Re: Oh no! A car just pulled in. one of my fears

Subject:

Comments:
: Toby, : This is one of my panic points. The ideas that have been posted are terrific! Sometimes when I am 'frozen' I go out the back door around and in the front pretending that a guest is with me. Then I ask myself what would I not want them to see. I have very recently started a guideline/rule book for the family. This translates into a family meeting. I believe that this is a gradual process. I am nowhere near perfect, but better than I was (we were). : I would also like to know what time averages people spend on doing everyday chores. I am going to start keeping track of mine and will report next week. : e-mail me if you like... thanks and good luck : glenda : : :This is Toby again. Thank all of you for your suggestions. I started to dejunk my house when out of nowhere I got a new job as a Township Clerk. Now I have less time than ever. My husband and daughter are less than pleased with the mess that has accumulated since I started this job. If more than one of you would respond I would like to know the approximate amount of time you spend picking up or cleaning each day. If I had some ideas on some other peoples daily housekeeping routines, maybe I could incorporate some of those ideas into my days. I have no routine. If any of you are smokers you know how much time you can spend 'having a coffee and cigarette'. I think thats where most of my waisted time goes. If I quit smoking, what does a normal day look like, to keep your house looking good enough for company? : : : : :I really like your suggestion because I need it very badly myself.I am humiliated when someone comes to the door, let alone wants to come in the house. : : : It is October as I read this, but I will try to see what I can do by Halloween. If it were not three in the morning, I would start now. : : : : Welcome! You're right! It's very overwhelming and at times even the most organized people have times of chaos. Your desire to change is the start. I would say from your post that the thing that bothers you the most, is the sinking feeling when someone comes to the door. So, start there. Go outside and analyze your entry, decide what it needs to feel more welcoming and take care of it first, ie. cobwebs, sweeping, garbage, basic cleanup and then reward yourself by getting something for your entry, ie wreath,bench,door numbers, potted plant, whatever to finish the job. Then start on your inside entry area. GET RID of stuff first and a trip to Goodwill for one day. Then make a list of what bothers you the most about the entry area, and start on those things. Resist buying anything for the area, until you have it clean. Then schedule a time, once a week, where an hour is devoted to maintaining your entry areas in and out. Take the month of September to get it together, and check in on this site once a week or so, and maybe we could all help to motivate you through it. If you are interested, I check in about once a week, and would be willing to walk along through your project. Don't do anything else except the entry for now. What do you think? Anyone else want to help? Take care. Chris : : : : : This is my first time communicating this way. I am just trying it out and will be waiting for a reply from anyone . This will help me to understand the 'list' of posted messages that I have been TRYING to figure out until my brain hurts. Well anyway my eyes are tired. I have one of the messiest houses I have ever seen. There are only three of us, my husband, daughter and myself. We dont put things away when we finish using them and cant seem to remember to do this for more than a day or two. I want a house that is neat and clean enough so that if someone drops in, I am not devistated. That is NOT an exageration. I dont even know where to start. Pick up or clean? I dont know how to balance these two things. And there are always other things to do such as fun things with my family or projects that need to be done. I have done a lot of studying of this website and there are so many good things in it. But how do I begin this monumental job of picking up, cleaning, sorting and how do I balance the time so that it can stay picked up, cleaned and sorted? HELP PLEASE

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL: