Some of my original readers may have noticed that I've been avoiding one subject for.ev.er... The state of my house. At some point it just got old to post every single day that I still did nothing toward my larger goal of seeing my floor, eh, I mean, getting my house under control. It's been a long time since one of my 'bursts of productivity' where I pretend to be a real person for a few days just to hit a bump in the road and land right back in square one.
The bad news is that I have a LOT of mess backed up from months of doing nothing. I mean, it's not worth a call to child services or anything... I halfway did the dishes and kept the laundry going, but usually only once we were totally out of forks or socks or towels.
The good news is that I feel different now. I don't feel like I'm going to scrub every inch of my house and then neglect it for 3 more months like my usually cleaning pattern. I feel like I'm going to slowly clean it, little by little, so hopefully I won't burn out and crash with the slightest little bump in my schedule.
I've been doing my best to pick up after myself and take a few minutes to teach and reinforce to the kids where the laundry/toy/coat actually belongs. It's been a slow process over the last week but I'm hoping that it's a slow and steady climb to my ultimate goal- not panicing when people drop by, and not spending all day cleaning my house to never make any progress.
Way back in the day when I was an 18 year old newlywed I had joined Flylady after reading an article in the paper. I moved straight into the wife role from living with my parents so though my mom had taught me all about laundry, cooking, and all the other wifely crap I was still relaxing from not having a 'boss' telling me what to do when. Flylady was great before I had kids and even when I had a newborn that wouldn't go along behind me and mess up all my progress, but once my life changed I clipped Flylady's wings.
After 6 long years I recently stopped by her site on a whim to see if I could possibly work it into my super busy schedule of stressing about my life while sitting on the couch. I signed myself back up for the e-mails and have been taking it painfully slow. Today I spent 15 minutes cleaning my shower that Mr. Wright has been asking me to do forever, 15 minutes clearing off my sewing table so I have some hope of ever sewing there again, and 15 minutes decluttering my SCARY laundry room. Did it get done and now I have awesome after pictures?? Of course not... but I did start something that I haven't done in a while, and 15 minutes tomorrow sounds a lot more do-able than finishing a whole huge organizational project in one day.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Back To Basics
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2 Thoughts From Others:
FlyLady and I have had an on again, off again relationship for about 4 or 5 years - I signed up for her emails but to a dummy account because, whew, there are a lot of them. Eventually I requested they stop. I bought her book and whenever I get completely out of control pick it up and try to get re inspired....hmmm, maybe I should do that tonight....as it's been waaaay to long since my floor has seen a mop, etc etc (two dogs, a cat, a potty training toddler and a husband who wears his shoes in the house - why bother). I think I always dive in to fast - trying to do all my routines and all my lists the first week perfectly. Before I know it, I'm as behind as I was before my perfect week (or two) and now feel even worse about because I was able to maintain for a (short) while, proving, it can in fact be done.
Sheesh, sorry about the book - all I meant to say was sounds like you're doing it the right way and I'm thinking I should follow your lead, dust of the timer and get to work 15 minutes at a time.
15 mins at a time is a good reminder that its doable and that 15 mins in an area is better than no mins. I think your way makes sense. Little at a time...
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