Weekly Goals + Tardy Check-In

I forgot to post a mid-week check in last week. I even thought about it, but wasn't at my computer anytime I remembered that I needed to write one. By the time I would get back to my computer, I had other "more important" things to get done.

I can proudly say that every morning there were dishes in the draining rack, I put them away. However, this did not encourage me to do the dishes any more than usual. I guess that wasn't contributing as much to the problem as I thought it was. It did, however, make the kitchen not look so out of control.

I also kept up with making the bed...as I was writing that I remembered that I hadn't made it this morning. So I got up and went and made the bed. But yeah, still holding strong to this task.

So, what should I add to my growing list of daily tasks? I feel like it needs to be dishes related, since putting the clean dishes away didn't help as much as I had hoped it would with the overall issue. I know that, realistically, I cannot promise a set time of day for me to dedicate to dishes. Some mornings I'm running late, some evenings are busier than others. I think I need to go at this new task two-fold first realizing that evenings are a time when I'm dead for the most part after work so if I can, I need to give up some morning time to this task. The other part is keeping it a non-intimidating time frame. 

This week's daily tasks are:

• Make the bed every day

• Put away clean dishes every morning

• Spend 10 minutes every day on doing the dishes

Weekly Goals + New weekly chore

Last week, I decided to throw back to my Baby Steps and start over. However, I'm not looking at this as a "challenge" so much this time because that implies an end date. No, I want to make forever changes to my lifestyle habits and regain some control in my life.

I started with making the bed and that went ok, though it was really hard to make myself do it during the weekend. So this week, in addition to continuing to make the bed every single day, I'm adding a new daily, non-negotiable task.

I've been thinking hard about what it should be. There are a ton of things I could do, but I need to figure out what would be best. I've narrowed it down to either taking the clothes out of the dryer (to be put away once I get home from work) OR putting the clean dishes away every morning. I think I'm going with dishes because that area is more of a disaster than the laundry, in all honesty.

This may sound like stupid daily task, but hear me out. We don't have a dishwasher, so we wash everything by hand then put it to dry in a rack by the sink. For some reason, there is a mental block when it comes to putting these dishes away. They stay in the rack till we actually do dishes again. Then they get put away and the rack gets immediately filled back up with new dishes. The mental block comes in because having that rack full makes it harder for me to ACTUALLY do the dishes. Even though putting away the clean dishes is the easiest part of doing the dishes, just seeing the full rack by the full sink equals complete overwhelm. So, if I empty the rack before I actually need to in order to do the dishes, maybe it won't feel like such a daunting task to do them and they will get done in a more timely fashion. Right? That's what I'm hoping for, at least.

So, this week I will:
• Make the bed every day
• Put away the clean dishes every morning

Mid-Week Check In

Ok, so this post is going to be lame, but whatever. Right now, my only daily task is making my bed, but I need to get into the habit of being held accountable, so I'm checking in. So far this week, I've made the bed every day. I've also caught myself doing this task begrudgingly. I'll go back into the bedroom to get ready in the morning, and think "ugh, I have to make the bed." It literally takes me two minutes (a few extra minutes longer if Bigby and Cake decide to "help") and yet I go all angsty-teenager over the task. 

Also, I've not been making the bed very nicely, just making sure the top sheet and comforter are pulled up/straightened instead of left as a wad in the middle of the bed. It gets the job done, though, and that's all that matters right now. I need to was our decorative pillows. I feel like that might make me feel more inspired to make the bed.

Monday, I was off work (using up some use-it-or-lose-it vacation days), and I used that time to catch up on some housework that had gotten out of hand. I've almost caught us up on laundry (just some blankets and a robe that keep getting pushed aside to do clothes that we actually need), I got the dishes back under control, and I straightened up A LOT in the front two rooms. Oh, and I cleaned the bathroom. I didn't get everything done before Mr. LL got home, but he helped me finish up two tasks I wanted to get done – dusting and sweeping/vacuuming. So the house is looking pretty good, right now, at least.

Later on these posts will be a bit more...interesting I'm sure.