I was talking to my adult daughter this morning and we were talking about how much better she feels now that she has organized her home and created “chore schedule” for herself. And she mentioned she couldn’t believe that making her bed and doing the dishes made her think clearer! And I said, “you know, small things matter. Those are life skills that matter. I didn’t have you kids make your beds just so you could have a clean room. I had you do it because the daily process of making your bed is a life matter. Because life matters.”
You see, small things like making the bed, doing the dishes in the sink, picking up the living room…all of these tasks take just minutes. And one task after another ends up being something bigger. And pretty soon you are seeing lives impacted by the little things that you once thought of as being a pain are now matters that impact your life! Those little things that you worry about doing (and procrastinating doing) for minutes, hours or even days literally take minutes to do.
I learned this lesson many years ago when I was in the early stages of momhood and trying to “do it all!” And I discovered when my house was in order, everything ran more smoothly for the family. And me. And I could think. And my family didn’t have melt downs. And when they did, I somehow had the emotional strength to give to them. When.my.home.was.in.order.
So, some great tools to get the job can be found on websites, in books, or out of your own brilliant mind! I used to use a 3×5 card file system. I categorized chores daily, weekly, monthly quarterly and bi yearly. I would rotate them accordingly to make sure the jobs got done. Pretty soon I didn’t need the cards. I just wrote it in on a calendar. You will get the hang of things fast. And the beauty of it is you see what it does for you emotionally! The little things in life matter. And they become life matters. And because life matters!