The Importance of Proper Maintenance

I was raised by a single mom who didn’t choose to highlight the importance of maintaining cars.  As a teen, and a pretty sizable portion of my adult life, I thought nothing of driving around with the oil light on my dash lit up like a Christmas tree or with freakishly bald tires.  And when I say bald, I’m talkin’ slick bald with little wires coming out of the treads!

No, it didn’t occur to me that that little light on my dash was trying to alert me to add oil so my engine wouldn’t seize.  I seriously thought the light was an optional warning!  Nor, did I understand that when driving with bald tires, I was in danger of sliding off the road while taking a corner a little too fast (yes, this happened) or worse, slamming into another car.

Thanks to my husband, I am a now a recovering car-maintenance neglect-er.  I’m now a regular at Jiffy Lube and the tire shop!

You’ve probably guessed that today, the last installment of this five-part series on Creating and Sustaining Momentum, is about the importance of Maintenance.

Yes, car maintenance is important, but we’re talking about “all-things-life” maintenance.

BIG FLASHING WARNING: Neglecting maintenance, in any area of your life, is a surefire way to throw off the momentum that you’ve worked so hard to build.

It’s not rocket-science, it just takes some intentionality, scheduling, and record-keeping.

Pretty much anything you do in life could have some sort of maintenance plan associated with it and provide benefit to you and even the world at large (dramatic sounding, isn’t it!).

Now, don’t let that last statement overwhelm you.  A maintenance plan doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out process.  For example, it only takes 10 minutes per week to water (maintain) the plants in my house and another 10 minutes per year to give them a dose of plant vitamins (I don’t really do this step, but I should, and now that I wrote it, I think I will); whereas, it takes 50 minutes, three or four times per week, to get my exercise (maintaining my physical health) by walking the dogs.  Whether you’re maintaining a plant or your body, both are important for you overall well-being.

Let’s look at a few examples of areas in our lives that could benefit from some maintenance:

MIND/BODY/SOUL 

• Prayer/Meditation/Exercise:  Although you may have a prayer/meditation and exercise practice set up, you should check in from time to time to see how you might switch it up to provide more meaning and benefit.  Consider joining a new class or group, or attending a retreat.
• Meal-Planning:Planning and preparing healthy meals is an excellent way to maintain a healthy mind and body.  Try to avoid getting stuck in meal ruts where you eat the same thing all the time.  Listen to your body, it has a tendency to speak pretty clearly about what it needs.  Buying local fruits and vegetables seasonally is not only good for your health, but good for your community as well.
• Doctor appointments/checkups:Keep up with your annual appointments to maintain good health.  Yes, going to the doctor can be a hassle, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not really that big of a deal and the benefits can be huge.
• Mental Health:Seek help from a counselor, when needed, to maintain a healthy mind, body and soul.  Don’t be shy or embarrassed in this area.  Everyone can benefit from a good counseling session!
• Continuing Education: Never stop learning and growing.  Sign up for a class, go to a conference, join a knitting group, and read books.  Feeding your brain and your curiosity is an important step in maintaining you overall health.

RELATIONSHIPS:  

• Relationships take maintenance to grow and stay strong.  When you neglect an important relationship, everything else around you has a tendency to fall apart.  Spend quality time with those you love and limit your engagement with those you don’t.

PHYSICAL ASSETS, EQUIPMENT & FINANCES:

• Proper maintenance of vehicles, your house, equipment (computer, workshop, kitchen, lawn, etc.) is crucial in order to avoid unnecessary and costly repairs and purchases.
• Financial advisers will suggest you visit with them at least once per year.  There’s good reason for this: Maintaining a budget, a savings plan, and an emergency fund will protect you in the short and long term.

If you don’t already have a stellar maintenance, scheduling and/or logging system, following are a few suggestions:

NOTE:  While there are lots of ways to organize your maintenance schedule/log, the important part is to find one that works for you and that you’ll actually utilize.  You may find that one method works for a while and then you find something that you like better later.  That’s OK, just pick a system and get started now.  

Paper or Electronic Calendar.  Sit down at the beginning of the year and schedule your reminders/appointments.  This may seem daunting, but it’s really not.  As long as you have a clear idea of what needs to be scheduled, you can probably get this task done in less than 30 minutes.  Of course, unless you already have an appointment scheduled with doctors, vets, and counselors, you’ll have to be flexible.  The key is to get it laid out in your calendar with the “give or take a few days” mindset.  The further out you schedule your appointments, the easier it is to get the day/time you want.

Excel spreadsheet.  You can create a very simple (or complex, depending on your skill level) custom spreadsheet to track and log all your life-maintenance items, but if you have a newer version of Excel, I recommend you check out their awesome pre-made templates.  In Excel, click NEW, and in the search box, type “maintenance” and/or “log” and you will find several great options.  I love playing around in Excel, but why reinvent the wheel?  Just take one of Excel’s templates and customize it for yourself or use it exactly as they’ve created it.

App:  “There’s an app for that!”  Seems like this is the phrase that comes up in most “How do I _____?” conversations.  Yes, there are apps to keep up with all your maintenance needs.  I’ve heard good things about both these apps: Bright Nest, a free app for home maintenance, and Car Minder Plus, a car maintenance app that is $2.99, and from the reviews looks like it could be money well spent.  For financial tracking, I trust my financial rockstar friend, Scott Alan Turner‘s top three suggestions: Mint, Every Dollar, You Need a Budget.  Because the app world is ever-changing, do some browsing in the app store for your device and see what would work best for you.

Service Provider Reminders:  My vehicle maintenance reminder for my oil change is the mileage sticker they place on my windshield.  If you go to the same shop for car maintenance, they’ll remind you of other things that should be done to your vehicle when you pay them a visit.  When you go to your doctor and dentist visits, make sure to schedule your next appointment before you leave the office and ask them for an email or text reminder.  Even if I’m not positive I can make that appointment, I will at least schedule it and then make a call to change the appointment if necessary.  Same goes for the vet!        

Notebook.  Last, but not least, use the good old pencil and paper method.  My husband is a dynamo with keeping up with most everything in his work and personal life, our home maintenance, and our financial stuff via this method, and he is one of the most organized people I know.

Do you have a system that you’d add to this list?  Share in the comments area.

When you put organizational systems in place like these, you’re making your life less stressful by not allowing things to fall behind or to be missed entirely.  You’re also clearing brain space up for your day-to-day life.

Here’s to finding a system that works for you and maintaining the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build!

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today.

Jill xx

Momentum Series Archive: 

Click here for week 1.

Click here for week 2.

Click here for week 3.

Click here for week 4.

You’re reading week 5, which is the last post in this series on Creating and Sustaining Momentum.  I hope you’ve enjoyed and found value in this series.  Please share with your family, friends, and co-workers.