Loving Where You Live

 
 

Envisioning the Life We Want

We all envision a certain kind of life… a life where the dirty dishes clean themselves, a life where the dining room table isn’t piled with junk mail, a life where the Christmas decorations magically disappear. But this vision of life is not reality. We have piles, we have dirty dishes, we have clutter. The first step in creating the life we want is to define what that life might look like. Our vision might include a particular home aesthetic, a paper filing system, or a home command center. This vision might include assigned duties and responsibilities, a master meal plan, or a cleaning schedule. The vision might include more leisure time, exercise time or cooking time.

Once we have defined the life and home we want, we need to create some goals around that vision, a to-do list of sorts. This list might include goals for each space in our home, a list of home repairs, a home décor vision board, and a budget. With list in hand, we then must devote our time to make our vision a reality.

Obstacles to Moving Forward

The greatest obstacle to moving forward is the “P” word, Procrastination. According to Grace Claman, “procrastination actually stems from fear and the anticipation of pain. This is usually a fear of failure or of not meeting our own standards. Somehow, we manage to link a lot of pain to the action we know we should take. The anticipation of pain keeps us from acting, and we fail to even get started.” If we can move forward with undesirable tasks, we will learn that the sense of accomplishment outweighs the pain of avoidance and procrastination.

20-Minute Projects

In a short 20 minutes a day, we can make a GREAT impact on our homes. Although 20 minutes does not sound like very much time, over time can really add up. Twenty minutes a day adds up to 2 hours and 20 minutes a week, 10 hours a month, and over 121 hours a year, or 3 weeks.
In a mere 20 minutes, we can perform transformative decluttering and organization projects. Some 20-minute projects include:

  • Shredding 100 pieces of paper

  • Going through 1-3 files

  • Folding a basket of laundry

  • Matching Tupperware lids with bases

  • Discarding expired meds

  • Reviewing shoes, discarding those that are damaged, uncomfortable or outdated

  • Scanning 50 pictures

  • Purging coffee mugs

  • Removing rotten food from your refrigerator

  • Deleting 5-25 emails

  • Writing 1-2 thank you notes

  • Paying bills

  • Picking up wayward toys

The 20-Minute Rule

The 20-Minute Rule is simple. When you have a difficult task, set your timer for 20 minutes and work on your task until the timer goes off. If you are feeling especially motivated, set another 20-minute timer and continue to work. According to Grace, “The 20-minute rule is designed to help you begin working through the process of developing new emotions in connection to a task. Because the thing is, the 20-minute rule is not actually meant to get the job done at all. It’s meant to help you get started. The ‘getting it done’ part will just be a happy accident if you use the 20-minute rule enough.” What is important is to “demonstrate to your brain that you can work on something for 20 minutes without feeling the pain you were so fearfully anticipating. By showing yourself that everything will be fine if you just do the thing, you help start to assuage your own fears.”

Start Today

Devote 20 minutes to your home and it will, over time, become the home you envision.

Need support in setting up your 20-minute projects?

I am happy to assist. Book your complimentary consultation or organization session today.

Lisa Hettinger