I’m a terrible procrastinator. It’s mostly because I’m lazy. I don’t know why I persist in procrastinating, though. When I want something done, and then I do it…it’s done, and it’s always so nice to not have it weighing on my mind as something that I need to do.
Over on Lifehacker I read a great post about a post (because that’s what Lifehacker does) called How to Tackle Dreaded Tasks. The very first hint was a keeper - do it first thing.
The Kid’s bedroom was a disaster. So the first “project” of my day was to tell The Kid, “In 15 minutes we are going to set the timer for 15 minutes and clean your room as hard as we can.” I invited DH to help. Flylady readers will recognize this strategy as a 15 minute room rescue. We got an enormous amount done in 15 minutes - so much that I decided to take the extra five minutes to vacuum. I was rewarded for the effort several hours later, when I went to put his clothes away. Instead of tiptoeing around stuff all over the floor, zig-zagging from one minute bare spot to another, I just walked through his room. Heck, DH and I could dance in there, the floor is so clean. It’s far from clean, but it’s such an improvement that I’m not going to stress about the stuff on the dressers.
Do any of you have tricks for getting motivated to do stuff you dread? Or are you all so mature and well-adjusted that you just get ‘er done?
For a video treat, watch this procrastination video by video blogger ze frank. And just try to get the little theme song intro out of your head after.
I clean my entire house usually 10 minutes at a time. I absolutely hate housework, yet I love a clean house. Evenings and weekends I set a timer for ten minutes, work as hard as I can… then I read a chapter of a book, watch a few minutes of a movie, knit something, work on a project or whatever desireable activity… then I do it again. If the house is really messy or I am overwhelmed I do fifteen minute increments. At the end of the day the house is usually decent, yet I don’t feel like I have only cleaned all day. I have also made something or read half a book or watched a movie or whatever. Usually on weeknights I do two or three 10 minute intervals and call it good. Weekends I do it throughout the day and do a lot.
Every night before I go to bed I put away ten things in my room. It’s usually enough to put away the crap I have left out through the course of the day, even when I am not totally consistent. If I am really consistent with it for a couple of weeks I get to the point where I end up cleaning out some closet stuff and deeper things. then on the weekend (well about every fifth or sixth weekend, realistically) I use one of my 10 minutes to dust and vacuum…
When I was staying at home, I would barrel through once a week, and get the whole house clean. That made the upkeep a lot easier during the week. The messier my house gets the more discouraged and frustrated adn bitchy I get, and it’s not good for anyone.
These days that isn’t possible, so usually I focus on cleaning the floors. If I want to vaccum or sweep or mop, I have to do some picking up. If I have done enough picking up to get the floors done, my house is in pretty good shape.
My son also knows that if mommy has to pick up his toys there is a chance they might end up in the garbage instead of the toybox. He is pretty good to help.
And I’ve been known to hold dinner hostage till the house is picked up, too
Ha!!! The procrastination video is great!Speaking of procrastination, I’ve got my junk room divided into one side of the room is stuff to keep and the other side of the room is stuff to give away. I need to start boxing up the to give away pile, but it’s been there for probably close to a year. Every time I look at it I have high anxiety, so I’ve decided to keep the door shut.
Lynda- You might check Freecyle.org and see if there is a group in your area. I have given several things away through this method and people are usually happy to come pick stuff up. I often see people offer boxes of miscellaneous stuff and they get taken. I have also picked up a few things this way, so it is important to make sure you acquire more than you give away!
Hi Hopie:
I give all my stuff to Catholic Family Services here in town. They’re great about picking things up. I used to give them to the Salvation Army, but had lots of trouble getting the pick-up folks to actually come and pick stuff up!
Ha!! I could give stuff away for a year and still have too much. I’m slowly going from room to room and clearing things out. I’ve been watching Clean Sweep on the tee-vee.
Ha! I love Clean Sweep. It is part of my Saturday ritual. Peter Walsh is my hero. I am dying to read his book!
I just noticed in my previous post I said the opposite of what I meant… it is actually important to make sure you DON’T acquire more than you give away!
Well, I thought you were making a joke!! I wish they would make new episodes. I think I’ve seen every single one at least twice.