The Benefits of Being Organized
While my oldest daughter and her boyfriend were living with us after she graduated college and he dropped out of it, I was forced to get extremely organized in order to cope with the presence of two messy young adults. This meant making a to-do list for everyone. (well, one for me and one for them.) Yeah, it was akin to treating them like minimum-wage employees, but that's how they were acting. Once the to-do list was initiated, things were easier... there wasn't any friction about what needed doing, because everyone knew, and they did it.
After the kids left (they were obviously being mistreated,) I kept my to-do list, and expanded it to include the chores they were doing. I added almost an hour to my daily stuff-that-must-be-done, but the benefits are unexpectedly far-reaching.
The house is clean. I mean, CLEAN, as in: No dust, no clumps of animal hair, no grime on the floor or counters or stove or toilets, and not much in the way of clutter. Any day of the week is a good day for company to drop by, because the carpet is always clean, the dishes are always done, beds always made, everything always tidy.
I get one day a week OFF. No housework, unless I want to. I spend the day doing stuff I like to do, rather than scrambling around trying to make things look presentable. I use Sunday, because Frank keeps a regular work week, whether he's at home or at a client's site.
I have a lot less stress these days. Not only is my environment nicer, I feel accomplished every day, every time I check an item off my list. The psychological benefits of a sense of accomplishment really can't be exaggerated. I feel more empowered at this point in time than I ever have before, even when I was working at a 'regular' job.
I've got more time than I used to have. That's probably the biggest benefit; the time management skills one acquires when one actually gets organized. I had to invest a little time making the list in the beginning, but after four months of using this list, that little chunk of time has been repaid a hundred times over. Now I've got time to make that cheese or that yogurt, bake that pie, read that book I've been wanting to read, knit that baby blanket that's about a year overdue, and play my guitar until my fingers are numb.
I'm healthier. With a very clean environment, the air in this house is good; I've got more time to prepare very healthy food, and I've got more time to take walks with the dog, and because it's on my list, I never forget to do my arm exercises (assigned by the chiropractor to deal with tennis elbow.) So, I'm getting muscle tone, and my metabolism is finally learning to cope with not smoking anymore. It's kicking up, slowly but surely.
Here's the most unexpected benefit: Our sex life is better. I mean, LOTS better. Like, we have sex daily, if we're together. For a while, we were acting like typical married people who'd been together more than fifteen years.. not having sex very often, and not really enjoying it when we did. But now.. sheesh. (oddly enough, this happened when my husband finally decided to make his own to-do list, and put me on it. Imagine that.)
Well, it's kind of nice. Wish I'd known about this to-do list stuff all along. I'd be President or something.
After the kids left (they were obviously being mistreated,) I kept my to-do list, and expanded it to include the chores they were doing. I added almost an hour to my daily stuff-that-must-be-done, but the benefits are unexpectedly far-reaching.
The house is clean. I mean, CLEAN, as in: No dust, no clumps of animal hair, no grime on the floor or counters or stove or toilets, and not much in the way of clutter. Any day of the week is a good day for company to drop by, because the carpet is always clean, the dishes are always done, beds always made, everything always tidy.
I get one day a week OFF. No housework, unless I want to. I spend the day doing stuff I like to do, rather than scrambling around trying to make things look presentable. I use Sunday, because Frank keeps a regular work week, whether he's at home or at a client's site.
I have a lot less stress these days. Not only is my environment nicer, I feel accomplished every day, every time I check an item off my list. The psychological benefits of a sense of accomplishment really can't be exaggerated. I feel more empowered at this point in time than I ever have before, even when I was working at a 'regular' job.
I've got more time than I used to have. That's probably the biggest benefit; the time management skills one acquires when one actually gets organized. I had to invest a little time making the list in the beginning, but after four months of using this list, that little chunk of time has been repaid a hundred times over. Now I've got time to make that cheese or that yogurt, bake that pie, read that book I've been wanting to read, knit that baby blanket that's about a year overdue, and play my guitar until my fingers are numb.
I'm healthier. With a very clean environment, the air in this house is good; I've got more time to prepare very healthy food, and I've got more time to take walks with the dog, and because it's on my list, I never forget to do my arm exercises (assigned by the chiropractor to deal with tennis elbow.) So, I'm getting muscle tone, and my metabolism is finally learning to cope with not smoking anymore. It's kicking up, slowly but surely.
Here's the most unexpected benefit: Our sex life is better. I mean, LOTS better. Like, we have sex daily, if we're together. For a while, we were acting like typical married people who'd been together more than fifteen years.. not having sex very often, and not really enjoying it when we did. But now.. sheesh. (oddly enough, this happened when my husband finally decided to make his own to-do list, and put me on it. Imagine that.)
Well, it's kind of nice. Wish I'd known about this to-do list stuff all along. I'd be President or something.