Early this morning I made myself stop what I was doing and take the time to peel and freeze three very ripe bananas. It took less than one minute. However, trying to decide if this was a good time to stop what I was doing and actually complete this task took me longer than one minute.
Do you find yourself doing this same thing? Things like walking past some towels that are folded but still need to be put in the cabinet? Or knowing that a plant needs watering, or something needs refilling, or some shoes put away? Just little things that can be done in probably less than a minute, but for some reason you find yourself walking past them because you think, "I don't have time to do this right now."
The reality is doing those little tasks the moment you recognize they need doing takes much less time (and mental energy) than thinking about them, not doing them, and nagging yourself about leaving them undone.
What are some things you can do now instead of putting them off to later?
I try to always carry something that goes in the room I am going to as I head that way. For example, we have a basket at the top of our stairs leading to the basement (where our schoolroom, craft area, workout room, garage, and storage room are located). Throughout the day I place items in that basket that belong in one of those areas. Every time I go downstairs, unless my hands are already full, I try to take either the entire basket and empty it or at least take a few items out of it and put them in their proper home. When I leave my bedroom in the morning, I like to take the stray items that ended up there the night before and return them to their proper place.
My children each have a plastic dishpan with their name on it in my laundry room. I place their folded laundry in there each afternoon, but I also place anything I find around the house that belongs upstairs in their room or bathroom in there too. They are responsible for emptying the buckets (that's what we call them, but they are not really buckets) each evening. I used to keep a basket at the bottom of my stairs that lead to the children's rooms for those random items, but now I just put everything in their buckets.
So, my challenge for you today is to just do that small, but maybe annoying task that won't take longer than one minute! If you do several of these tasks each day, it will keep your home looking tidier and hopefully boost your morale too!
I use the time that I'm in the kitchen waiting for water to boil, or while meat is browning to wipe down the inside of cupboards, or the outside cabinets. Or quickly clean the fridge. I try to never waste a minute, and I find something to do, instead of standing around. I even clean while I talk to my sister on the phone. :)
ReplyDeleteWe are kindred spirits! I cannot tell you how many loads of laundry I've folded or how many clothes I have ironed while talking on the phone! :)
DeleteSo true! It's helpful to use those "spare moments" to do little things. I also tidy throughout the day, although some days I don't think it's noticeable! ha!
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of putting children's items in their buckets and making sure they empty them in the evenings. I also put my kids' laundry in their own bins, but I never thought about putting random other stuff in those bins, too. Smart!!
When my kids tidy up various areas during our clean-up times, they know to put items they find into the right person's laundry bucket. It really helps.
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