Don’t Play Catch-up

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If you’ve been around here a while, you know that I’m a big believer in a cleaning routine. And because I try to play by the rules I teach, last night I scratched off “clean kitchen & fridge” from my to do list … even though I didn’t do that yesterday.

One of the most important things I try to teach about cleaning routines is don’t play catch-up, because playing catch-up makes you feel always behind and ends up keeping you frazzled and stuck.

When it’s time to clean my kitchen and fridge next week, it will be clean. By looking forward, a natural reset and fresh start is coming, because it’s in the plan. If I get stuck looking backward, I’ll never feel caught-up and I’ll feel frazzled. If I miss cleaning for more than two weeks, then it is time to ask for help or time to make a change.

Yesterday, I decided to do my declutter assignment during my normal time I clean my kitchen, and I don’t regret it. I also don’t regret crossing off cleaning my kitchen even though I didn’t do it. It is so important to keep looking forward when we’re working on our homes.

This is especially true when we’re doing the declutter challenge. I see people, time and time again, get stuck on a room or assignment. They’ll say “I didn’t finish my closet all the way, so I’m going to keep working on it instead of moving on to the master bedroom.” So much of the time, those people stay stuck in that spot and never move on.

Don’t do that, don’t play catch-up. Keep moving forward, keeping looking forward.

Sometimes telling ourselves “I’ll do this tomorrow instead” is a way of procrastinating. So, if we remove that possibility of doing it tomorrow, we have more motivation to do it right now!

If you find yourself skipping declutter assignments several days in a row, just like with cleaning, it is time to ask for help or make a change to fit it in.

We cannot go back and change our history, but we do have power over our future. Once you really put this principle into your life, you’ll find yourself stepping out of the rut you’re in, it will be easier to manage your to do lists, and you’ll feel a calm fall over your life.

Don’t be frazzled. Stop playing catch-up.

From my home to yours,
Mary

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