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Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind

Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind >> Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom

So, this is embarrassing, but I need to start somewhere. I am not the best housekeeper. Those close to me know this and it is always a marathon cleaning fest when we have company over. I hate that. I want to be able to wake up and not dread walking out of my room to a cluttered home. Cluttered home = cluttered mind….and I cannot function like this anymore. I notice that when my home is really cluttered, especially around my desk, I can’t concentrate and I end up having a running list of a million things that need to be tackled in the house instead of working on a post or homeschooling. I was a frazzled mess this past holiday season because I was super busy with reviews for the Holiday Gift Guide. My desk and floor area was covered and I was being closed in and suffocated.

I’ve tried FlyLady – many times. I’ve even added her tasks to my Manic Monday posts but, to be honest, I haven’t really been doing them. Over the summer, I had the routine down for about 2 weeks straight. My kitchen was spotless, the house looked nice, and everyone was happy. But then something happened to cause me to miss a day and everything fell back into place in a blink. I woke up the next day and looked around thinking that I had failed and slipped back to my lazy self thinking that I was doing it all for nothing. What’s the point in busting butt each day to keep a clean house when it takes just one day to destroy it again. So I quit.

I did eventually make it a habit to start one load of laundry in the morning though! Because I am so bad about actually taking things OUT of the dryer and folding them…and then putting them away, I’ve made a routine that actually works for me. I will tell you about that another day.

The kitchen is the other chore that I absolutely despise. Since we homeschool and are home all the time, the kitchen can never stay clean. 3 meals a day plus snacks is a ton of dishes. Sometimes we buy paper plates to help cut down on dirty dishes but then forget to buy more when they run out. (I don’t do the shopping, hubs does because I do not drive and it’s just easier for him to do it.) I usually have the 2 younger nerdlings work together to unload the dishwasher and then, depending on my mood and the teen’s mood, one of us loads it. That’s another thing I need to tackle – I end up not even bothering telling the kids to do their chores because I just can’t deal with attitudes. Our youngest will be 9 in a few weeks and she isn’t the problem. It’s the 10 and 14 year old. I shouldn’t have to tell them it’s time for chores, they should know! But, they need to be lead by example, and I always have an excuse to not do my own set of chores for the day so why wouldn’t they?

Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind >> Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom
The kitchen actually looks better here than normal!

 

Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind >> Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom
Tiny kitchen, hardly any counter space and I use it as a catch-all!

I was embarrassed yesterday when our internet was acting up and a guy was sent out to come check it out. We straightened up the house for him to come in but I totally forgot about my desk! It is always cluttered up with piles for work and I am so used to it that I glanced right over it. You never know how messy and dusty something is until a stranger is using it. Yep, he had to sit at my desk and use my computer. To top it off, the seat cushion on my desk chair somehow was moved off and there was all the crumbs and cat hair on the seat and he sat on it. *face palm* I did a quick declutter of the desk as soon as he got up and went about his business. It wasn’t completely decluttered but it was a start and I felt much better afterwards.

Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind >> Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom
My desk after a quick 2 minute declutter session.
Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind >> Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom
Another catch-all space. Coffee table is usually full of dirty dishes that belong to no one. Christmas decor in trash bag & table still waiting to be put away. Looks like I forgot the one on the door!

Last night I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed before going to bed and came across a post by a page I do not even remember ‘liking’ that struck me enough to click over to their site to read. It was from A Slob Comes Clean and, after clicking over to her blog, I found her Get Started tab. The name of her blog should say it all about her and I felt like I was reading the story of my life. She suggests reading her blog backwards to see her progression and so I did (or you could buy her eBook to make it easier.) The next thing I knew, I was looking at the clock and it was nearly 1 AM! If it wasn’t so late, I probably would have got up and started cleaning – probably. She really motivated me because of her honesty. If she can do it, I can do it. And apparently she is, and doing great, if she started in 2009, it’s 2016 now, and she has eBooks! I made sure to bookmark my place on her blog so I could pick up the next day.

So, I don’t want to feel like I’m “stealing” her idea but I want to use my blog as a way to hold myself accountable on this journey. I started my Manic Monday posts to keep track of what we have done throughout the previous week and to set goals for the new week. I want to be able to add in my cleaning/decluttering attempts ideas accomplishments, too. As FlyLady said, the house didn’t get cluttered and messy overnight so it’s not going to get clean and decluttered in a day. Baby steps, Jess, baby step…

Linking up with:

Motivational Monday Linkup with A Fresh Start

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Jess Benoit

Jess is a homeschooling mama of 3, wife, gamer, Whovian, Nerd

4 thoughts on “Cluttered Home Equals Cluttered Mind

  • anonymous

    You call that clutter? We are close to “Buried Alive” here. I’d send you a picture but you wouldn’t beieve it.

    Reply
    • Well, this is mild compared to what it can normally get, especially if I am really busy with reviews. That’s when I have empty boxes stacked all over the place and it drives the hubs insane!

      Starting with baby steps, setting a timer for even just a few minutes to declutter can make a huge difference in the clutter pile AND your state of mind.

      Reply
  • I’ve noticed the same thing…that the state of my home reflects the state of my mind. Flylady was helpful for me, too and I turn to her when I need to get back on track. Don’t forget to take time for yourself to just relax, or you’ll fall into the perfection trap.

    Reply
    • Thanks Lydia! My ‘me’ time seems to be at the end of the day when everyone else is asleep. But then I end up staying up too late at night. LOL

      Reply

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