The Problem With Lazy Butts Like Me

I sincerely wish I had pretty pictures to show you today. It's just been so dark the last few days there's been little chance for good photography, and what I'm blogging about today isn't that pretty.

Lately, I've really been trying to work at maintaining this place. I am forever dealing with the curse of laziness and procrastination. I want my house to be neat, cleaned regularly, and guest ready all the time, but most of the time I want to read books and blogs more.

My entire life I've been the messy sort. Not so messy that I should be on hoarders, but not nearly as tidy and organized as I long to be. My room as a child was always a mess. On Saturdays, we had to clean our rooms before we could watch tv and though I loved Garfield and Friends with fervent passion, I often missed it because it took me forever to get things picked up. I faced two problems: an overwhelming mess and the lack of moral fortitude to attack it with gusto in a timely fashion.

My adult life hasn't always been much better. I wish I could blame messes on my kids, but the truth is, when we were newlyweds our apartment was frequently a disaster. My worst places are kitchens and bedrooms, maybe because dishes and laundry are constant jobs that procrastinators quickly get buried under.

However, children have a way of introducing widespread chaos on the neatness of a household. Toys, clothes, food, games, crayons, accessories, and let's not even mention poor bathroom aim. Couple that with a tiny house and procrastination, and you've got a problem on your hands.

I find that my success as a domestic goddess comes in waves. Sometimes, I'm totally winning at keeping things cleaned up, but sooner or later, something will come up that throws a hitch into my desire to clean all the things and before I know it I'm buried under clutter again. I'm not consistent. Sometimes it's big things like morning sickness or a new baby, and other times it's little things like getting sucked into a good book or not getting enough sleep.

I've had a bit of success lately though. Maybe it's because I'm in my thirties now and I have to be a grown up. It's not cute anymore to not be able to walk through my room because of all the clothes on the floor. I know the key is regular maintenance--picking things up each day and not letting the mess get ahead of me. When I suck it up and do the dishes before bed, I feel so much better the next morning. It's mental for me--I have to decide to overcome the almost palpable aversion to doing certain things. Once I get started, I'm usually okay.

In the last few months, I've worked to keep my car clean, the dishes done and the laundry going. So far, I've been most successful in keeping the van clean. In the last two weeks, I've been a superstar, keeping on top of everything. I've loved it, but I've also known it probably won't last.

Today, I'm feeling the challenge. I don't wanna. We'll see if I overcome.

Here are a few little things I've noticed help my productivity: Making my bed every day. Rinsing off dishes immediately after use. Having pretty containers to store things like toys and shoes. Reminding the boys to take in their stuff from the van. Having a large laundry basket handy to collect all the clothes every day.

Here's where I still need major improvement: Paper filing, dusting (such a simple job, but so easy to neglect!), keeping the homeschool room picked up, having the boys pick up their room (out of sight, out of mind usually).

So tell me, am I the only one who struggles with being a Messy Bessy? Sometimes it seems like everybody else is better at this than I am. What are the things you struggle with or what are the basic jobs you make yourself do everyday? I'm all ears.