Quick and Easy Fixes: Getting Things Done Around the House

What Keeps You From Getting Things Done Around the House

I think about what keeps me from getting to things I want done around the house? What I figured out is things are a blur, with so much other stuff going on. These past few weeks are an example of that! On Saturday, we were invited or wanted to attend 6 different things. There was a bridal shower, a baby shower, a wedding, 2 open houses, and our son’s graduation! We managed to get to three of them and we felt pretty good about ourselves! Thankfully, I tend to be a pretty good planner and can figure out a way to make things work without it being too stressful.

One of the things that tends to push highly sensitive people toward shut down, is when they have too many things going on at once. They tend to get overwhelmed. They shut down and then beat themselves up when the things that they needed to do don’t get done! It’s tricky to figure it all out! So, this month, I want to share some of the strategies that I’ve implemented over the years. These have helped me not feel so overwhelmed. I am able to get things done. I’ll be sharing my quick and easy fixes for getting things done around the house, setting a good routine, and communicating with others. I chose these, because these areas tend to be the ones that shut me down the quickest. I hope these tips will inspire you to find some strategies that work for you!

Tips for Getting Things Done Around the House

Here are my tips for getting things done around the house:

Remind yourself that it’s temporary

There are times when life gets hectic and crazy busy, and it becomes difficult to manage our physical environment. When this happens, I remind myself that this is temporary. When I’m less busy, less tired, less sick, I’ll get right back at it. I’ll get the house cleaned up and the way I like it. This was especially true when the kids were little-there were always messes and it never felt like things were picked up. I reminded myself that once they got older, they could help more, pick up after themselves more and could keep the mess confined to their rooms.

Now when we have busy seasons, I just do what I can-load the dishwasher quickly, wipe down a mirror or sweep the floor. Whatever it is, and whatever I have the energy for, I tackle and then save the rest for later. It’s a little hard for my perfectionistic self to walk away from the other things that need done in the room, but I trust myself that I’ll handle it when I have a little more time or energy. The best part is this: it always gets done!

Get rid of things!

If you are sentimental you might want to skip over this tip because it’s probably not for you! One of the best things my husband and I do often is to go through things in our house. We will usually do an all-out cleaning of closets, clothes, shoes, kitchen, etc. We usually only tackle one project at a time and not all at once. For example, we will only focus on one room or one closet but not every closet in the house. And we will just purge and organize. We don’t have a very big house, so it makes it easy to not want to hold on to things because we just don’t have the room.

I also know that it’s a good gift we’re giving to our children. I received a gift several years ago from a dear friend who passed away, and while it’s very sentimental to me, my children will not know what to do with it. So, my plan for this item is to honor it in a special way that is meaningful for me, which will ensure my children don’t have to take care of it when I’m gone.

I go through pictures regularly on my phone, and only keep the best one from each event, and I always have a pile of stuff that we pass along to those in need. I think it’s a win-win.

Baby steps

One of my favorite movies from 1991, is called What About Bob? In it, one of the main characters, a psychologist writes a book called, “Baby Steps.” He uses it to teach his patients how to get through any of the overwhelm they’re experiencing by taking baby steps. Turns out this idea works in real life, especially for highly sensitive persons. When I feel myself starting to get overwhelmed, I take a deep breath, remind myself that I just must do the “next thing,” and after that’s done, I do “the next thing.” This is especially helpful when I start to get overwhelmed and there’s a deadline to the things that need to get done such as going on vacation, getting ready to host a party or dinner, or cleaning out a closet (I usually want to be done about halfway through any project I tackle!)

Summary

I hope this give you a place to start to tackle getting things done around the house. I use these strategies on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. It’s easy to get into the trap of getting overwhelmed, shutting down and then beating yourself up mentally because you got overwhelmed. Instead, tackle it head on, remind yourself that you’ve got this and get things done!

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