Ahhhh, Bliss

I have this counter. It has become my everything counter and it's where everything gets dumped. About 3 years ago I had it completely cleaned off and it stayed that way the entire time my husband was away on a business trip.  He came home. It became our dumping ground. Again. It's been driving me nuts for 3 years. I finally cleaned it off again.

Bliss=having a clean counter

Unfortunately, I found a new dumping ground. I cleaned off the dining table the other day so I put all the junk from the counter on it. It's the papers. I am buried in papers.  I just want to chuck the whole thing in the garbage. But I probably shouldn't, right? But I am determined to get it cleaned off this weekend. Well by Thanksgiving!

Temporary dumping ground :(

Procrastination

I used to be the queen of procrastination.  I would wait until the last minute to do just about anything. It's not that I did not want to do whatever task was at hand...I just always had something else that I thought needed my time and attention.

I am notorious for my to-do lists. Just ask my husband. I have paper lists, I have an app for lists. I have lists everywhere! Except my lists keep getting longer, and my time keeps getting shorter.  I have found what works best for me is to just slog through "the List." I stay focused, I stay on task, and I actually accomplish more than I had hoped.  Staying focused is not my strong suit.

Around Christmas time and into the new year, instead of hitting my to-do list regularly, I ignored it, almost entirely and enjoyed the time my husband was home on vacation. We played with the kids, we visited with friends, and we relaxed.  I am now paying for it, in the sense that I am out of practice of sticking with my tasks for the day.  In the last week, I hit it with renewed vigor and I am once again getting tasks accomplished.

I have found that having kids makes me more organized. Nothing brings on heart palpitations like trying to find your keys, loading up the car with snacks, etc that you forgot to prepare for the next outing, and being sidelined by 3 kids who all had to poop at the same time. Yeah, the last part happened to me once. It took us forever to get out of the house, which made us 15 minutes late for a class.

I now find myself creating my daily to-do list the night before. I have my gym bag packed for the next day along with snacks for the little kids while they are in childcare.  I have in my head what needs to be done and where I need to go for my errands.  I create my route for the day in order to be most efficient in getting out of the house, hit as many errands as possible in order to get the kids home before they collapse into a hot mess before lunch/nap time.  I am even going so far as to prep dinner during nap time so that at 5pm all I have to do is pop it into the oven instead of trying to prep while the baby falls apart because he is done for the day.

I am also fed up with the way my house looks and I am spending 30 minutes a day just trying to maintain the front hall, the family room, and the kitchen. Forget about everything else. I'll just have to tackle them on my cleaning days. But at least when Hubby or an unexpected guest walks in the door I no longer feel as embarrassed by the craziness of coats, boots, toys, and whatnot that they would have had to slog through in order to walk in.

I am not the most organized and of all the talents my mom possesses, I wish I had inherited her gene for getting things clean, organized, and done! My mom is a whirlwind and can make a house look sparkling in what appears to be minutes, while I find it very laborious and overwhelming and can take hours. Well, maybe someday I'll master her talent.

How do you keep on top of the housework? How do you stay motivated to accomplish your tasks? For me, this will always be my quest ;)

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Benjamin Franklin
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

Getting Focused

I'm a procrastinator. I was the students that was always up late finishing the paper that was due the next day. It's not that I mean to do it, but I think something more important or more immediate needs to be done....probably due to my lack of organization.  But I try to stay organized...I'm also a list maker. I love making lists and crossing things off my list and adding to my list :)

However, with doctor's orders to take it easy and the inability to do as much as I want to do and not being able to go to the gym has been frustrating. Not going to the gym does give me back about 2 hours in my day.  I've gotten my energy back, somewhat, so I'm doing what I can without overextending. If I get too tired, I pull back and hang out on the couch, usually crocheting a baby blanket...

So I decided to revaluate my "to-do" list. I have about 124+ things that are on my list...which is not including my other list for cleaning the house :)  I've tried to do the every other day thing...focus one day on the house, the next on errands and other "to-dos." But things weren't getting done to my satisfaction. So I revamped this week and I decided to give 2 days a week to cleaning, 2 days a week for errands/to-do, one day for playdates or catch-up and leaving my Saturday/Sunday to rest, do something fun (and non taxing with the family), visit friends, work on my beloved baby blankets, etc.  I'm now on Day 4 of my new regiment and my husband has commented the last 3 days that the kitchen and bathrooms look great! I'm getting more done, crossing more things off my list and not adding more! I'm finding that since I'm more focused I'm able to get more done in a shorter amount of time, which leaves me more time to rest and spend time with the kids.

I should also mention that I have started turning the computer off, and use it when I'm done with my housework/errands, and I've started going to bed earlier. It also helps that I'm not exhausted from going to the gym.  I think I was overdoing it at the gym and it was too much for me. I'm going to have to revaluate my work-out return after the baby arrives. I still have to work-out...I mean really, if it took me 4 1/2 years to get rid of the baby weight from Baby #1, then I  have to think about how I'm going to eat better and work out more efficiently after the arrival of Baby #3!

But all is well so far...let's see how long I can last!

Home Base Zone Part II

I'm still on my quest to organize my house. However, I have finally realized after 32 years, that this is not going to happen over night and I'm cutting myself a little slack. Not so much slack that I've abandoned my task, but enough to realize that just getting my Home Base Zone organized may take me more than a day.  If it's going to take me 2-3 days to get that small part of my house organized, it's going to take me all year to work on the rest of the house!

Yesterday, as I was wrapping some Mother's Day gifts for the grandmas and the Godmothers, I had to make a concerted effort to put away all of my supplies. Usually I leave them be because I'll get back to them. But I made a conscious effort to put everything away (even my son helped!) even though I wasn't done with my supplies. Then I spent an extra minute putting other things away. As a result, my living room is starting to look a little neater!

Today is my self-designated 30-minute "Clean Sweep."  I'm going to go through each of the boxes and just start putting them in piles:  trash, keep, donate, Swaptree.  (Swaptree is an online swap where I can trade books and music for other ones that I want. I've got a ton of books in great condition that I know that I will not read again. I don't want to donate them, but willing to trade them for books I do want. Saves me money...and if I'm careful to choose books that I really want, maybe I'll swap out more than I swap in???? Is that possible?)  My only concern is finding the 30 minutes to do this.  I can't do it when my littlest one is awake. So it's either before the kids wake up in the next 2 hours if they don't wake up any earlier or during afternoon naps. Let's hope I don't take one with them ;)

Here is my work in progress in my little corner of the world. It's been Day 2 and my counter has stayed clear!!!!  No pics of the counter, but instead pics of my nearly empty drawers.  As I needed items from the boxes I slowly and carefully put things back in drawers where I think I'll need them the most. Thoughtfully putting back items is helping me realize what I need on a regular basis.

Cabine with all of my cookbooks. I've decided to leave the bottom shelf for the cookbooks I use most often.  The middle shelf is the for the stationary I use on a regular basis: address books, cards, etc. The top shelf is for cook books that I use, maybe not on a regular basis.  I think I'm going to take them back down and go through them again in my 30 minute Clean Sweep.

Bottom drawer underneath the printer. My trusty labeler and a phone book. No longer a junk drawer!

The craft cabinet for the kids. In the tub I have coloring books, crayons, glue sticks, construction paper, stickers, and markers.  On the top shelf are the computer supplies: paper, photo paper, ink catridges.

My mostly cleaned out drawers. The items that are in the drawers are things that I used in the last 24 hours, so they stay. Just much more organized!

Ah, here is the Heather we know and love. The discomboubulation!!!  In case you thought aliens invaded my body, here are the two boxes of shtuff I have to go weed out.  Wish me luck. If you know me at all this is going to be the hard part!

I Need a Better System!

As you saw from some of my pictures in my series "A Week in the Life" you saw parts of my messy house. I had commented at least twice that I need a better system. I do, I really do!!!  Several years ago I bought the "The Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life." I currently cannot find that book, ironic, huh? So obviously I haven't organized my life.  I'm always a work in progress. The sad thing is that I'm better than I was 10-15 years ago.

I recently bought the book "The House that Cleans Itself." I'm always on the lookout for ways to be better organized and to find a better system. I also subscribe to the blog, Organizing Your Way.  I love the blogger's philosophy of helping you find ways that work for you! The blogger also happens to be the mom of 4 little girls, so I feel like I can relate (although I only have two!). 

The house has been driving me nuts, although it's really not that bad. But there are things out of place everywhere!  I hate when people come by unexpectedly and they see the chaos of my house.  So I'm determined to clean up and declutter!!!! Especially declutter!

The first step in the book was to do a flow chart of your home just to figure out all the areas in your house. The second part was to find your HomeBase Zone. The area that drives you the nuttiest. The place that makes you stressed out because it's not neat. It's also the place that gives you the most calm when it is clear, neat, and organized.  For me it's my kitchen counter next to my printer. It's the catchall for all things that come in the door: mail, school notes, receipts, new purchases, etc.  When we have a big family gathering it's the place that stresses out me and the Hubby.  I usually throw everything into a bin and shove it underneath the counter.  It's so nice when it's clear...but I know that all the crap is still lurking underneath.

After dinner last night, Hubby took the kids out to run errands. Unbeknownst to him I decided to start decluttering. Poor guy. I've included my work in progress. I managed to fill up at least two large boxes worth of stuff, most of which I'm sure I can throw away or find a new home for in their proper place.

I managed to clean off the countertop. There were cookbooks that I'm deciding what I should do with them. I've decided to pick and choose the ones that I definitely use and I'm going to give away the others.

This is what has been accumulating in the bottom cabinet underneath the printer. Yikes!

More stuff to sort, throw away, and donate.

This is the beautiful sight that greeted me this morning! Yay!  Only the essentials on the counter: the charging station, my labeler (which I can now fit into one of the many empty drawers and something I'm using all the time, now!), my router, my printer, a jar for writing utensils, my coupon holder, and my receipt). The coupon and receipt holders are left on top and in sight so that I remember to put coupons and receipts in there right away when I get home.  

By no means am I done with this area of the kitchen. Remember I have go through the two boxes of stuff. That's the hard part. I think I'm going to follow a "Clean Sweep" model and give myself 30 minutes to sort the boxes and decide what to do with the stuff I have.  Everything else is pitch or donate. Anybody need a cookbook?