Great Expectations

All of the Chatzos ladies over at the Google Group say that you have to start early to be ready for Shabbos by chatzos.  "Start your menu planning motzei Shabbos," they would say.  "Cook and freeze!" [side note-- post forthcoming about cooking and freezing].  "It is never too early to start!" 

Well, it is Tuesday night and I don't know if I am having guests, let alone what those guests will be eating.  The house is a disaster and there is the lingering smell of tonight's tuna patties in the air.  I know what the Chatzos ladies would say: "Start with something small!  Make a first step!  Make a kugel!  Shabbos is only 3 days from tonight!"  Not a lot of time anymore.

I DID expect to have some little thing done today.  Maybe a head count?  Or a general sense of a menu (in anticipation of tomorrow's ads to fill in the rest)? 

My inability to make any progress toward chatzos today got me wondering: do we have fair expectations of ourselves?  Was I realistic when my "to do" list today included finish the laundry, pay the bills, organize the hall closet, pull the too small clothes from the baby's drawers, have a play date for DS, make dinner, and learn with my chavruta before getting down to business on my Shabbos plans-- all on a day when DH is at the hospital for 30 hours?

I am plagued by the "expectation beast."  I would always like to see myself get done about twice as much as I realistically have time to do.  Often, my goals are so unrealistic that I know that I will not meet them, so I waste time doing other things ("I am not going to get ALL of that done.  What is 5 more minutes on Facebook?").  The solution, I think, is more realistic expectations.  I need to set goals that are easily attainable and then get more done than I planned.  My accomplishments will provide motivation to keep working and meeting and exceeding my goals for the next day.  The chatzos snowball, if you will. 

Tomorrow, I will attack the expectation beast and start with a small step-- the menu.