Laundry Challenge Week

I decided to try out the idea of challenging myself to spend an extra 20 minutes every day on one aspect of cleaning. This week, the clean laundry has been piling up in a huge tower, the dirty laundry is constantly threatening to erupt into mould and I still haven't put the room itself back together since the great laundry transformation where we added a shower at Christmas time. So 7 days of laundry challenge it is! Today I set the oven timer for 20 minutes and went for it! I got all the towels folded, and discovered there wasn't much more to the clean clothes once they were cleared! The wash load in the machine got put in the dryer, and I tidied up the dirty pile of towels and clothes that built up, ready to put on more washing during the day. A second load is in the machine now. I feel so good having done this, and am beginning to see how its possible with time allocation to actually keep up. For some reason, I really *need* the time set, I felt good simply walking away, even though it wasn't completely finished, I could step away from the room, knowing I'd done more in the laundry today than any other day in the past week! I feel like its a bit of a breakthrough about how to make sure daily jobs get done. Allow the same amount of uninterupted time (or mosty uninterrupted) every day, for different tasks, regardless of what else is happening in life. I'll be checking back on this theory! In the meantime, today's challenge was to spend 20 minutes in the laundry. Tomorrow I am going to find some aspect of the laundry to focus on. In my case it will probably be clearing the contents of the laundry off my back verandah (which roughly translates to clean out the cupboards!)

Working Smart

Today was bin day. I'm not very organised, hence the interest in how to organise my energy better. One thing I've learnt, at least a little bit, is the value of working smart. Something I'm proud to have accomplished, almost regularly, is the simple art of cleaning out the fridge before bin day. That way at least I don't have ikky stuff in my fridge for more than a week, and what is in the bin thats on the iffy side doesnt sit there for 6 days attracting the fly population of the whole street.

Sometimes I get it done on Tuesday night, sometimes I get it done thoroughly, including wiping down every shelf. Other times I toss the clearly too-old leftovers that stare at me as soon as I open the door, but don't get to the slightly iffy food lurking at the back of the bottom shelf. How smart I work is still variable on a lot of other factors, but if I get SOMETHING out of the fridge on bin day, I give myself a pat on the back for working smart that day! I also try to do a quick '27 fling boogie' (flylady again!) around the house to ditch any more stuff that I don't need as the bin is ready to go out. If its not too full, I make sure to try to fill it up from rubbish I don't need or old broken toys, anything I can get into the bin. For more info on 27 fling boogie visit www.flylady.net There are plenty of other examples of working smart. One I also do regularly is to open all the mail at the recycling bin. Junk mail and envelopes go straight into the bin, never coming into the house, because they don't need to be inside cluttering up the house. Then filing goes away straight away and bills go to be paid. One I don't do (because my kitchen sink is often full) is to fill a sink with hot soapy water before you start to cook, and as you cook, used utensils go straight in the sink and you wash up as you go. A friend of mine downloads her photos at the end of every week. She also sorts them at the same time into the various albums that she then prints when she has enough photos, eg. an album for each of her daughters and one for the family. I find myself not as organised as that, but when I do download photos (I try to do it monthly) I save them into a folder under the year and month, with months labelled 1- Jan 2013; 2- Feb 2013; etc so they stay in order. That way its easy to find by date. What 'working smart' tips do you have?

Getting dressed up in the morning

The amazing Flylady (www.flylady.net)suggests that every day we get dressed up all the way to lace-up shoes. I understand the theory of her logic, that being all dressed including shoes would trigger a sense of purpose. Only for me, that just didn't happen. I put shoes on and felt no different to being comfortably barefoot in my home. Except less comfortable.

But this week, as I tackled a particularly difficult knot in my very long hair, I had a lightbulb moment! For flylady, putting on her shoes is the ultimate symbol of her readiness for the world. For flylady, getting those shoes on was what made her feel 'fully prepared' to meet the world head on. I live in the subtropics. Shoes to me mean stinky feet and dull office jobs. They mean the opposite of comfortable, and are a reminder of how I prefer to be barefoot. However there are two things that symbolise my readiness to meet the world head-on. For me, having my hair recently fully brushed, and brushing my teeth mean that I'm ready for anything and feeling good about my level of preparation. Sometimes I go out without doing my hair properly, I give it a quick flick with the hairbrush and hide it all in a bun. I still go out, but I feel less perfect, less ready for the world. I know I'm hiding several knots in the bun! And brushing my teeth properly is much the same. The longer I take on my teeth, the more 'world ready' I am. So my version of 'getting dressed to lace up shoes' is 'brush my hair fully and clean my teeth thoroughly'. If I've done that at the beginning of the day, I feel more ready for what the day might bring, even ready for unexpected visitors, because I feel good about how I'm presenting myself, even if I'm barefoot! So if lace-up shoes don't resonate with you, maybe the shoes aren't your trigger for 'readiness' - maybe its wearing a bra, or putting on lipstick, or wearing your favourite jewelry. Maybe its starting the day with washing your hair. If you stop and think, you'll know what it is. That part of getting 'ready' that you wouldn't dream of leaving out when going somewhere important like a wedding or party or work, but you might not do every time you go to the corner store. That part of getting ready that might be difficult or annoying, or not seem important to do every day, but when you think about it, makes you feel good, even if there is no wedding to go to! I'm going to make an effort with my hair and teeth and let you know the results.

Being Prepared

I've had almost no sleep, my husband was with my Dad until 3am this morning as he tranferred from the nursing home to hospital with pneumonia. I had 2 children waking up in turns most of the night. The hospital kindly phoned me at 5:24 in the morning, simply to tell me that Dad was being admitted, breaking what little sleep I'd had. And so todays blog is about preparation. I was a Girl Guide. Be Prepared was their motto. I don't think at the tender age of 15 I had a clue what they meant. Now I believe I know what they mean, however my execution is lacking. My mother in law is prepared. Her mother, incidentally was a Girl Guide Leader for many years! Or perhaps it is a generational thing. She has her house and life organised in such a way that unexpected visitors simply mean closing a couple of doors (like the always busy sewing room), and she's ready. Visitors on short notice? Quick mop and she's ready. Visitors for morning tea? Defrost biccies. Visitors for lunch? Defrost some quiche. Unexpected illness? More defrosting. A chest freezer is pretty central to her level of preparedness!

My point is that no matter what the occasion, she's ready. She'll be having some minor surgery soon. You can bet she's cooking extra meals now, in preparation for leaving my father in law to fend for himself. One of her most amazing acts of preparation is her amazing potting efforts. An avid gardener, in the drought a few years ago, she chose the important plants, transferred them to pots, and watered them from the dam. I just hope that I can begin to become somewhat prepared, even if it is not as spectacularly well done as my Mother in Law.

Shifting the dust around

Today's muse is about rearranging. Is it simply shifting chaos from one place to another or does it achieve an outcome? Apparently rearranging is an integral part to decluttering. Why I wonder to myself, as my recent 'rearrangment' projects have involved minimal decluttering.(I moved a kitchen bench and transferred a low set of drawers from one wall to another in our entry) One website suggests that we need to put our belongings where they will be used. Another, 'becoming minimalist' suggests that rearranging achieves little, and only in the short-term. A host of others turn up very little on the subject despite google hits on 'rearrange vs declutter'. Which leads me to blog in a fly by the seat of my pants kind of way. Many times I stop my husband from random acts of junk rearranging. He is quite the keen rearranger, he likes to move junk from one room to another. He is especially talented at dumping junk anywhere that isn't currently being used, even if it means out of a cupboard onto an exposed surface. That kind of rearranging seems to be without purpose and unhelpful. Sometimes when you rearrange, you also sort, like going through children's drawers for outgrown clothes, or your own clothes cupboard for things you haven't worn since before the first baby was born. Those kinds of rearranging are productive, especially if after the sorting, the unwanted things are removed from the house immediately, or as soon as possible. Don't be me and end up with enough to supply a market stall for months! And other times, the rearranging is transformational, or practical, without throwing much away. Lets face it, sometimes just moving the couch exposes a mess that really needs a tidy up behind it, and that being cleaned up can only be a good thing! I think my recent rearranging efforts fall into this category - with our centre kitchen bench moved, there is more open space in the kitchen, its an area that is easier to keep clean as it no longer looks like 2 corridors. And before the bench found its new home, my husband mopped the area it HAD been in thoroughly, and gave previously unreached spots a good cleanup. Today's drawers moving gives us unfettered access to the garage from the entry again, and a chance to give a very good tidy up to the area it had been sitting as well as under the rug that I had to move in the proces. Its possible that moving things around can take away from more dramatic clean-up throw out types of organising work, but on the whole, I think that it is a gentle way to keep energy up on the bigger projects. For instance, now that I've moved the drawers (which hold our paper files), I feel more like sorting out the filing isn't such a big job!

Getting started

I often find that getting started is what undoes my energy. I'm too busy conserving energy (sitting on facebook) or simply avoiding taking action on the things that simply have to be done. Then I find myself wasting considerable time THINKING about what needs doing, whilst making no progress whatsoever. This is an almost daily occurrence with me and it has the most crazy simple solution. On every occasion I've found myself suffering from inertia, procrastination, or totally overwhelmed, the ONLY solution is to just get on with it and GET STARTED.

Sometimes its as simple as reminding myself to just start moving. Other times I need prompts, like my list above the sink that outlines the kitchen and laundry hour of work that theoretically gets done daily. Sometimes I really need baby steps, and I use the 'Unfuck your habitat" App onthe iphone to get me started using random 5 minute 'unfucking' jobs. The app can be bought from http://unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com/ Breaking down the work into teeny tiny manageable pieces sees me get started, and begin to get through things. It also helps to be able to do things quickly between interruptions the more important work of children :) Speaking of getting started, today is one of the days where I'm struggling with getting momentum going, so I'm leaving the blog to get back to tidying the house and attempting to make it presentable. I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for getting started!

Day 2 - Unravelling!

Something I'm learning about this blog thing already is that I need to strike while the words are there. So many little thoughts since yesterdays blog and not one of them to be found now! This morning was one of those mornings where it all goes wrong. So its 11:30am and I'm feeling like I've nothing to add to the world about energy organising, as mine isn't! But I suppose I do have some thoughts about what I do even when its all going wrong, and what I'd like to remember to do. Firstly, drink water. I haven't had any today,so I'm going to get myself a glass right now. It'll improve my mood, my health, my skin and hair. Can't go wrong with extra water.

Then there is taking a long view. In the big scheme of things, is the current crisis actually ginormous? Usually not. Taking the long view helps me chill out and relax about whatever seems to be wrong. Refusing to stay at school? Big deal, it'll work out. It just takes a bit of thinking and time and calm. Also I do Tai Chi. When it all seems too much, I rely on my 'walking meditation' to restore a sense of balance. Whatever style of meditation, or just a short walk (even around the outside of the house) can bring on some soothing feelings and a nice rush of oxytocin. And lastly, do something about it. Thats the last thought for today. Bad morning? well when it stops being a crisis and you've calmed down with a drink of water and a few laps in the pool (whatever exercise or meditation you prefer) then pick up and keep going. Thats what I'm doing right now, tackling the dishes. Start the morning at 11:45, but at least it'll be started :)