Do you have any clutter in your life?
If yes, then you are also probably living with a case of Adultitis. Whether it’s in your house, cubical, or head, clutter is causing you stress and preventing you from moving forward. Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books talks about this, referring to the “Cycle of Completion.” He says,
When you don’t complete tasks, you can’t be fully prepared to move into the present, let alone your new future. When your brain is keeping track of all the unfinished business you still have at hand, you simply can’t be effective in embracing new tasks that are in line with your vision.
Trying to be creative? Clean up first! The simple task of cleaning your home can do wonders, reinvigarating your mental energy and decreasing your stress. If your environment feels cluttered, so will your mind. Unless you are a “Monica” from Friends, most people don’t look forward to cleaning. There are so many other fun things you could be doing. So, the other day I started compiling a list of ways to make cleaning more fun. I told Jason about it and he told me to check out the list that was just created by none other than Adultitis Antidote Winner, Shirley Jones, author of the blogs Bright Days & Fun Spirit. (Great minds, Shirley!!)
If you haven’t read them already, check out Shirley’s “10 Unusual Ways to Have Fun Cleaning.” These are ten creative ideas! I especially like the idea of listening to an audio book as you make dinner, wash the dishes or pick up.
Here are a few more of my own ideas to add…
• Bring on the bubbles. When you do the dishes add twice as much soap to the sink. The extra bubbles will remind you more of a bubble bath than a chore. The goal is to have floating bubbles escaping the sink. (This is a tip from my childhood. Just ask my mom!) Our bubble scrubber will increase the bubble mania and our faucet light will add a little color to the fun.
• Crayon Lists. A major strategy for managing clutter is writing lists (groceries, chores, scheduling, birthdays). Putting it on paper gets it out of your head, (a core principle of GTD), which allows you to think more clearly. So, why not write the lists with something fun. Crayons! The smell alone will bring you back to simpler times, which is never a bad thing for the ‘ol stress level.
• Download some motivation. For your weekly cleaning frenzy allow yourself to download a new favorite song from iTunes. Practice “delighting in the little things” as you put your new song on repeat.
• Rent a movie just for you. (This is an adaptation of Shirley’s #5.) Lots of chores can be done in front of the TV- ironing, folding laundry, dusting. Rent a movie that you have been wanting to see, but no one else in the house would care for.
• Treat yourself! Next time you are at the grocery store, buy a few indulgences that you would normally not buy. Use these to reward yourself for accomplishing those dreaded tasks you’re prone to put off (like cleaning out the garage or the toilets).
[tags]Jack Canfield, Shirley Jones, Bright Days, Fun Spirit, cleaning, clutter, GTD, stress[/tags]