difference.  

So, take a few minutes and do something small...