Housework

Last night I finished up a lovely few weeks spending the evenings crocheting and watching Agatha Christie's Marple (2004-2008 mini-series on BBC).

Now I have no excuse not to clean the house.

The house is a wreck.

I won't disgust you with the details but suffice it to say -- I've smashed a few flies and lamented the lack of time/will to clean.

I don't know why I do so well cleaning for a week or two and then let it go.

(Part of me says "because you're exhausted from being at work all day and you need to veg" and part of me says "because you are only motivated by outside sources" and part of me just says, "because you're lazy -- go clean that kitchen!")

I think what it boils down to is discipline.  I have a severe lack of discipline in my eating, time, and personal habits.  I'm an adult, however, and that means I have no excuse not to improve myself.

I know cleaning the house means I will be less stressed.  I also know that it will take some time and that I'll have to work around all the stuff we have crammed in the apartment.  And that I can't clean out the closet like I want to until we take the Christmas tree back to Charleston (and store it at DH's mom's place).

I get discouraged easily, and the only motivator for me to clean is music (unless someone's coming over).

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of CD's and I can't guarantee Pandora will play a bunch of great songs in a row.  And my iTunes library is nonexistent since I don't have a power cord for Stanley, my old Dell.

So...I struggle.  I struggle with cleaning every day.  I struggle with washing dishes.  I struggle to remember to put the milk back in the fridge (Stu found it in a cabinet last night but thankfully it was still good).

Why do I struggle when I know I will have peace of mind once the house is in order?

The drudgery.  The this-will-be-the-rest-of-my-life thought.  The lack of lots of time.  The lack of space.

It overwhelms me that I clean and still have stuff that doesn't have a place to go.

But tonight I must go home and

take out the trash
wash the dishes
do a load of laundry
clean the bathroom
sweep the kitchen
unload/load the dishwasher
clean the microwave
clean the stove
tidy the bedroom

and instead of complaining about that, I will try to think:

1. I have a dishwasher (YAY!)
2. I have machines that do laundry for me
3. I like folding clothes (especially while watching a cartoon)
4. Stu promised to help me with the bathroom
5. taking the trash will make me exercise (weights and walking)
6. I can pretend I'm Cinderella while I do the dishes
7. I can time myself while cleaning the bedroom and reward myself depending on how fast I do it (with some time to read!)
8. after I get all that done I will feel splendid
9. I don't have to do it all tonight -- the microwave and stove can wait.

That doesn't make it look too bad.  And if Stu helps with the bathroom (he cleaned it last week too and it SPARKLED) then the dishes and laundry can start while I do the microwave/stove.

Sometimes all I need is to re-frame a To-Do List into a Clean House! YAY! List.

Any tips and tricks for keeping the house clean or getting motivated to clean?

EDIT:

Hubby took out the trash (bless him) and I got the big things done.  A few little things to do tomorrow and I will be sane once again.

But I also need to keep re-learning not to be hard on myself.

I am not Wonder Woman.