I formalized an approach to house making last year. An approach I’d inadvertently applied (willy nilly) for many years.  I created a set of cards (that I offered in a bundle) titled THREE MINUTES, Seven Minutes and ELEVEN MINUTES.  Those were the most common time frames that various house keeping tasks seemed to take.  I filled them out.  I but them in a bag.  I pulled one or two or three out in the course of a day when I had 3, 7 or 11 minutes in between things that I was willing to invest in house making.  I used it as my “get up and move around” activity when I was sitting writing or designing for hours.  When the bag was empty: I started all over again!  The house started looking increasingly better and increasingly I felt less pressure about “getting it ALL done” at once.  Because I was starting to get it done, consistently, little bits at a time.  Doing that for months built a habit.  I don’t need to use those cards now because I’ve fully embraced the system and have trained myself to the various tasks. And somewhere in there I managed to reframe my assessment of “I hate house work,” to “I love enjoying a clean and presentable living environment.” Viola!  So today, as I waited for my hot water pot to boil for a beverage I pulled out the elements of the stove top and cleaned underneath and washed the little catch bowls.  Finished just as the water pot clicked off.  And THAT’s how I’m rolling out my house keeping mojo in 2015.  You?  Does this seem possible if you, also, are inclined to say, “I hate  house work?”

There are other elements to this story of transforming my relationship to keeping house.  They are longer and more complicated.  If you would like me to tell THAT story, let me know.