Holidays in review
The holidays are something I look forward to all year: the lights, the food, the friends and family, and especially, the vacationing (i.e. no work). But it also brings stress. There’s baking to do, money to spend, places to go. Tidying is stressful during this time!
Tidying during the holidays
While the holidays have many things to look forward to, they also tend to involve an increase in things to tidy. Ribbons and wrapping paper, baking ingredients, and other things you bring into the house. During this time I definitely started getting overwhelmed.
When I get overwhelmed, I employ interval tidying. The rate of overwhelm will determine how much you can do at a time. Mine was 5 minutes at a time.
So I set my interval timer (I have an app on my phone called Tabata Timer), and I set 5 minutes on, 25 off. You can do whatever you like.
Tidying after the holidays
I was fortunate enough to have a week and a half off. During this time, I was so burnt out on work and the fact my neighbors across the alley are some sort of beacon for slobs (and I’m guessing drugs too given the level of traffic in and out) that leave trash along my fence and sometimes inside my fence that I’m now thinking of selling my house, I couldn’t even do interval tidying. I decided to just give myself the time off.
So, now that I’m back at work, and life is getting back to a typical schedule, I need to clean up around here :)
Though it’s not as tidy as normal when I do my 10-minute tidying, it’s nowhere near as egregious as it’s been in the past. I can see my tidying habits are working.
So this weekend I’ll be employing my interval schedule of at least 5-minutes on/25-off. I’ve also made a list of my top tasks that need to get done this weekend:
Laundry
Dishes
Trash and recycling
Put clothes away
Set Roomba loose (to clean the floors)
You can also try the
Updates from my time off
While I didn’t stick to my 10-minute daily chores, I still kept the dishes to a reasonable amount. I also got into my back bedroom, which I’ve never really unpacked (I think my subconscious never wanted to live here), and started getting it organized so it now looks more room-like.
I’ve also decided to start packing in anticipation of selling (which may not be for 9 months), but I’m excited to do this because it will be like an enforced Marie Kondo session. I’ll keep you updated on my progress and sorting through my stuff.
Hope everyone had a happy holiday and new year!