Years ago when we lived closer to my mother-in-law, we'd sometimes catch the "Clean Sweep" program on television while visiting her. I really enjoyed that show, especially when Peter Walsh was on as the organizer. He was tender but firm with people about cleaning out the clutter and doing it now! What I didn't understand then, though, was how people's home got into the incredibly cluttered mess in the first place.
We're not talking just a half dozen loads of clean laundry piled up on the couch, a week's worth of mail on the counter, and some crap on the floor. No, these people often literally could not use their furniture because it was buried under the mess. Their homes were a source of stress rather than a place to relax and retreat from the cares of the day.
My house does not look like that, but it has gotten pretty darn messy. It's probably the worst it's ever been other than when we've been in the middle of a move. In fact, in some ways my house looks like we're still in the midst of moving in, because once we had to get rid of the shed, tools and other things moved into the house - things that still have not found a good place to live within the house so they either keep getting moved around or they sit in the way.
What this situation has done is show me how easy it could be for a home (or life) to spiral out of control until one begged "Clean Sweep" to come to the rescue. Why do I say this? Because getting out from under this mess is proving far more difficult than I imagined. My schedule is always overfilled (gotta plant those new trees ASAP, you know) so carving out the time to work on the mess is difficult. Spending 15 minutes on a room barely makes a dent. Finding an entire weekend to spend on it might be possible but it would still not get it all done. The magnitude of the task at hand is daunting.
So, I can see how easy it would be for someone to just throw up their hands and give in to the clutter and chaos. The focus would turn to just dealing with the immediate needs. For instance, in my case, despite having months-old papers on my desk that have not been filed, I still make sure the bills get paid. I know that is a high priority so I make the time for it. Filing all that paperwork, not so high a priority, even though it would be nice to be able to use my desk again.
I fully intended to get the office under control this month. Before I file those papers, I wanted to clean out the old files so I'm not adding to the mess hidden away in the drawers. I've run into a snag, though. A higher priority project came up: working on getting my health back. That project is requiring a significant investment in time spent exercising and making meals from scratch again. Not only that, the new exercise regimen is leaving me wiped out, with no mental or physical energy left to deal with paperwork.
So the mess marches on. I've moved some of it into the living room so that the office won't seem so bad. I'd show you a picture but a "Before" all by its lonesome without a success story "After" photo would just be depressing.
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10 comments:
Your health is more important. I've had periods like that and it really is hard to get down to it. Worst of all is when someone else decides to thrown away 'unimportant' items. Don't worry. It'll all work out. And, when it does, you can come here and help me get my place in shape! See. You won't have to worry about too much free time to get into trouble!
...and I am NOT going to show you a picture of my room ...
Sounds a whole lot like life here... Piles that have to be hidden away if company comes. And we are actually happy when the number of piles decreases - when we should be happy only if they are finally all dealt with. Paperwork is by far the worst for us - you can be buried in it because it just grows so quickly. Good thing we get company several times a year or we would end up on TV for sure! Hang in there and know that you are not alone!
Chile -- I'm a "messie" with a Dad who is a hoarder -- the image of his house shocks me into making sure my house doesn't get anywhere near that bad.
One trick I've found that makes a bigger difference than you might guess (though it won't clean up a whole house on its own) is this:
Every time I'm walking from one room of the house to another, I look around me for something that needs to go with me -- something that isn't in its place and I can at least move it into the right room or put it on the right pile as I'm passing by. It's usually little things, but it does add up. And it's also kinda fun, and every now and then I find myself stopping and spending 15 minutes or so just bouncing from room to room, putting things away.
It works!
Sue
Western Edge of the Great Basin
I hear you Chile, clutter creep is a menace. I think I become blind to it after a while and it's only when something forces me to see it - a guest arriving for example - that I suddenly realise the state of things. When we moved into our new home about 18 months ago, we pledged it would never end up as cluttered/perpetually untidy as our old (tiny) house -- but guess what...
We try to tidy rooms/parts of rooms at a time -- it would be too overwhelming to think about doing everything at once, it would never happen. I read about "clean slate" tidying the other day and I'm going to give that a go on my desk this afternoon -- remove EVERYTHING and consider whether each item should be put back, put elsewhere or thrown away. It will take my months to get around the whole house doing that though.
I do agree with Sharlene though, your health is more important than a tidy house. The clutter will build but when you're healthier, it'll be easy to conquer it - and imagine how satisfying those before and after pics will feel!
I've been having a hard time with this too. Seems I'd rather write - for mental health - or work in the garden than clean the house. But I have started misplacing bills and papers and such so I'd probably better carve out some time to make a clean sweep myself!
I have pretty much decided that this month is going to be unproductive, other than getting into an exercise and healthy eating habit. There's always next month.
I try to always take things with me on each trip, a habit I've never persuaded my sweetie to adopt.
"Clean slate" huh? That's what I decided to do with my worst file drawer. The paperwork is just overwhelming, as well as cleaning out computer files. Luckily they don't clutter up the surfaces!
Anyway, for the files, I put them all in a box to take in theliving room. The plan was to put in a movie I know by heart to have going in the background as I sort through files on a card table. I started on it but didn't get very far so now my files have been in a box for a week!
Oh yeah, writing is far more appealing than clutter-clearing. Maybe I should write up a new blog post....
Or maybe I'll just bake some cookies...
It just never ends. For me it's a question of priorities -- clean house, or gardening, laundry, spinning, weaving, etc. Things that need to be clean get clean. Everything else gets messy.
I used to be a neat freak, and I still flip out on DH (who is home a lot more than me) when the mess gets to be too much.
For me part of it is that I have a lack of organized storage space. We *have* enough room, we just don't have shelving, etc. It's on the list tho. I'm certainly not going to throw away or give away canning jars, fleeces, dye pots, weaving supplies, etc. Clothes maybe...:)
sharlene is right, your health is more important. It's hard to sit or lie there thought looking at all the stuf you think needs doing. I've done that and it's very frustrating.
BYW, I've tried to post a couple of times inthe last week but my computer ate the entries before they got to you.
peace to all, shamba
TFHS - the lack of organized space makes it doubly difficult to keep anything straightened up. It's on my list, too, but sadly waaaaay down on the list...
Shamba - the mess actually creates stress, so it does need to be dealt with.
Are you not feeding your computer enough? It's so hungry it has to eat comments? ;-)
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