Yesterday, when I was visiting my mom, I picked up a book off her shelf -- a procrastinator's guide to housekeeping and after stealing it from her house and bringing it home, in an effort to avoid the real housework all around me, I've been reading it. There are some very interesting insights into why I can't seem to get my house/life under control. The major one that stuck with me is my life-long gift honed by years of ceaseless practice -- avoidance behavior. (I'm sharpening my skills even now)
The author claims that "cleanies" are people who get up in the morning with a mental plan of what needs to be done around the house and do it. first thing. no lying on the couch or calling a sister to complain about how overwhelming it all is. no checking email first. just get up, get dressed and do the tasks for the day. She claims that working this way enables you to be done by 10 in the morning and then have the rest of the day free to do whatever it is that makes you happy.
Her premise is that "messies" really are happier when their environment is beautiful and that they really want to be organized but they have any number of psychological hangups which prevent them from ever really getting the job done. So days go by and the messes multiply and then it is beyond dealing with. She advocates going room by room to declutter first -- being generous to Goodwill as you go. Group like things together near the places they are most often used. Next you set up a uniform, cataloged, labeled organized storage system. Identify your biggest struggles and set up a system that is fast and easy to attack it (she gives suggestions).
For maintenance, she has a set of index cards with daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual tasks. She puts them in a book in plastic sleeves (like a photo album) and uses a watersoluble marker to check off tasks and then erases when it is time to start again.
Lots of the ideas could be helpful for me. I feel like I never have time to do anything because I spend so much time not doing the things that need to be done. I'm not an overprogrammer like some of my sisters -- I don't have time. You can tell I don't have time because my house is out of control. But my house is out of control because I'm not using the time I have effectively. Maybe because it takes too long to do the job right.
She says it is more important to do the job than to do it right. Better to swiffer instead of hands and knees mop than to do nothing.
She also talks a little about including kids in the chores. This is something I need to look into. I feel like I do many of the jobs that they could because it is just easier to do it myself than to harangue them. I notice frequently that they are developing many of my bad habits -- tossing clothes on the floor. Leaving things out. Stacking papers everywhere. Keeping everything. I think it will be better for them to unlearn those habits now if they can so they'll have new habits in place when they are off on their own.
Anyway. So I was so excited by what I read that I had to blog about it. Maybe I'll call a sister to discuss where I should start on my new plan. Maybe I'll make some lists or stacks or curl up on the couch to read some more good tips. After I finish reading some stuff on the internet, of course . . .
And when you've finished calling your sister about it, you can go to the computer and write out your plan. At which point you are so exhausted from all the effort of thinking about it that you'll go back to the same old ways!
ReplyDeleteAt least that is what happens to me.
I loved this post, it was very insightfull!
ReplyDeleteI will always be greatful and amazed at what mothers do for the family! I believe that it is harder than the work men usally do out of the home! ;)