Aug62012
What are you putting off today that will help you be more prepared tomorrow? GIVEAWAY
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This giveaway has ended. The winners have been notified by email. Thanks for participating and watch for another giveaway soon!
Let’s see. What have I been putting off? Where to start…
I need to buy 2 or 3 more 55-gallon water barrels. I need to rip out the dead plants from my garden and start getting it ready for fall planting. (Yes, already! We’re in Phoenix and have some funky growing seasons.) I need to be hitting farmer’s markets to get enough cheap produce to make another canning day worthwhile.
This list of what I should be doing goes on and on, and I would be much more prepared if I just DID IT!
A book that has been inspirational to me, as a born procrastinator and likely victim of adult ADD, is Eat that Frog! by Brian Tracy. Even though it’s oriented toward the business-person, it has taught me a great deal about doing what I hate doing first and then everything else is easier. And I love his analogy, comparing a tightrope walker to maintaining balance in our daily lives.
You can read a short review I posted here.
I’m excited to be giving away three copies of this book to 3 lucky winners! Just leave a comment here answering my question, “What are you putting off today that will help you be more prepared tomorrow?”
Giveaway ends at midnight on Friday, August 10, and winners will be announced Saturday. They will be contacted by email and must respond within 7 days or forfeit their prize.
© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
(104) Readers Comments
Space-Saving and Effective Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPS)
Mosquitos are definitely an issue with this type of design. There are
Space-Saving and Effective Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPS)
mine has a watering tube running up the inside wall of the pot, which
Space-Saving and Effective Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPS)
How do you control for mosquitos breeding in the stagnant water at the
Liz
I think I’ve been putting off a lot of the same things as you Lisa. I need to get rid of my 5 year old’s baby items in the garage so that we can get it ready to use for the bigger preparedness items that we can’t store in our condo. Definitely makes us have to get creative about how we do things, especially in how we prepare.
Tina
What I’ve been putting off is learning how to spin my own yarn. I even bought cotton seeds to plant, but I still don’t have the skills to process the cotton once it’s ready for harvest! I suppose I’ve also put off learning how to make a drop spindle, which goes hand-in-hand with learning how to spin.
cmr
Learning how to can. I have a canner and all of the equipment. I just am scared that it’s going to explode. I have to get over my fears!
Becky
I am with you on the part about exploding. Find someone who has used a pressure cooke before and is an old hand at it. My friend and I are having her mother teach us, we just have to pry her out the small town she lives in. LIke you I have to get over my fear and my friend Kath feels the same way. It is always easier to learn from someone who has done this many times and then pass the skill on to someone else who is willing to learn. We teach our children and families many skills yet somewhere along the way the elders forget that even the middle generation needs to learn certain skills.
If you do not know of anyone who has done this before, check with a kitchen supply house, or advertise you might find that there are many families who want to learn out there, but not where to start.
Good luck
Kris
Been there, done that! Invest in a canning book; they ALL tell you to let a steady stream of steam rise out of the canner for ten minutes before you put the weight on to get the pressure building. As long as you don’t skip that step, you have nothing to worry about. And like Lisa suggested last month, start with canning in a boiling water bath. High acid foods (tomatoes, pickles, etc.) don’t need pressure build-up. Practicing that first will boost your confidence and put you on the right track.
and
Don’t be scared. Most recipes have you keep the pressure at a constant state far lower than the point it would explode. You just have to grab a stool, sit there, and keep an eye on the dial. It’s easy!
skymaus
I’ve been putting off learning how to make soap and candles. I have the ingredients but I can’t seem to find cheap molds. I want to start doing this during winter, though.
Madeline
Molds are easy and cheap to make! Just use some old wood and nail it together to form a rectangle.
Jeri
Just making myself get started. This is all new to me. I have been reading and learning a lot but that is about it. I have planted a garden this year and it is doing pretty good for a first time.
Anne
Have a good stock of food and hygiene items. Need to continue to stock up on other items and get the sun oven purchased.
Katie
Buy more guns and ammo. Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed and depressed about the money flying out of the bank account.
MJ
I am just getting started. I need to do more research (library, ebay) on gardening & food preservation. My mother & grandmother canned, but I was going to be the CAREER girl, so I rarely paid attention. Now they are gone & have to learn on my own.
Ron
Brian Tracy is an incredible motivational speaker and business person. His work is simple to understand and apply. I have been putting off purchasing a fire arm and the additional training. In addition, I have been putting off survival skills.
Ole Gunderson
I’ve been putting off getting into a healthier condition than I’m in right now. Could stand to lose about 60 pounds.
Kat
I’m putting off canceling subscriptions to services we don’t really need. I finally got around to giving DirecTV the boot, but there are others that need to go, since we don’t use them enough to be worth the monthly outlay.
But I have managed to kick my canning into high gear. So, one, at least for the home team! ;0)
The Ferret
Always putting off stuff,but the main thing now replaceing a fence and redoing the garden.I spend most of last fall and winter cleaning out a area behind my trailer for a garden,repaired the fence that was back there.OK,fast foward to spring get everything planted,,things are looking good.Wake up one morning to 3 cows in my yard.Fence was trashed,garden gone.Ugh,joys of liveing on a rez.Atleast they left me lots of fertilizer.
Collette Hall
I have been putting off de-cluttering my house! It seems like sutch a daunting task but I know if I do it I will find the space I need to store food and supplies! If there were only more hours in the day….
ceetee
I AM a procrastinator and a diagnosed victim of A.D.D. I keep putting off taking action…any action. I find it all so overwhelming that it’s paralyzing. There’s so much to be done!!! Where do I start?
Danetta Cates
Ohhh, Yes!! You said it all perfectly & thank you for doing so…but WHY do we do this to ourselves?I sit here day after day after day mentally,psych torturing myself for not doing anything.Even getting up to get a drink or a bite to eat is a big deal…& when i finally do move, try to make it as productive as possible…while up for the drink,go to BR or shut a blind that has been bothering me for half an hour.It’s hard to find any joy in living wn it has such a grip on u that day. I can try & plan to do something productive for the next day but then keep adding on all the other things that need done too till it grows into a giant such a massive chore that it would take 2 large professional teams to get accomplished what i am expecting me to get done the next day.Is this an attempt to get out of doing anything @ all bcz of laziness or to punish,by making myself feel useless? I simply don’t understand where i am coming from on this??
Jenn
I have been puting off getting a gun. I have had my Concealed Carry Permit since 2010 but in between then and now we managed to add two babies to our family. Needless to say finding a firearm that feels comfortable, doing some target practice and learning the responsible/safe way to handle a gun took a back seat to changing diapers and sleepless nights. After the shooting in Colorado, I knew I could not procrastinate on this any longer. So, I will be taking a full day firearm training course for women in 2 weeks. Shortly thereafter I will be purchasing my first gun. I owe it to my husband to take on the shared responsibility of protecting our family and I owe it to my kids to do whatever I can to protect them, come what may.
Lisa
Well said, Jenn, I am in almost the exact same boat (except for the 2 babies part! my “baby” is 18). I’ve always been afraid of guns, but have signed up for a “ladies only” CCW course in Sept and plan to purchase my very own handgun shortly thereafter (if not that day!) With my children almost all gone (baby is a Sr in HS this year) and a dh who travels a LOT, I need to be prepared to protect myself and my furry babies.
Leah D
I submit a few days ago but didn’t see my response above so I’m resubmitting. If for some reason my other one did go through, then disregard.
I really need to reorganize our supplies and pack 2 additional bug out bags. Also need to get things ready for our greenhouse, step up the canning, and stock up on additional warm clothing.
Michelle Erc
I have been putting off STARTING! With my hectic work schedule, I’m lucky if I can keep more dishes in the cupboard than in the sink. While my excuses are endless, my bank account and pantry are not, and the same goes for our national resources. The drought headlines this week really brought home how important it is to save and store for the looming rainy days coming.
Finding your blog was my first step! I’m headed to a local miller later this week to pick up a 50 lb. bag of Kamut, so I’m on my way! Thanks Survival Mom
Tim
I’ve been putting off HAVING FUN. No fun = no morale = no prepping for me. I’ve been working my normal full time job, but have been putting in a couple hours in a night afterwards freelancing. That’s after cooking dinner for the family and giving the kids their baths. That leaves me with just enough time each night to… brush my teeth and start all over. Sigh.
Casey
Tim — I know what you mean! Here’s my fun lately — having a little nip of wine at night after the kids are in bed. Do I sit down and relax? Of course not! I sip while standing at the sink washing dishes, before falling exhausted into bed. But, still, it is something to look forward to every night. Just a little nip…
And sometimes I read a novel while walking on the treadmill. What a luxury. We all need something to keep us going.
Casey
Learn to eat “outside the box.” Figure out why our mealworm colony is not growing. Try crickets too (sauteed).
Buy a big load of compost for the garden. Consider getting a rabbit to help fertilize our compost pile (though it’s another mouth to feed).
Hook up the last of 3 rain barrels. Figure out a Faraday cage for electronics.
Collect musical instruments. Print and laminate pictures of ancestors. (Already did the kids.)
Laura R
I have been putting off getting decluttered. I’ve got a decent stockpile of many items & a running list of items that I have vs. those I still need, but with all this clutter around it’s hard to find a workable space for it all!
Kristie
The most important thing I am putting off is saving money! We have our 5th child due soon, so it has been difficult to put money away. The main purpose to putting money away is so we can buy a larger property with a bigger house. We NEED more space for our brood, and we also need the land to have more garden area. Basically, I’ve got to prioritize so we can stop spending money on things that aren’t really important, and stop wasting money on things we could be doing/getting cheaper. Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me want to go back to bed!!!
Robert Petties
I am an undercover prepper. I try to keep it out of sight of my wife. I have been putting of my plans to start catching the rain water from the gutters. I know my wife will not like the look so I am trying to make it decretive as well as functional. No luck so far.
Julie
I’ve put off my garden this year. It’s terrible! I just never did plant the seeds.
And it makes me so sad now because I have to buy ALL of my veggies.
AirViolet
I have been putting off decluttering my home. I have committed to working each day for 30 minutes on one area. My problem is that I go from spot to spot and it looks like I haven’t accomplished anything.
Heather Barlow
Canning. I know I need to, but haven’t found the time.
Amy G
I’ve been putting off making an appointment with my primary to talk about adult ADD!!! Seriously, lol! My best friend from school was diagnosed in her 30′s and with her new persepective on herself and thinking about me with that, and me doing a lot of research on adult ADD and ADD/girls/women, I have to say – “yeah, that’s me!!!” But, of course, I have not made an appointment to talk about it! lol.
Martha
Oh my good Lord….what haven’t I been putting off…getting rid of old clothes so I can have more storage…organizing my library so I can find pertinent information easier…trying to make more storage inside a 1977 singlewide because outside gets too hot or too cold…and living in the Great Pacific Northwet…too wet…not to mention not secure in the least…trying to improve home security in what is essentially a big metal box….some days the list seems endless and overwhelming…like I’m trying to figure out how to get an elephant into a refridgerator. I also find it impossible to just sit down, give up, and die. I may be frustrated, and want to figure out a better way, but just give up? Ah…no…not happening here.
Dianna A
Organization organization, getting rid of things that are
Not helping me with being prepared, this way there is more
Room for those preparedness items!
Ken
PUTTING OFF fully getting my self right with God. With the Apocalypse soon to be here, decided to really start working on it more each and every day.
Meghan Gaskins
Getting Organized. I could see what I have and have not managed to scrounge up, put away, and start storing up if I could just get organized. It would also help going forward to help take advantage of all the free, but do I need it, type items that I come across as I could tell at a glance!
Carrie
I have been putting off cleaning my spare room out. I need it clean to make room for my canned items. I also have to break down and take the sewing machine I got in to find out why it doesn’t work. It doesn’t help out just setting around broke down:-(
Stacy Hargrove
I NEED to get a solar-powered generator! I have been doing a little research but can’t decide which one is the best! I also need more water stored!! That’s my biggest issue right now! I just updated my EDC and bought some more propane… It’s a never ending job!!!:)
crystal pennington
I have slacked off getting organized and I so need to purchase more food, I need a wood heating stove and Also need water barrels , In other words I am way behind , but financially it is so hard to do
Siouxsie Spicher
I have been putting off learning to can. The simple fact that a storm destroyed our greenhouse and everything inside except 4 brave pepper plants. Since I can not can anything from the greenhouse this year, and our children are now adults…we are turning a spare room off the kitchen into a large pantry/apothecary. I am still educating family on preparedness but only convinced grandpa in the benefits of being prepared.
Kaye
I have been wanting to build a decent solar oven, and small greenhouse, but have been so busy with the the garden and canning I haven’t got to it yet…I really need to get this done!
Janice Snow
I routintly put off cleaning the house… right now there are so many things to do outside that I can easily justify it. In spite of getting my garden in late, the Lord has blessed it and I’m praying for a long warm fall to give everything plenty of time to mature.
Becky
Oh my this book is for me! What am I not putting off!?! Canning, soap making, spinning, first aid, de-cluttering, water storage, food storage….. Does the book come with a big kick in the pants too?
Carrie
I am putting off my bug out bag. The number one essential & I just don’t know where to start! I have just started preparing and it is so overwhelming.
esp
Pruning my raspberry canes. Getting the basement decluttered and organized so we can find what we need when we need it. Buying a fire extinguisher or two for the house and basement….the list goes on.
Carla
I’ve been putting off cleaning and organizing the house so I can be more efficient, and get in more supplies. I’ve also been putting off grocery shopping for storing supplies like I should, because I hate grocery shopping!
Craig L Johnson
the nick of time! its only 1138 CST.
Learning more about food and water storage and taking it further. We have a variety of ways to prepare food both on and off grid….but havent really thought further than filling our pantry with stuff (which isnt really that large…) So I would say thats something we need to work on and this book could help! Ty