THIS WEEK’S HOT TOPIC TO TAME IS: 7 DAILY TASKS
WELCOME TO WEEK 7!
Ready for another week? Since we are on Week 7, I thought we would do something with the number 7 that is a little different than the first 5 weeks. For an overview of what we’ve done so far, you can click on any of the weeks below:
Week 1 – Kitchen Sink & Countertops
Week 2 – The Drop Zone
Week 3 – Entertainment Center
Week 4 – Living Room (flat surfaces)
Week 5 – Bookshelves, Books, Magazines
And I guess you could say that Week 6 was about Building Relationships.
Where the first several weeks have been about decluttering and organizing specific areas or things, this week we will be doing more of a ‘process’ or ‘system’ or ‘building a routine’ type of challenge.
Ready? Let’s go!
Your Daily Routine
I’ve been reading a fascinating book on habits called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Here’s the affiliate link to check it out or to purchase: https://amzn.to/2EaYVAS
Basically, your brain does not want to use energy (an it’s a major energy hog) so it creates habits. Things we do on autopilot. Things we do that don’t require any brain power or thinking on our part. In order to use that to our advantage, we can create habit loops that work for us, not against us. Habits that make life easier and simpler. And routine that becomes habit has a positive affect on our lives and those around us.
Here’s what that routine looks like in general:
Let’s take a closer look…
1. Dishes. This goes along with Week 1 where our challenge was to do all the dishes and clear off the counters. Every day. Once you make doing the dishes after dinner and running the dishwasher before going to bed a daily habit, you will notice the big impact that this has. Going into the kitchen the next morning will be a wonderful surprise not an overwhelming dread the minute your eyes open in the morning.
2. Mail. Again, if you develop a pattern that you do every day, habit and routine take over and it makes things easy. Throw away junk mail immediately. Better yet, opt out. Decide where to put mail that needs attention then determine the process to take care of it. For example, when we get a bill that needs to be paid, it goes on Mr. Wonderful’s keyboard so he can pay it on Sunday evening, which is our bill paying day. Any catalogs or magazines will be put in the magazine rack (if it’s more of a ‘junk mail’ type of catalog, I will scan it as I bring it into the house then discard it).
3. Clothing/Laundry.
Ugh. Never ending, isn’t it? Determine how often you really need to do laundry to keep up with it. Once a week? Twice a week? Twice a day? Whatever it is, accept it. That’s just the way it is, whether you like it or not or wish it was different. And do you know what was recently an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me? A fellow professional organizer pointed out the delay button on the washing machine. Where has that been all my life? Put in a load, set the timer, then switch to the dryer when it is convenient for you. Remember when doing laundry, it also includes folding AND putting everything away. Do not allow yourself to keep it in the basket (or worse yet the couch, dining room table, or your bed) waiting to be folded. Plan for enough time to fully do the laundry – wash, dry, fold, put away.
4. Bed. Make your bed. For the importance, check out this YouTube video that has over 4 million (yes, MILLION) views - Inspiring: Change the World by Making Your Bed
5. Pick up/Put away. Banish “I’ll do it later” from your vocabulary. This is where it starts. I know we’ve all heard this time and time again. If you take it out, put it away. So simple, yet so hard. Do your future self a favor and just put it away. It only takes a second and then you also know where it is when you need it again. Find homes for everything. Then return things immediately after using.
6. Quick clean. Those wipes sure do come in handy. Clean up spills, crumbs, globs of toothpaste, smears, fingerprints. Vacuum or sweep high traffic areas.
7. Close doors and drawers. This makes such a visual difference. Try it. Close all the doors and drawers. Too much stuff to do that? Time to declutter! Closets, cupboards, and drawers can only hold x number of things. Learn their capacities and boundaries. Think about what the pretty pictures of homes that you like. I’ll bet that they do not have clothes hanging out of overstuffed drawers.
This next suggestion I am going to give you is such a gamechanger. A simple thing to do really. And when you are consistent, it’s easy. At the end of each day, make a sweep through the house and ‘tidy’ up. Put things where they belong. Straighten up. Do a quick tour of the house, picking up and cleaning up. It’s not meant to be a full Saturday morning cleaning routine. It’s meant to close up the house each night with everything in their places and basic cleanliness accomplished so that the next morning you are off to a great start.
So there you go! Build routines and habits. Your future self will thank you.
Do you have another habit/routine that you do as well?