Sunday, May 14, 2006

Frustration

I am fighting a losing battle against housework. It seems that I am ill-equipped to fight it. No matter how much I do, it is still there. It is ALWAYS there. There is always laundry, always something that needs to be dusted or washed or put away or swept or scrubbed or vacuumed. I know that it will always be there. Housework isn't a one-time deal. It's not like you finish it and it's done. You never finish. It's cyclical. It is always, always there. But this weekend, for whatever reason, I feel like it is not only a never-ending task, but also one that is impossible to keep up with. I feel like I am rapidly losing ground, and it is depressing. I don't know if it's because the sunny weather has nudged me away from home more often than usual, or because my daughter is becoming more and more active, or simply because my efforts have somehow become ineffective. I'm not entirely sure what to do about it.

4 comments:

janenetindall said...

If it helps, I have felt this sort of depression before. Well, kind of all the time. Can't the house be fully clean for a whole day, just once? And now I'm in twice the space. Twice the amount to clean, plus a yard. Sigh.

I am considering (and this is how sickly detailed and silly I am) creating a form similar to what they do in movie theater bathrooms, which lists all the different cleaning tasks that need to be done. I don't know about you, but it all starts running together, and I never know when was the last time I cleaned the bathrooms or dusted the molding, or whatever. And some things need to be done on a weekly basis, some more like monthly or quarterly. I never seem to be able to set goals for the day or week on what things to get done and what to leave off until tomorrow. I thought that perhaps if I can use a check-off type of form, I'd not only know what is long overdue for a cleaning, I'd also see how much I've gotten done this week, what's next, etc.

I know, I know, I'm just adding one more thing to do, and what kind of sick person makes forms like this, except for Martha Stewart fanatics? But I think it will really help me keep up with things and stay organized. We did something like this when I lived with my roommates, and it turned out that whatever cleaning we had to do that week took only about 20 minutes, because it was getting done every week and you just don't get a whole lot of dust and dirt building up in one week, you know?

Anyway, food for thought. I'll let you know how it goes, when I get around to it. Gotta unpack first. :)

Holly said...

No, no, I don't think this means you are a sick person at all. I think it's a great idea. I have done similar things in the past. Even right now I have a list of jobs that should be done weekly, all divided up into a certain number of jobs per weekday. My rule is that if I don't get everything done on a particular day, then on the next day I just move on to that day's list. If I finish that, THEN I go back and catch up on the previous day's work. Ex: On Mondays I try to vacuum all the carpets and do the laundry. If I go to bed on Monday night and didn't vacuum, say, the baby's room, then when I wake up on Tuesday I just start on Tuesday's work. Once that is done, then I'll go back and vacuum the baby's room. I've found that by doing it this way, I don't get that overwhelming feeling of drudgery, that feeling that I'm getting further and further behind. What if I never get around to vacuuming the baby's room!?!? Oh, well, it's still on the list for next Monday. Anyway, this doesn't necessarily work perfectly, or even really all that well at all some of the time, but at least it's some sort of system so I don't wake up and wonder where to begin.

I like your idea, and I think it just indicates that you have a desire for a well-run home, not that you have caught the Martha Stewart disease.

Alishia said...

I totally understand. Since I started staying home I have a list of different chores to do on different days. Then I don't lose myself in working. Also, check out flylady.com.
And, I went to SPU, too!

Holly said...

What a wonderfully small world!