Saturday, June 13, 2009

THAT Cleaning/Organizing Challenge

http://www.squalorsurvivors.com

I was reading some quickies thru the Reader this morning and a blogger shared how they keep things to a fairly tidy and somewhat controlled 'mess' in their home.

She gets frustrated at the amount of stuff they have.

She gets overwhelmed at the task of even beginning to clean and organize.

She probably gets that same blank stare the rest of us do when surveying the amount to do on that To Do list. You just don't know where you should start.

Honestly, I've done FlyLady. I survived the guilt of learning even Baby Fly Steps weren't for me. It's a great plan, really it is. It breaks everything down to a great and truly manageable level.

But if you are starting with a lot of baggage -- like having 21+ years of accumulated marriage junk, a long history of being a supreme pack rat, etc. -- and you just aren't settled in your spirit yet to live a bit more simply, FlyLady will kick your butt big time.

Now, great as it was, FlyLady kicked my butt and kept taking jabs while I went down :o( I was not ready to confront my lifestyle of clutter when I started, and trust me, for me that just didn't work.

I have to deal with ME before I can really make any level of organizing and decluttering work for the long-term. I can rework that pantry and organize, inventory and basically make it sparkly and shiny but if I hav en't dealt with what brought it all to that mess and chaos in the first place, in a few weeks it's right back to the messy road it was on.

Take a look through that website and see some of the Squalor Survivor stories shared.

Wow.

I have a room that looks like some of those shared -- that nemesis of mine called a closet! I mean, we aren't living with dirty diapers, garbage and food everywhere, but that isn't what squalor is necessarily. It can simply be having so much stuff lying about without a 'home' to put it that you are hindered in your day. I don't have a couch anymore -- what was the point when it always seemed to have laundry lying on it in various states of fold? Of course, I didn't deal with the reason for the piles of laundry (I was gathering too much at one time, instead of folding as I pulled it from the line, or hanging as I gathered it), so I ended up with a bed full of laundry.

Don't think Dewey would like me getting rid of the bed.

Tackle an area today in your home, no matter how small it may be. Work until you get it organized and of better use. Let those pictures at the Squalor Survivor site be your motivation and inspiration!

5 comments:

spring chicken said...

I never lived in an organized home growing up, both of my parents were pack rats, and because we constantly moved (dad in military), some things were simply never unpacked from the last move, and thus replaced or forgotten. If you can, try to imagine a basement full of boxes, of things you never use, and have no idea what exactly is in them! In my teenage years my now single mother became even worse than in my younger years, laundry was piled in the living room, bedrooms and laundry room. Dishes hardly ever got done after they were used and the floor was only vacuumed and swept when there was second layer of crud covering it.

All this simply to state, I am terrible at organization! In the last 2 years of being a wife and mother things have improved immensely, I can keep things generally clean,and picked up, but always fail to stay on top of laundry...resulting in piles of clothes in my bedroom. Laundry is the bane of my existence. It's nice to hear I am not the only one!

Jamie Stroupe said...

wow, that is an amazing website!! I am excited to hear about the outcome of your challenge and how much you get done... I guess the biggest challenge is if you keep up with the work!!

My results with my laundry is just amazing. You would not think that something like laundry could take stress off of your shoulders!!

Although, my laundry and clothing was my biggest issue, I still have little issue's like cluttered cabinets and drawers that I am working on!!

Can not wait to hear about the results!!

Coming from the Stroupe home!!

Amy said...

I have a confession. I.......love to do laundry. Dusting, though? Not so much.

Greentwinsmummy said...

Good gracious thats some site :oO I have been reading your blog for a while now,I found you through Growing in the Fens blog :o)
I am quite a tidy person,we live in a weeny cottage & things have to have a home or we simply cant *live*, yet with 2 young children & 3 adults here its needs keeping on top of all the time. I am a horror for getting laundry in & folding it into a pile & then....it gets plonked on the stairs & left there..until someone knocks it over....etc etc.I read your fold it as you get it in remark & thought blow me how come I dont do that now argg!
so that new habit will start today ;o)
I am a firm believer in too much stuff inhibits life,its harder to *live* if you ave to move something,balance something precariously when you are putting it down if theres no clear surface etc.Folks have too many possessions now,we dont need cupboards stuffed to the gills with 12 different types of glasses or 45 patterned tea plates,if you buy one that catches your eye then balance out bringing that extra thing into your home by sorting one to leave!
GTM x

Unknown said...

That site really caught me off guard as I looked around. I mean, sure, there are tons of us with areas of messy and disorganized, but I have NEVER IN MY LIFE seen a house look anything like those shared with folks actually living in it! I can't even imagine getting to the point of depression that I lived like that, but apparently there are those who have lost their spirit to that point, and hence, the 'recovery' website.

Sure motivates me to get moving on my trouble spots, though!
Deanna

Jer.6:16

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

Blog Archive