Have you seen this? http://www.flylady.com/ When I first found this site, I was so excited. I shined my sink and kept my house pretty clean for about two whole weeks. And I still try, but, well…I’ll just say my sink isn’t shining right now. It has, however, improved my housekeeping routines, even if I don’t stick right to it. I’m ok with a little clutter around, I have four kids after all. It drives me INSANE to try to stay spotless. I’ll settle for "pretty good". Or "not dangerous" or "fairly sanitary".
I hate clutter. I’m always surrounded by it, and always throwing it out. Still, as much as I throw out, I still find myself surrounded by it. And it’s not just in the house. It’s in my brain, in my life. I waste my time thinking cluttered thoughts, waste my time with cluttered activities. My family suffers, and I suffer, and even my beloved hobby suffers. So…today I’m devoting myself to declutter the brain. I’m cutting back on my obligations and limiting my "brain junk food". I’m going big. So here’s the challenge. Join me and cut out some of that inanimate "clutter". What’s going?
For me: 1. Message boards. I’m cutting back. 2. some scrap obligations. Even too much of a good thing can be bad. It hurts me to do this, but do it I must. 3. Journaling. I just can’t be thinking of stuff to write on my pages. (Ok…just kidding. That’s the best part!) 
4. Planning. Not cutting that out, DOING it more. Got to organize all this brain junk.
Hopefully this exercise will help me get that balance I keep saying I need.
9 Comments
I have such trouble with clutter (mental and physical), too!! But here is my new game plan (3 days in) for keeping our house in some semblance of neatness:
Monday - Bedrooms
Tuesday - Bathrooms
Wednesday - kitchen
Thursday - vacuum and dust
Friday - garbage (okay, it’s really mostly a free day)
Laundry is still every day, but I’ve found that it helps me to tackle things one at a time…
Whoops - forgot to add, since it’s more to the topic, as far as uncluttered brain…well, I’m cutting back on some commitments, too, and I also lay down with Cole for a little while at naptime. It gives me a few moments of peace to regroup, plan, and just think for myself.
love the “not dangerous” hehe
I had to set up a cleaning schedule for myself too:
Mondays-living room
Tuesdays-Bathrooms
Wednesdays-Bedrooms
Thursdays-straighten up
I have recently gone through a declutter mode in my life, simplify…be at peace with myself and the people around me. I submit only when I have something that fits(scrapbooking) and I dont stress over making something new for everything out there. I also simplified in the area of relationships. I had to rethink the people in my life that caused me stress. I dont need them! One of the things that my doctor and everything I read tell me is important, and that will most likely be a good mindset for getting pregnant is to cut out the stress….so far it is working, and I have a much better feeling about the “someday I will have a baby” being sooner than later. Sheesh…I wrote a novel! sorry about that! You touched on a topic that is so important in my life now though!
I hear you! I am a several time flylady flop out. I consider my house clean if I’m not mortified if a friend suddenly stops by. I completely understand how you feel about an uncluttered brain. This is something I have been thinking about for the last several days. So thank you for putting my thoughts into words so I can read it and absorb it!
I tried flylady once, but it didn’t stick. Speaking of clutter, with just two kids in my house, the amount of paperwork that comes home from school and daycare is UNBELIEVABLE! If my dd draws a stick on a piece of paper, according to her, that is a treasured work of art. I keep the good stuff in a box marked “4K” and throw away the rest when she sleeps.
I like the word: Simplify. and yes, I need to unclutter some of my brain too! Great post
You know….once again you have hit it just right…I often wonder what is wrong with me…why I can’t finish everything I want to…and now I know….MY BRAIN IS TOO CLUTTERED!! That is such a perfect description of my life….I absolutely positively need a brain “CLEAN SWEEP”! I am going to work on that….you have inspired me…(once again).
Thanks
Lisa
Ooooh I love flylady too!! I did it for maybe 2-3 weeks tops andthen it slowly got away fro me. I still keep it clean but it’s more ofa holy cow it’s Saturday and I need to clean the Mon-Fri mess! I love that sparkly sink though - still do that quite abit- it just feels good!!
Isn’t it amazing how much we all have in common? I find it so funny…..I read your blog and so much sounds like me. I read Tara’s blog and again…..I find so much of me in it…so many of us share the same “stuff”! It’s nice to know we have support from one another….or just to know we are not alone!
If there were a contest on cluttered homes, I think I’d win, hands down! I like this Shannon….and I need to join the challenge! Thanks