Left no crumbs

The title of my blog post is the latest middle school slang. Apparently if someone "leaves no crumbs" they did something really well. I wish my passengers would do more of that. They're making sure I always have a project to work on for my blog. I'm beginning to run out of new options for tasks I can do to detail my car. My goal is to get creative and find an exciting job to do next week. 

This week I cleaned my dash and steering wheel and dusted the infotainment system (I had no idea it was called that). An infotainment system is the digital system that allows entertainment, information, and controls various vehicle functions. Anyway it's clean now. I also used toothpicks, cleaning spray, and a microfiber cloth to clean the cupholders and gear shifter. 

My occupation is falling under letter H in the Depiction of The Meaning and Attentional Components model which is Attentional Boredom. When an occupation causes Attentional boredom there is more demand than available resources and overstimulation occurs. (Westgate EC & Steidle B, 2020) To be fair this is happening in most areas of my life simply because there are more tasks to be completed each day than time available to do them. In this case the demand is cleaning my care and the resource is available time. 

It's interesting to me that boredom can come from overstimulation but I can see how my desire to spend time car detailing almost becomes something I avoid and feel resentful about because I know I need to do it and there is a time constraint attached. Now that I have done most of the projects I was looking forward to doing, some of the novelty of detailing has worn off. I have never been particularly excited about cleaning my car but I wouldn't say it's a job that bores me. I will continue to put extra effort into making my car look its best now that I have practiced this occupation and found jobs that are easy to do that make my car look nice. 

Westgate EC, Steidle B. Lost by definition: Why boredom matters for psychology and society. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2020;14:e12562. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12562

Fresh Air

I've started several of my detail jobs with the disclaimer that I thought the project would be a waste of time or that I wouldn't be interested in ever doing that specific task again but ended up loving the result. Well this week is not one of those weeks. I decided to clean my air vents and the results were anti-climatic. 

I started out by vacuuming each vent. 

I used soapy water and Q-tips to make sure I was dusting all the surfaces inside the vents. 

I'm not showing the dusty Q-tips because....ew. There honestly wasn't much to clean in the vents, maybe it would have been a more satisfying job if I had a more impressive before and after. 

Accomplishing work on my occupation this week was difficult. We had the flu go through the house. Each of my girls got sick then me and my son, it was long and drawn out and it was all I could do to get the basics done this week. Working on car detailing just felt like another assignment to get done due to my circumstances. 

The occupation I chose can be a co-occupation or it can be done independently. The first two projects I did were with my father in law and I plan to do a few more with him as he has tools and knowledge about projects I'm interested in that I hope he will share with me. My son also helped me with my occupation one week and we worked together to get my car's exterior washed and the interior dusted and windows cleaned. However I've done several weeks of work on my own without anyone teaching me or helping me and I didn't have any problems with that. 

When I participated in working on my car as a co-occupation there was definitely shared physicality. I shared the same somewhat small space with another person working on the same car and sharing the same activity. As far as emotionality, in both cases the individuals involved had shown interest in and wanted to help with detailing the car. Everyone enjoyed the experience and had a positive experience. There was also shared intentionality as both times I had company the individuals were invested in a successful outcome as much as I was. Both my father in law and son wanted to help and appreciated the end result of the work we put in. Roles were also clearly understood in each case. When I worked with my father in law he was the expert and I was the student, while when I worked with my son I was the teacher and he was content to receive and follow through on instructions when needed. 

Wanda Mahoney & Elysa Roberts (2009) Co‐occupation in a day program for adults with developmental disabilities, Journal of Occupational Science, 16:3, 170-179, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2009.9686659 

Just Roll With It #6

 This week for my new occupation I worked on my tires. I actually anticipated that this project was going to be a waste of time and that I wouldn't be interested in ever doing it again but I really liked the result. I used a rag and Meguiars's Hot Shine tire spray. We've got the drill down at this point, like with most Meguiar's products it's an apply and buff off situation.

This project is done for pure vanity. The spray doesn't provide UV protection or clean the tires it just gives them a glossy deep black finish. The combination of silicone polymers helps make the rubber water resistant to create a longer lasting finish. 

Before

After

I'm still appreciating that I picked this occupation. I've never kept my car so clean consistently before and I like the habits I've formed to accomplish this. 

In the OTPF-4 we learn that a context is both the personal and environmental factors that are particular to an individual (American, 2020). The measure of success for patients is based on whether they are able to participate comfortably not just that they are able to participate, have meaning, and purpose in what they are doing. I found that many of the projects I have chosen to do for my occupation would be readily available to anyone who was interested in car detailing. Many of the tasks I have completed on my car have been low cost, low skill and would be accessible or easily accommodated for many with various disabilities. 

As I thought about my occupation I realized there could be some environmental barriers such as bad weather or individuals who had access to a persons vehicle who didn't respect the work that had been done. I know these would affect my success in this occupation. While I would have satisfaction in doing projects I would get very discouraged if I didn't get to enjoy the results of my hard work. 

There could also be personal barriers such as not seeing the need to keep a car clean because a person grew up riding in a car that wasn't maintained or having severe mental illness and finding it difficult to maintain a project that needs steady upkeep. At this time in my life my biggest personal barrier is time restraints and choosing which areas of my life need my time the most. I like that there are tasks that I can carry out that have an impressive result for minimal time and work. 

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001 

Workin' at the car wash, yeah!

This week I had grand plans to clean the engine compartment of my highlander but needed to save that for another week. I rolled out of bed Saturday morning to take my car through the car wash. This still feels like a luxury because we always washed our own cars growing up and on a tight budget car wash money is the first thing on my expense list to go. I found a place in Meridian that does an early bird special for $5 so I always go there when I'm not washing my car at home. My son caught me on my way out the door and I loved having a little buddy join me for my occupation this time. 

We dried the car, washed the inside of the windows, wiped down the seats and dashboard, and vacuumed. 

Crossing my fingers it doesn't rain for a few days. We hit Sarah's bagels on the way home but made ourselves wait to try the cinnamon sugar kind so we could keep the car crumb free.....at least for the morning. 

I'm finding I'm really enjoying my new occupation. I didn't realize how much noise having my car messy made in my head. When I put just a little effort into it everyday I appreciate the time I spend driving and riding in it. Nothing gets lost or forgotten in the backseat, and I like having something in my life feel put together.

I found the concept of flow from lecture and the article we read this week to be really interesting and something I'd like to have a part of my life more often. Flow is characterized by having a balance between the challenge of a task and skills possessed. There is an importance of clear goals, feedback, and concentration to the point of losing self-consciousness and negative thought. (Wright, Sadlo, Stew, 2007). I think I've experienced flow to a small degree with the occupation I have chosen. I don't feel like any of the projects I have done thus far have challenged my skill, but many of the other characteristics of flow have been met as I've worked on my car. I also don't think it's an activity I would ever do just for the sake of the enjoyment it gives as was explained about autotelic occupations. I have liked having clear goals, seeing the feedback of projects turning out how I want them to and losing track of time as I worked and listened to music. 

In order to experience flow more often with my occupation I would need to find a few projects that challenge my skill level. It may be hard to experience flow as I'm learning especially from someone else but as I do a challenging project again on my own I can see aspects of car detailing creating a state of flow for me. 

Reference

 Jonathan J. Wright , Gaynor Sadlo & Graham Stew (2007) Further Explorations into the Conundrum of Flow Process, Journal of Occupational Science, 14:3, 136-144, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2007.9686594