After a year of living in my new home, I have it just about figured. (Although I'm less sure as to how that bread just fell over... spooky.) With a definite, doable plan in tow I am on the... slow-track to complete organization and a clean house no longer filled with clothes piles, paper piles, and boxes I'm too scared to even open. To help me along this treacherous path to sanity, I've joined Money Saving Mom's "4 Weeks to a More Organized Home." Thankfully, my lovely Miriam is joining me, keeping me honest, and will most likely be showing me up on several occasions. Since I am, at the moment, without my photos of the week so far I'll share my weekly goals for this past week:
Make a 2012 budget plan with Birch
Write in journal at least three times
Box up any clothes Frida has outgrown
Decide on Keats' birthday presents
Clean off dining table
Write a love note to Birch
Read 4-5 books to Keats before naptime and bed
Clear off computer desk and repurpose
Organize Birch's clothes
Organize Birch's clothes
Follow daily Spring Cleaning goals
Thankfully,
the week is not over. I've finished a few things as you can see, but
there is always more that can be done. This weeks' goals were a bit
ambitious, I'll admit, so I won't be too upset if some of them drag over
to next week. And some will be recurring goals until they are just
naturally a part of our routine. Building a daily routine is another one
of the steps recommended for a more organized and joyful life. Now that
Frida is a bit older she seems more open to daily rituals and
"schedules," so without knowing it I'd already started building a
routine. More on that journey tomorrow!
If you're taking part in the spring cleaning party, let me know in the comments! I'd love to see/hear what you're doing to promote sane living in your home.
Hm, I'll have to check out this blog cleaning challenge. I have to say that it cheers me to know I'm not the only one with boxes o' random stuff sitting around, ready to be sorted. I can't seem to stay on top of the mess. And I only work part time and don't have kids! It seems like every time I get one thing situated, we rearrange something, or something else falls apart. My spring cleaning plan:
ReplyDelete* Go through random boxes of stuff in garage and see if there's anything anyone I know might want, otherwise send Ryder to Goodwill.
* Go through the kitchen stuff -- we have too much of some things, and some of the ways I initially set up the kitchen don't really work. I have incentive and opportunity to pare down because Ryder's sister is moving into a house with friends and she could use kitchen things.
* When the bathroom is remodeled (supposedly starting at the end of next week) we will have more storage there, so yay. There will also no longer be random boxes of faucets and things sitting around.
* Now that we have a firepit, use it, and burn some old documents that have been sitting around since our last house.
* I put up some freestanding shelves in the garage -- now to organize things like holiday decorations into boxes and put them on the shelves! The toolbench also needs to be organized.
* Put up shelves in one of our closets to store sheets and blankets. Also, we should give some away.
* One thing I'm working hard on is cleaning the kitchen each night. But we cook every meal we eat, and it's such a drag (even with the dishwasher!) to make breakfast and lunch, clean up, make dinner, clean up.
* Speaking of the kitchen, I saw this on a blog awhile ago and we really really need to implement it. A chalk board or wipe board where we have categories of EAT UP (things we have a lot of, like the six dozen eggs I just picked up from our eggshare), EAT ME SOON (stuff that is gonna go bad soon) and DON'T EAT ME (crucial ingredients for something we'll make in the next few days).
* Small thing: regularly cleaning out my nightstand. Right now I have about 10-15 books I may want to read TONIGHT (right) and it's just cluttery and I start thinking about how many books I want to be reading and I feel bad that I'm, like, playing Angry Birds instead of finishing the book about the Eleusinian mysteries I started in January.
* Something that really helps me is my daily spiritual routine... even taking five minutes to breathe and pray helps center me, and is really well worth the time I take.
* This goes against organizing, but something I'm working on in my general life... the state of my closet has no reflection on who I am as a person. I'm working on letting go. One thing that makes it hard for me is seeing endless pictures of spotless houses on facebook and blogs -- even though I know when I take photos of my house I'm moving piles around so they're not visible!
* Oh, and this is one thing I've started doing for my overly ambitious to-do lists: I put question marks after some things. Last weekend I had "look for closet organizer?" and I thought about doing that and decided against it, so I still scratched it off. Because all I'd put on my list was to think about it, right? :)
Wow, I think this "comment" is really more like a monologue, so I'll stop here. But I love organizing and talking about it!
xo,
Rhiannon
It never ends!
ReplyDeleteI always just feel great getting my morning routine done, I feel the rest is extra points :)
Rhiannon - In so many ways, we are the same person, I swear.
ReplyDeleteMiriam - Boy do I hear ya! The morning routine part seems most important to me because it sets up my mood for the rest of the day!