10 Things A Day

So - I am learning that just as people can hide behind fat, they can hide behind stuff, clutter, and mess.  I think I might be in danger of being one of those people.  I have a very small house with very little storage, and there is definitely more stuff than places to put stuff - therefore, it tends to be quite messy and cluttered (understatement). 

I have decided it is time to dig (literally) my way out from underneath all this stuff so that it wont keep bogging me down.  I am beginning to believe that by lightening up, (in more ways than one) I will feel liberated, airy and luminescent. How awesome is that?

I have chosen two techniques that promise to help ease the transition from burried in clutter to lightened up and free.  These are two techniques that, I think, will help to make the process less overwhelming and traumatic than trying to tackle the whole thing at one time.

Ten Things a Day

The first technique I made up all by myself (impressive, huh?)  I like to call it Ten Things a Day.  It is really quite simple.  Each day I get rid of ten things.  It can be junk mail, spoiled food, FAT CLOTHES, toys nobody cares about, anything belonging to my husband etc.  I can throw it away, give it away, or toss it over the fence into my neighbor's yard.  It doesn't matter, as long as I am minus 10 items by the end of the day.  When I came up with the idea, my thought process was that I would continue with the ten things a day until I ran out of things to toss. 

Pretty great plan, right?  There is only one hitch.  I have been doing this for about eight months now, and I still have no problem coming up with ten things a day - so I'm not sure exactly how long this process will take.  The other issue is that while I keep getting rid of stuff, more stuff keeps coming in.  Between my four kids and myself I think we probably bring in about fourteen things a day - which seems to somehow defeat the purpose.  (I should mention here that my husbad does not bring in or hold onto anything.  He could easily live out of the trunk of his car and have all of his stuff with him.)

There are certain things that I have not been able to bring myself to get rid of yet:

1. Shoes (while my husband and sons have two pairs each, one for warm weather and one for cold, I have, maybe 50 or so.  Even though I only wear certain pairs all the time, I haven't been able to make myself get rid of the rest - they're just soooo cute!)
2. Pets (We probably definitely have too many - 1 dog, 4 cats, 5 frogs, 1 lizard and 1 hermit crab.  But, what's a person to do?)
3. Dresses (I have a large selection of mxi dresses, and I don't want to part with any of them)
4. Skinny clothes (Somehow these keep my hope alive)
5. Anything in our nasty closet (talk about overwhelming)
6. Craft supplies (again, soooooo cute, and sure to have some purpose in the future.)
7. Tupperware (you can never have too much tupperware, right?)
8. Baby blankets (No babies left, but how could I get rid of their blankets?)
9. Magnets (I simply have a thing for magnets)

So, maybe I still have a long way to go - but imagine what it would be like if I didn't get rid of ten things a day.

The One Minute Rule

I didn't come up with this one, but it does seem like a pretty good idea to me.  This rule is that, if there is any household job to do that takes one minute or less, just do it.  No procrastinating.  It will all be over in a minute.

This rule reminded me of when I was a kid.  It was my job to empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away.  I HATED it.  I whined and complained for hours before I finally had to give in and do it (or suffer no dessert after dinner!) 

One day, however, I paid attention to the clock, and I had those dishes put away in 45 seconds flat.  I realized then that I was better off just getting it over with.

It's amazing how, with a little imagination, we can take a small task and turn it into a monsterous job.  Here are a few jobs that I have found take less than one minute:

1. Putting underware in the underware drawer
2. Wiping sinks and counter tops
3. Closing cabinets and drawers
4. Feeding pets
5. Dusting TV and Computer
6. Wiping up spills
7. Clearing dishes from the table
8. Wiping a shelf in the refrigerator
9. Throwing toys into the toybox
10. Throwing dirty clothes into the hamper

I can do all of the above in less than 10 minutes, and it actually makes an impact on the appearance of my house.  Oh, and I forgot one - it takes less than a minute to get rid of ten things a day.

I believe that if I resolve to employ the above two techniques, my house will be improved by the end of summer.

Tag Update


Finally, what you've all been waiting for - the tag update!!!!

I did it - I tagged several people at work, and while I had visions of an ongoing, school-wide tag game, it didn't actually happen that way.  A few people went on to tag someone else - but most people were just confused - even after I told them we were playing tag.  They looked at me like I was weird, and returned to whatever it was they had been doing - like they didn't mind being 'it' forever.  So, it is not so easy to start an adult tag game after all.  but, I wont let this stop me!!!!  I will continue on my mission to begin a world-wide tag game!!!!  I will persist!!!!

Keep coming back for more adult tag news.