Hello peeps.
I’m combining these two challenges in one blog, because I feel that I’m
rolling with them anyway.
I don’t know if it’s because the 52 week challenge
has set me down a more simplified path (whole purpose of it, I guess), or if it
was within me anyway. Either way, I
think I’ve got them pretty well covered.
WEEK 26:
EVERYTHING HAS A HOME
Challenge this week: Go through your home and clear your clutter hot spots by
assigning homes to things. Be creative
as needed and contain the items however best suits your home. Make it as simple as possible – no need to create
and elaborate system to house something if a simple option is available. Sometimes, simple things like a tray, hook or
basket are all that is required. Do not create
junk drawers or catch all baskets though.
Find real homes and group like with like.
I can’t stand living in a mess. I did for years, and it drove me insane. Through no fault of anyone elses: it was my
responsibility. However, I vowed never
return to that life, and I never have.
This challenge makes sense to me, because I like
everything to be neat and tidy, and I like to be able to find shit. That’s how I read this challenge: it’s about
clearing physical clutter.
In our home, everything has a home. It saves on the
physically clutter, which saves on the emotional stresses in my view.
Sure, my house isn’t perfect; far from it. I’d be kidding myself if I didn’t admit there
were things lying around. It is a home
after all, not a display home. You will walk in the back door and more than
likely see Charlie’s gym bag there, dumped in the middle of the walkway. Drive’s me fucken nuts. However, that’s just him, and at the end of
the day, does it really matter? It’s
just a gym bag, after all.
There is also a pile of about six garbage bags
of clothing and linen to go to charity as well, but that means a half-hour
drive, and we just haven’t got there yet.
Things like this don’t bother me, but not being
able to find stuff does. I have systems
in place for things to eliminate the stress of trying to find stuff. There’s nothing worse that looking for that
particular saucepan, and you can’t find it because someone has put it away in a
different space. Or the stress of not
being able to find a specific document, because you have more shit on your desk
than the chicken coop has on its floor.
It’s funny, because I look at my desk here in
the study, and it’s pretty clean and tidy.
No paperwork out unless I’m working on it. Everything is in its place. Gives me the feeling that I’m on top of
things, and there’s simply no stress.
Charlie’s desk looks like a bomb’s hit it. Friggin shit everywhere! However, he has the most immaculate filing
system for all of his business stuff that I’ve ever seen. It’s really impressive. Actually, it puts my filing system here to
shame! LOL!
So, when you look at things on the surface,
sometimes they are just not quite what they seem. Charlie and I are both organised, but we just
work in different ways.
The Home
Audit that I blogged about a few weeks back, as a part of this 52 week
challenge, was a real eye opener for me.
It highlighted some areas in my home that I felt needed organisation and
improvement, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve actioned a few of those things
already.
One of them was organising the playstion/wii
games and equipment that were all over the place. One area of our back room looked like a bomb
site with games, controllers and friggin cords everywhere. So, I bought some
storage tubs, and within 10 minutes, it was tidied up. 10 friggin minutes. Why didn’t I do it years ago?
There was another one that had been bothering me
for a long time, but I really hadn’t put any energy into working out a
solution. That was my linen press. It just looks untidy, even though everything
is stacked neatly in there.
Then, one day on Facebook, a girlfriend posted a photo off the interwebs somewhere with such a simple idea, I literally smacked myself on the head. Why didn’t I think of that?
You know how you have a quilt set, with a cover
and two pillow cases (or one pillow case in the case of single sets)? Well, you fold the cover and place it inside
one of the pillow cases, and put the other pillow case inside with it. I’ve attached a copy of the photo that was
posted on my wall (no, it’s not my linen press; I wish).
I did this with all of my quilt sets, and the
space in my linen press just opened up and it looks so neat! Now, I just pick up a ‘pillow case’, and I
know that the other case and quilt cover are in there too. Easy!!
Friggin genius whoever came up with that one.
Like the challenge suggests, sometimes some of
the simplest ideas are the best solutions.
It also comes back to routine too, I think. Like putting your keys and purse in the same
place all the time, so you know where to find them. Dumping your swim gear in the laundry
straight away, so they’re ready for the next wash load.
It all comes back to routine; which leads me
perfectly into the next challenge.
WEEK 27: HOME ROUTINES
& SYSTEMS
Challenge this week: Examine your household’s routines (or lack thereof), and
find 1 or 2 systems or ideas that you will work on implementing and tweaking to
suit your home. They need not be major,
they just need to be relevant and helpful to your situation. Look into them further if need be and come up
with your own plan or way to tailor this to your home.
When I think of routine, I think of one of my
girlfriends.
She has six daughters. Six! I
think I would kill myself, and she wants more!
She’s mental! I use to joke with
her that it took six babies for her to figure out how she was getting knocked
up. Insane! LOL!
I could not imagine the organisation that a
household of eight people would need.
Routine would be essential to their home, because people wouldn’t be getting
fed, watered, cleaned or clothed without it.
Then there’s home work and sports. My girlfriend is running a taxi service on
the weekend carting her girls around to various sports and activities, so
organisation and logistics would be essential to their life.
When I think of how she manages all of this with
such grace and ease, I can’t help but be impressed. I’ve no doubt that its hard work, and the
kids help her, but still; there must be routines and systems in place.
I think most households with families have
them. Some will be major routines, like
making all of the lunches and packing school bags in the mornings for this army
of children, to simple things like getting the next loaf of bread out of the
freezer the night before its needed.
Routines just make a household tick over easily;
simply.
Several months ago, I encountered a major
problem here at home. Actually, it
wasn’t a problem at all, except for one teenager.
I have set days that I do washing. There are only three of us here, and I don’t
see the need to do washing every day. If
the washing is not there, why waste the water?
If it misses a load, it waits.
I’ve always had Monday’s as my sheets and towel
days, because it’s my day off without anyone else at home. I can strip the beds, get them in the washer,
dryer and back on the beds before everyone gets home. Same as the towels. Done.
Wednesday and Saturday/ Sunday are clothes
washing days. That’s the way it’s always
been in this house.
Then one day, one teenager has a hissy fit
because something’s not washed.
Considering she missed the wash run (and had it lying on her floor for
the last two weeks), didn’t matter. She
expected it to be washed, and was really nasty about it.
She didn’t appreciate me pointing out that not
only do I not have to wash her
clothes, and it’s her responsibility to
get her clothes into the baskets in time for the loads. Otherwise, she misses out.
After my refusal to run an entire washing
machine and dryer for one single item, and the ensuing ‘shit cracking’ that
followed, I knew that I had to reinforce this system a little better. I needed to make it crystal clear.
On the wall of the laundry, I put up a
notice. I explained what get’s washed
and when (just like I’ve explained it above), and that if items are not in the
wash baskets in the mornings in which I’m starting the washing, they don’t get
washed. Simple.
Jade understood the little notice, and learnt
very quickly to get her items into the wash. She knew, after her recent performance and me
putting up this notice, that there would be no second chances.
Now, when I put the notice up, it didn’t change
the system I had in place. I was still washing
the same things on the same days. However,
the notice seemed to drive home everyone’s responsibilities. I have no problem washing your clothes, but
for me to do so; get them into the wash baskets on the days I’ve set to wash
them.
The system works very well, and we never fall
behind on the washing. However, the
ironing is a different matter… :D
Routines need to move with the changes if life
too. They need to be flexible.
It’s funny, because in the past, I’ve been
called a ‘control freak’, because I’m a stickler for routine and
organisation. ‘Control freak’ is too
easy for people to spit out when they’re feeling negative, and they often
confuse it with ‘being organised’.
There is a major difference between the two, and
I find the negative label of ‘control freak’ and insult. A ‘control freak’ is dominating and
inflexible, where ‘being organised’ is someone that just looks at the bigger
picture and gets shit done with minimal head fucks.
Big difference.
I like being organised, and I suppose I find
freedom through it. Like now; my towels
and sheets are done for the day (and sheets back on the bed), and I’ve also
managed to put a morning into tennis and do some internet shit.
Life can be simplified through routine and
organisation after all.
Peace out.
No comments:
Post a Comment