Five Minute Friday: Try

Writing for five unedited minutes for Five Minute Friday on the prompt, “Try.”

It’s time to tackle my messes.

My husband is out of town. My children are with their grandparents. It’s just me and my messes this weekend, and I’m promising myself they will be cleaned up.

Here’s what I need to tackle:

The papers on the kitchen table.
The junk on the kitchen island.
The stuff hidden in corners here and there.
The mess on my desk.
The detritus in the laundry room.
The stacks of books in the bedroom.
The boxes recently brought up from the basement.
The room I can’t use for creating because of the clutter.

How did I get myself into these messes?

By not touching them at all the past year or so…except to add on.

I know this: My messes multiply when I don’t even try to manage them.

If I’m going to stop making messes, I must manage them better.

Better management looks like this for me:

I need to sort mail immediately, every day.
I need to rearrange my books every Monday.
I need to scour the cluttered corners every Tuesday.
I need to scan the basement for messes every Wednesday.
I need to reorganize kitchen items every Thursday.
I need to treat myself to a cleaner desk every Friday.
I need to file on Saturday mornings.
I need to rest on Sundays!

Note to self: Write this down, and try these steps. You’ll feel much better if you do!

These posts are inspiring me to get organized:

Kathi Lipp’s Seven Steps to Just Getting Started

Karen Ehman’s Decluttering for the New Year (I think this is a great process for anytime of the year)

Liana George’s post on how she loves her messy spouse. (It’s motivational to hear how my inaction affects my neat-loving husband.)

Reader: Do you also struggle with messiness, or are you a neat person? What strategies can you share to help me manage my messes better? Thanks in advance!

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