Are you running around with your head cut off, putting out fires everywhere you go?

Are you letting the house run you, instead of you taking control and running the house on your timetable? The stress from just doing what is urgent is going to make you sick, give you headaches and keep you in a constant state of fatigue and chaos.

I can hear you now! How do I stop? These things need to be done.

Well, here is how: Simple planning with a little thought to the future and not just the next 10 minutes.

Let's think about running out of milk.

You discover you're out. You have to stop what you are doing and take 30 minutes to run to the grocery.

Have you noticed the expiration date has gotten longer? Why not buy 2 or 3 gallons at a time?

The problem may be too many condiments and science projects in the refrigerator for you to buy more than one gallon. If you have other fires you have to put out on a regular basis, look at what you can DO NOW to prevent them from happening in the first place.

What are some of these fires? What is so urgent that you throw your whole routine out the window to deal with this priority?

Unless it is a true emergency, sick family member, or an accident, most everything else can be planned.

When a true emergency happens, by all means your routine should go out the window. The key here is to be ready for anything. Could you walk out the door in three minutes if a friend called and said "I need you"? Being able to answer these kinds of calls as well as the little voice that says, "Mommy will you play with me, or read me a story?" You can do this when you do not have to put out those urgent fire calls.

I want you to make a list of the fire calls you have been making.

Don't worry about how to fix them just yet. If you don't know, then keep a journal this week, when you are rushing to get something done. Here are a few: Running to the store to get something you are out of, paying a bill that you forgot to mail. Now you have to personally deliver it so your power won't be turned off. What about being late for an appointment or running out of gas?

If we would apply the "Do It Now" principle to our lives, we would be much better off.

When we do this, procrastination is no longer a word in our vocabulary. If you look closely at your list, you will find that the fire got out of hand because you said, "I can do that later."

Stop thinking about what you can put off to the future and take care of some of these issues now.

The future will be the present before you know it. Why not make it a pleasant one? You hold the key in your hot little hand.

Why put off till tomorrow what you can do today and save yourself some precious time in the process as well as your health!

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Marla Cilley, a k a FlyLady, is the author of Sink Reflections (Bantam Books Trade Paperback). For more help, please go to: www.FlyLady.net. © 2006