This is Real Life
Life is full of weeds sometimes, isn’t it? Weeds in this instance are emotions that render us unable to think about anything other than the source of our pain.
These weeds that grow in our heart and mind can have a HUGE impact on the state of organization within the walls of our homes and our ability to effectively function.
I wish I could tell you that if you follow these 3 simple steps, you can shift your thoughts instantly and get on with life, but I can’t.
Instead I want to validate your weeds. Honor them. Sit among them with you. Shine a light on them in order to understand their role in your life.
Here’s the thing. Weeds like this, that are all consuming, will make your home less organized and less clean. And that is OK! It’s so important that you know that when you are feeling down and out for whatever reason, you’re home is going to simply be less like you want it to be.
It won’t be like that forever, but if you ignore the weeds and try to pretend they aren’t there, they will never go away. They’ll grow and eventually win by knocking you down so low that you aren’t able to dig out for a long, long time.
Perhaps I’m taking my little weed metaphor too far, but you get what I’m saying, right?
This is coming from a place where I’ve been and still wind up sometime.
I beat myself up about how I don’t feel like doing that organizing project that I’d planned to do because something happens that changes my level of energy, my mood.
These days when my kids are down, I’m down too. It used to be me, beating myself up because I felt like I wasn’t a good enough mom or wife. I couldn’t keep up with all the things I expected of myself.
It was a vicious cycle. One I’m so glad to be free of and I wish for you to be out of that cycle too.
Allow yourself to sit in the feelings. Don’t push planned projects. It’s ok to leave the dishes for a day.
Reach out to a friend and talk through those weeds that are winning… for the moment.
Are your weeds winning right now?
Midweek Organizing Quick Tips
Actionable tips that you can do quickly on a busy day that help your home be more organized and functional.
Quick Tip 1 - Delete the garbage in your inbox
Is your email inbox overflowing with unread emails? Or maybe you’re like me and can’t leave the stupid little number telling you how many are unread so you click on them mindlessly in a rush, but never really get to reading them.
The mess of your inbox can be unsettling. Someone says to you, “I sent you an email” and you sheepishly reply, “Oh, you did? Sorry. I must have missed it.” You realize you have to do something, but you feel like you just don’t have that much time to clean it all up.
You aren’t alone in this problem. The flow of emails into our inboxes is greater than what we have time to get through in a day and truly you don’t want to have to live life in reaction to every email sent at the moment it’s sent. That’s an easy trap to fall into as well!
To find some reprieve from this problem and to make headway in reducing the number of emails in your inbox, you can do a quick pass and delete only what you know for sure you can delete. Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and make it happen.
When you do this once or twice you may not get through all of your inbox, but you’ll see and feel progress. Progress is progress. You may feel so much better you’ll look to do this daily or even as something comes in you’ll be more ruthless with what you leave.
Take 5 minutes now and delete the garbage in your inbox. (bonus if you delete them from your deleted too)
Quick Tip 2 - Take a mini-break to be more productive
I never realized the affect of stepping away from the work I was doing just for a bit (or longer). I’ve always been a person that works until the work is done. No need for a break.
In complete honesty, I used to think that breaks were only for people that were weak. It’s true, but I know better now. I grew up in that environment and my kids have too to some degree. I still like… when the work is done, then it’s time for fun.
You can tell I still struggle with this, right?!
But I KNOW for a fact that when I allow myself to take a break from whatever work I’m doing, I am so much more productive! I’m trying to cut my work stretches from 4 hours at a clip down to 2 hours, then a 30 minute break.
This allows you to shift your thoughts for a bit. The break doesn’t have to be doing nothing, but it has to be doing something different. Like doing the dishes or going for a walk if your 2 hours focus time is spent taxing your brain.
Try it tomorrow. Plan it out in your schedule. Work for the first couple of hours, get up and take a break from it.
I needed to hear this. Thank you. Sitting in a lot of difficult stuff right now and my home is going to pot as a result. I need to give myself permission for this to be where I am right now and stop beating myself up about it. Thank you