You know how it goes. Crusted, frosted flake-filled bowls in the sink. Dirty socks, workout clothes, underwear, t-shirts, and pants all over the bedroom. Toothpaste smeared on the bathroom counter. Half a basket of folded laundry in the living room. Legos all over the basement.
I had no refuge. It was every single room in the house. I can usually do ok if at least one room is clean, but when there is no sanctuary I can’t hold it together.
There was so much to clean and put away. Where do you even get started?
As I was angrily muttering to myself and straightening up, I realized there was a method I’d developed for just this situation of overwhelmingness. It’s brilliant because it was simple and it worked. I had been using this method for so long now I didn’t even notice it.
And it’s a strategy you can apply to any area where there is so much you don’t know where to begin. When you are overwhelmed and going crazy.
Here’s how it works: You pick an area, a corner, and you get started. You create a beachhead to work from.
Here’s what I did. I started in the kitchen – because messy kitchens get gross and tend to be a catalyst to let the rest of the house go for some reason. I start at one end of the kitchen and work across.
I clear the table. Then, I clear the server of anything that shouldn’t be on it. Next, I move along the kitchen counter and take care of all of the dishes. Then, I clear the last bit of counter space that is a catch-all for mail, phones, chargers, bills, kids artwork from school, car keys, whatever.
What matters here is that I do them one at a time.
What I don’t do is say, “Holy crap I have to clean the whole house!” I tell myself, “Ok, let’s get the kitchen done .Let’s just get the table clear.” Then the table will be cleared. I’ll have a home base of cleanliness. I’ll have established a base, and now I can move out from that base. As I take back more and more “land” from the enemy, I feel better. Anyone can see the plan and the transition from dirty to clean, from craziness to a plan.
Something I don’t do is get lost in a different area of the house cleaning something else. I find the kids’ medicine on the kitchen counter, and it belongs in the bathroom. I carry it up the stairs, open the mirror, and put it away. I do not even acknowledge the disgusting sink filled with toothpaste. I close the cabinet and go back to clearing the kitchen counters.
Now, you don’t add to the mess in the bathroom by throwing the medicine on the floor, but you also don’t get sidetracked. You could easily do a little in each room, and then go to bed not having accomplished anything substantial.
As it was, I went to bed before cleaning my room or the family room. But the kitchen and the living room looked great. I had a sanctuary or a beachhead to launch my attack from tomorrow. I had a place to start.
Making progress, any progress you can see is really helpful. Don’t look at the whole blueprint. Don’t look at all of medicine. Make a small list.
Today its heart murmurs and, if I get through that, also cardiac meds.
A simple, straightforward plan covering manageable bite-size chunks. This will keep up your motivation, and let you and everyone else see your progress.
One manageable bite-size chunk might be “10 pages in The Final Step.” Before you know it, you’ll have the whole book memorized.
I’ve been holding back the new version of The Final Step. It’s been a bit of a process clearing up all of the missing periods and extra capital letters, but at long last we are almost there.
Stay tuned – it’s coming in the next few days.
Brian Wallace