Small Progress

It's been three days since I decided to try yet again to get things under control and create new habits. I haven't failed because I have kept my expectations very low. During past attempts at building new habits I have set myself up to fail for several reasons: I try and accomplish too much all at once; I start with what I believe to be the "best habits to have", yet I fail to do the simple, small, daily tasks; I try and add in a new habit every day, so by the end of the week I'm trying to do 7 new habits; or I'm following advice from a naturally tidy and organised person with 0-2 kids - not 6! 

This time I am starting small, with things that I do reasonably well anyway. My goal is to improve on those tasks to the point where they are more natural and don't take long to do. 

Getting the kitchen tidy from all the dishes (plus other things that get left on the bench) takes about 5 minutes. I can do that! I can boil the jug to make a hot drink and achieve most of the kitchen by the time it is finished, then I get to sit down with my hot drink and relax, knowing the kitchen is tidy. One of the main reasons I want to get this habit engrained is because it is one of the first things people see when they enter our house. You can see through the kitchen and into the dining from the front door. Having a clean kitchen/dining is so important to making the rest of the house look tidy. Currently there is nothing on the floor in our kitchen/dining/bathroom area! Thanks to my amazing husband who mopped the floors after asking me this morning what he could do to help (after he got everyone ready and our Mr 3 off to kindy while I slept in!!). 

I almost succeeded at doing all the laundry on Monday. I say almost because I did a load of delicates as the last load, hung them on the line, and by the time that was done it was pretty much dinner prep time and then there was no way I was remembering to bring them in! I got them off the line yesterday, and unfortunately they are still sitting in the washing basket. BUT! I was able to do about 4 loads of washing and hung almost everything on the line, rather than putting it straight into the dryer, which I have been doing a lot. A huge disadvantage of using our dryer is that it only takes half the load of washing (we have a 9.5/10kg washer and only a 5kg dryer), and it takes longer than the washing machine. So I am making myself spend 5 minutes to hang the washing out. Fresh air, Vitamin D, exercise (lots of bending/squatting!) - bonus! 

Tomorrow is my next laundry day and I am feeling confident that I will be able to get it all done. It was such a good feeling to be able to stand at our dining table, fold a load of washing, and put it all away. I am not allowing myself to empty the load onto the lounge floor in the hopes of sitting down to fold it. It doesn't happen. Then the next load gets put on top. 

Here's to more progress!