My kids and their cousins just had lunch. Because one of the kids is a three year old, I got distracted helping him and didn't clean up immediately.
There were empty packages of grapes and shredded cheese on the counter. There was a single hot dog, uncooked, hanging out on the counter. Extra tator tots sat on the stove. The chili bowl was out, drying up, making it impossible to clean. Dirty dishes were everywhere.
This is a real contrast to the clean-up that I generally do as I cook and prepare lunch. So I timed the amount of time it took to clean up the mess.
2 minutes.
Yes, 2 minutes. Had I spent those two minutes cleaning up before sitting down to eat lunch, my kitchen would have been clean and tidy. Instead, I had to get back up and take care of the mess. Guess how long I DREADED doing that? MORE than 2 minutes, certainly!
When you check the mail, toss the junk, file the bills and write due dates in your planner, and note coupon expiration dates in your planner.
When you get home from the store, unload groceries, clear old food out of fridge, and put reusable bags back into the car.
Teach the whole family to rehang towels, wipe down the tub/shower, and put away a toy before playing with a new one. (Yes, this means your husband should put the Xbox controllers away when he is done. Sigh. That's the hardest one to train, in my experience!)
Do just a little more, and save yourself tons of anxiety.
Etcetera.
2 comments:
Absolutely agree. That's how I live and it saves a lot of trouble.
Really enjoying your blog. I switched to digital planning when I got my smart phone and struggled for a couple of years. I went back to writing things down and then remembered my "planner years", the years when I actually felt organized. I'm convinced that using a planner again is the only thing that got me through this crazy month. I picked up a Mead At-A-Glance at my local office supply and while it's not pretty or set up the way I would like, it's definitely helping A LOT. And I'm using it to figure out which planner I'll eventually purchase. So thank you, Giftie, for all your posts and inspiration!
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