Life reset -- Get back on track with me, Week 2

At the end of last weekend's post, I laid out a plan for the week. Did I accomplish anything on that plan? 

 

Other than meeting with my primary tutoring student and going to a doctor's visit, NOPE!

 

I could beat myself up about failing to achieve my plans for the week, but that's not productive. Instead, I'm recognizing that I'm a human being with a lot going on in my life and I'm giving myself some grace to try again this week. I've been dealing with some health issues that include pretty extreme fatigue and sometimes I just can't do what I set out for myself. I also had a health-related treatment this past Friday that has some unpleasant side effects, so I'm not doing as much today and am being gentle with myself.

 

I'm totally ok with that.

 

So, if like me, you need another attempt at a reset and getting back on track, follow along as I tidy, declutter, and clean today.

 

1. Trash and recycling

Like last week, I'm going to start with a trash and recycling sweep of my bedroom. I'll be setting out a trash bag, recycling bag, and a box for any items that should be donated. So, set up your own bags and/or boxes, and join me.  

 

2. Laundry, part one

I do need to do some laundry this week. I also want to work on pre-planning my outfits for the week and to have them all set and ready on a shelf so that I can just grab the day's outfit in the morning without thinking about it. 

 

I'm calling this "Laundry, part one" because I don't have the energy today to do it all at once. I'll be breaking my laundry up into chunks. 

 

Right now, I've just gathered all of the dirty laundry in my bedroom into one pile and all the clean but unfolded laundry into another. The dirty will be washed later today. The clean laundry I will fold and put away right now while I watch something on YouTube.  

 

3. Dishes that are astray

I'm tired after those two chores and want to take a break, but first, I'm going to go through my bedroom and bathroom and pick up any dishes and take them to the kitchen to be washed later.

 

BREAK TIME

Doing just those few chores was so surprisingly tiring! Mentally, I'm feeling more alert than I have for the past few weeks, but physically, I'm still drained. I am going to take a break and will be back at my reset shortly. 

 

BACK AT IT

Wow! What I had planned as a one hour break, at most, turned into a THREE HOUR nap! I must have really needed it though as I was so tired that I slept with my socks on which I NEVER do unless I'm sick or exhausted. I'm up now though, so let's get back to it.

 

4. Dishwasher and Dishes

After I was up and going from my nap, I decided to tackle the dishes in the kitchen. I unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded it, and turned it on. 

 

I started out gamifying doing the dishes (as I did last week), but ultimately, I really wanted to see the sink completely empty. I ended up completely emptying the sink and loaded the dishwasher fully, so I turned that on while I assessed the remainder of the dirty dishes. By this point, I was starting to feel fatigued again, so I tidied up what's left to wash, made myself some coffee and came back to post this update. 

 

5. Gather dirty laundry or laundry, part two

Earlier, I picked up the dirty laundry in my bedroom. I usually change my clothes in the bathroom and have my laundry basket in there. Well, all week, my laundry basket has been in my bedroom with clean laundry in it. After folding and putting away all of my clean clothes earlier today, I loaded up the dirty laundry from my bedroom.

 

Let's grab the rest of my dirty laundry and any kitchen linens and put them all in the basket and set that by the door before we take another break. As I mentioned last week, I typically sort my laundry into heavy items and lightweight items. This week, I also have to wash my winter coat and is it feel onto the floor at work into a mystery puddle in the bathroom....ewwwwww!

 

6. Fridge clean-out

Our fridge has been a mess and we're wasting a lot of money on rotting food as a result. Some of it is due to laziness and some due to all of us being ill.

 

Because I'm quite fatigued from my current health issues and treatments, I opted to focus only on the condiments in the fridge door. I did the following:

• Put everything from all of the door shelves onto the stove and counter
• Grabbed a small stool to sit on and cleaned all of the shelves in the door
• Sorted everything by similar groupings 
• As I sorted, checked expiration dates and freshness
• Tossed the things that were bad
• Combined like items (why did we have two half full jars of jalapeno slices?)
• Put everything back in like groupings (Asian sauces, Hispanic and Mexican sauces, mayo and mustard, etc.)

By the time everything was put away, I was ready for another break. Sigh... 

 

7. More fridge clean out

After a short break, I went back to the kitchen and worked on cleaning out more of my fridge. I tackled the top and middle shelves, and my drawer. 

 

Over the years, we've found that if we use the produce drawers for produce, we forget what we have and a lot rots. So, instead, we keep things on the shelves -- not the best way to keep things fresh, but it helps us to see what we have so we waste less. Then, the dairy drawer is mine, one produce drawer is for my kiddo, and the other produce drawer is for my kiddo's partner. The irony here is that I'm severely allergic to dairy! Hahaha! We use our drawers to keep things specific to our dietary restricts or that we've bought specifically for ourselves rather than for household use. 

 

When it comes to the shelves and the door compartments, most of that space is for everyone, but the bottom shelf typically ends up with more of what my kiddo and their partner eat, the middle shelf is usually produce, and the top shelf typically is mostly mine. 

 

I am saddened by how much had gone bad over the last several weeks, but this is a fresh week to start again, right? We still have plenty of food and, now that I've cleaned out and organized the fridge, we can see what we have. My goal this week is to not grocery shop at all. We have plenty of food to keep us going for more than a week -- we could probably stretch the entire month, if we really had to, without grocery shopping!

 

After cleaning out the fridge, I made myself a fruit smoothie with bananas, frozen cherries, frozen raspberries, frozen pineapple, pomegranate juice, water, and ground flax. It's delicious! I had a bunch of bananas that were getting soft, so I unpeeled them, broke each in half, and put them into a container in the fridge to use in future smoothies. 

 

At this point, I'm quite tired and probably won't do any further cleaning or tidying. The medical treatment I had on Friday really took me out this weekend! I do plan to set out an outfit for work tomorrow though. As for the rest of my laundry, I'll try to do that after work on Monday.

 

What did you get accomplished today? Drop a comment and let me know!

 

My skincare -- how I look significantly younger than my age

As a teenager, I thought I had terrible skin. 

 

Like many teens, I had my share of acne and suffered from different types across different areas of my face and upper back. I had some pretty straightforward whiteheads and blackheads, but also suffered from painful cystic acne. 

 

I thought my skin was disgusting and it didn't help that my parents and one grandmother would regularly tell me to wash my face, use this or that product, pop a zit, etc. At one point, my mom took me to our family doctor and I was prescribed medication that actually didn't do anything. Despite visible evidence by looking at my skin compared to my peers' skin, I developed a complex about it and thought my skin was gross and that I was ugly.

Looking back on my teen years, I know now -- 30+ years later -- that my skin actually was pretty good compared to that of many of my peers! In high school, I never heard another teen call me names or tease me for my skin, but I know some kids with worse skin did face this kind of peer criticism. I wish I knew then what I know about my skin: despite my regular breakouts, it actually wasn't bad. What I dealt with was mild compared to some of my peers.

And...

A lot of my skin issues were likely the result from OVER washing, using regular bar soap on my face, and over use of various skincare products. 

All of that said, one of my other grandmother's is probably partially why my skin wasn't worse. She regularly encouraged me to drink water instead of soda or juice, to use sunscreen, and to moisturize with a high quality lotion. I have always had a tendency towards sunburns, so I took her seriously regarding sunscreen and rarely left the house without covering my face and ears in the stuff.

Admittedly, genetics have likely had a place in my skin health over the course of my lifetime -- I'm not naive enough to think my skincare routines have been the be all, end all of my skin health. However, I have noticed some patterns over the years with how my skin behaves under different conditions and with different products. 

Between my skincare routine, diet, exercise, genetics, and so on, I've kept my skin pretty darn healthy over the years, to a degree that I regularly receive compliments on my skin and disbelief when people find out I'm nearly 50 years old. For the past three decades, people have assumed I'm anywhere from five to 15 years younger than my actual age -- at this point, I do have some graying hair around my temples and that is starting to give away my age (but my kid said it's graying "in a really cool way" so the gray is here to stay!). Despite graying hair, I'm regularly mistaken for being my adult child's sibling or girlfriend rather than their mom!

I get asked about my skincare pretty regularly, so here's what I do with three major caveats first:

 

1. I am NOT a doctor or healthcare provider. This is NOT meant as advice and is only what has worked for me. You should speak to your healthcare provider if you have concerns about the health of your skin (and make sure you get a skin cancer check of any moles or abnormalities!).

2. I am nearly 50 and this is what I do NOW. My skincare needs have changed over the decades. What works for 50 year old skin isn't going to work for 15 year old skin!

 

3. I'm not going to share pictures of my skin. There are too many trolls who will decide my mostly clear skin is disgusting regardless of any proof that it's not. There are trolls that relish in being nasty and I want no part in that. I'm sure I'll get some accusations that I'm lying and am actually disgusting because I'm not sharing pictures, but those are not my people. One part of my self-care is to mitigate opportunities for people to bash on me -- NOT sharing photos is one way I'm doing that. 

At its most basic, my skincare routine consists of:

• Less makeup
• More moisturizer
• More sun protection (sunscreen, hats)
• Drink more water
• Eat more fresh food (especially produce)
• Never use soap on the face -- only face specific cleansers
• Don't neglect the rest of the body -- neck, chest, back of hands
• Avoid over washing
• Never go to bed with makeup on 
• Rinse with plain water rather than washing a couple of times per day
  

Although my skin was never really terrible, I radically changed my skincare routine and made lifestyle changes about 15 years ago, and my skin is the healthiest it's ever been.

 

It took probably three years for prior damage to really be repaired, so it does take patience.You won't see results right away from changing your skincare routine.

 

My typical routine consists of:

 

MORNING:

-- Wash hands and rinse face with plain water

-- Apply either Aveeno lotion or The Body Shop Vitamin E moisturizer to face/neck/chest/back of hands; apply Aveeno to arms and elbows

-- If going outside for more than 30 minutes, particularly on sunny or snowy days, apply either Neutrogena SPF 55 sunscreen or The Body Shop Vitamin E sunscreen or Badger sunscreen with special focus on face, chest, backs of hands, ears

-- Drink water before coffee/tea

 

THROUGHOUT THE DAY:

-- Drink water (I try to remember to fill three 20-30oz water bottles in the morning) -- I do drink more coffee than I should, but when I'm not drinking coffee, I'm usually drinking water.

-- Eat a lot of fresh produce with a focus on veggies (if you don't already do this, it will take time to develop a taste for them).

........I make it a habit to eat more than 30 types of veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds per week.

-- If I feel icky/sweaty/dirty: rise my face with plain water unless I'm visibly dirty or have worked out and gotten sweaty.

 

EVENING/BEFORE BED

-- Clean off any makeup with makeup remover cream or wipes specifically for that reason, but I rarely wear anything beyond lip gloss or lipstick.

-- Wash my face with First Aid Beauty face wash.

-- Use Body Shop Vitamin E eye cream a few times per week.

-- Apply Aveeno to the same areas as earlier every night.

-- Hair in a bun to sleep.

-- Once or twice per week use an exfoliating face scrub instead of face wash on face/neck/chest/back of hands.

 

HABITS I CULTIVATED OVER TIME:

-- Cut daily soda drinking (I admit I am struggling to entirely quit Coca Cola, but I definitely don't drink it daily or even every other day)

-- Minimize sugar and processed foods

-- Never consume sugar substitutes or aspartame and limit food dyes

-- 100% dairy free (due to an allergy but had a profound impact on my skin and weight)

-- Minimize alcohol consumption (less than one drink per week)

-- Read food labels -- if I can't pronounce most ingredients or sugar is in the top 5, I try to skip it

-- Cut way back on gluten products

.......Buy pasta imported from Italy that is more of an ivory color (there's a whole science behind it that I'm not great at explaining, but go HERE to learn more)

.......Buy gluten containing products that are as minimally processed, as possible

-- On occasions when I eat meat or eggs (I'm 80% vegan, most of the time, just naturally), I buy the highest quality, grass fed, free range, hormone free, etc. that I can afford.

 

Combined, these have made the biggest differences for my skin. But, as I said, it has taken time to see results. If I have a soda, too much sugar, too much gluten, not enough water, etc it shows in my skin about a day or two later and takes at least twice as long to repair the damage.

I started by focusing on just a few things at a time as my budget would allow, and it took a few years to really get to where I am today with my skin health. Taking time and focusing only on a few changes at a time for several months at a time gave me a lot of clues as to what does and doesn't work for my skin. I think taking time to see changes is one of the reasons people don't make the progress they want or expect and quit too soon when it comes to skincare, and really anything health or lifestyle related. It can be discouraging to go a week or two without any obvious changes. 

Lastly, I realize that I have a lot of privilege and that not everyone can follow these steps or make these changes. As I said, it's taken me time to get here, and there was a long period where I thought I would never be able to have habits like these. I have been poor enough to worry about being homeless. I've been poor enough to only be able to afford super cheap, super processed food. I've been poor enough to only be able to afford cheap soap and no face wash and no moisturizer. I know I'm fortunate to be in this position, but it took time and a lot of effort to get here. 

You can buy some of the products I noted above here:

*Some of these will be affiliate links -- thank you in advance for any purchases made through these links!

First Aid Beauty face wash

Aveeno lotion

The Body Shop Vitamin E line of products -- get 20% off your first order if you register with THIS link first!

......I particularly like THIS moisturizer and THIS eye cream.

Badger sunblock

Neutrogena SPF 55 sunblock

My favorite water bottle (It's a HydroFlask 24oz in the color "snapper" which is like a deep raspberry color.)

My favorite pasta -- De Cecco

 

What are your skincare tips? 

My favorite YouTube channels for simple living, de-cluttering, and lifestyle

Last week, I mentioned that I've been watching a lot of YouTube (read the post HERE). This week, I'm giving you a run down of my favorite channels. Most of what I watch on YouTube focuses on simple living, de-cluttering, and lifestyle with a few other topics sprinkled throughout. 

 

A to Zen Life: This channel features a family of four that downsized from mom's near hoarder status to fitting all of their possessions into 8 suitcases which they then took with them to move from the United States to Germany. The mom, Marissa, posts videos about de-cluttering and minimalism, mom and family life, routines, frugal and simple living, and more. 

 

Benita Larsson: Benita is my style and home decor guru and lives in Sweden. She is a single mom of an adult son who downsized several times and now is a dedicated minimalist but with a realistic streak, noting that minimalism means different things to different people. She regularly de-clutters and talks about simple, intentional living. 

 

Carter Sullivan: Carter is a 20-something young woman who vlogs about her daily life, career and personal goals, books, productivity, goal setting, and so on. She also is very realistic and up front about her mental health. She reminds me a lot myself at her age (I'm literally old enough to be her mom). Carter is in Canada.

 

Cecilia Blomdahl: Cecilia and her boyfriend live above the arctic circle on the island of Svalbard. Her channel is fun and funny. She vlogs about life in the arctic north, the highs and lows of extreme sunlight and extreme darkness. She also shares occasional book content, de-cluttering and home renovation content, adventures, and more. I like that she basically radically transformed her life by moving to Svalbard and has leaned into it. 

 

Jules Acree: I'm not sure how old Jules is -- late 20s? -- but I really like her aesthetic and her approach to productivity and working from home. Her home is clean lines and simple, but also soft and comfortable. Jules is from the United States.

 

Levi & Leah: Levi and Leah are a Canadian younger couple in their late 20s/early 30s who are committed to intentional living, the environment, healthy sexuality, and adventure. At times they feel a little out of touch with reality, but I still enjoy their vibe and approaches to life. 

 

Mallikkas Life: Mallikka is Danish and closer to my age -- maybe a few years old (I'm 48 as I write this) and she posts about frugal living, de-cluttering, and being intentional in life. Her channel is pretty straightforward. She's fun and funny too. 

 

Max & Occy: Max is an Australian van lifer who lives in his van with his dog, Occy. He's chill and cool, has lots of great adventures, but he's also very open about mental health issues and life challenges. 

 

Natalie Bennett: Natalie is in her late 20s, maybe very early 30s, and vlogs about decluttering, home life, life with kids, and journeying towards minimalism. Every now and then her husband also appears in her vlogs and he's pretty funny! I like that Natalie is generally very upbeat but also realistic about life with kids.

 

Not Just Bikes: The dude behind this channel is from Canada, but he and his family live in Amsterdam now. They go everywhere by bicycle and his channel is dedicated, primarily, to going places by bike and bike friendly city design. I aspire to being car free and going everywhere by bike, by foot, or by public transportation. I also live in a US city that has a reputation for being extremely bike friendly -- it. is. not! My city has a lot of work to do in this area!

 

Propel: The guy behind Propel is based in New York City, but also has strong ties to California. He is an e-bike shop owner and much of his channel is dedicated to topics related to e-bikes, alternative transportation, and similar topics as those found on Not Just Bikes.

 

Roots and Refuge Farm: Roots and Refuge is the vlog of Jessica Sowards and her family as they homestead and build up their family, home, and business around all things homesteading and gardening. Jess is passionate about homesteading, home gardening, and self-sufficiency in terms of food. I am working on improving my patio container garden every year and have learned a lot from Jess. You can buy her first book, The First Time Gardener, HERE (this is an affiliate link -- thank you in advance for any purchase through this link as it may result in a small commission for me).

 

Sustainably Vegan: This channel is hosted by a young woman from Great Britain who recently moved to the United States with her husband. She is a calm presence amid the chaos of the world! She is primarily focused on frugal and simple living with a lot of cooking. 

 

This Crazy Life: Ok, I'm a total nerd, and I love to watch "clean with me" videos! Amanda, the host of this channel, often shares home cleaning and organizing videos, day in the life videos, and occasionally home renovation and home decorating videos. She also regularly shares recipes -- she is on a semi-restricted die that I relate to. I like to turn on her videos for inspiration to clean and organize my own home!

 

Whispering Willow Farm: Jill and her husband are friends with Jessica Sowards and family from Roots and Refuge, listed above. In fact, Jill's family bought their home from the Sowards! Jill is another passionate home gardener turned homesteader and farmer. I've learned a ton from her! In addition to gardening content, she also shares cooking videos, often focused on sourdough bread and fermenting. 

 

Wild We Roam: This channel features a young family exploring alternative lifestyles. When I came across their channel, they were van lifers in Europe (they are from the United States). Since my finding them, they have also lived on a boat, lived in Hawaii, and recently moved to be closer to family when they became parents. They currently are working on building a shipping container home and a homestead. 

 

Yoga with Adriene: Adriene is such a calm, gentle, soul! She teaches yoga through her videos, but she is very loosey-goosey and encourages viewers and participants to go at their own pace and adjust things as they need to. She is not a strict teacher at all!

 

25 Things To Do When You Don't Want To Do Anything

I am having a day. A boring, no motivation kind of day. Maybe you are too! If you're at all like me, you might also have some messes here and there around the house. Or maybe you haven't been taking the best care of yourself. Or maybe you've been neglecting your personal interests and hobbies. 

 

Here are 25 tasks for when you need to do something but have no interest in doing anything:

1. Wash five dishes

2. Fold and PUT AWAY five pieces of laundry

3. Set a timer for 10 minutes and speed tidy your living room

4. Sort and deal with a stack of mail

5. Clean a window

 

6. Clean and vacuum under the couch cushions

7. Clean, tidy, and de-clutter your fireplace mantel or a shelf

8. Do a quick walk through of shared spaces and pick up trash and recycling -- then dispose of them properly!

9. Drink a glass of water

10. Take 10 deep, slow breaths and stretch your arms out and open as widely as you can with each breath

 

11. Tidy your wallet or purse

12. Tidy around your home's entry

13. If you carry a medical or allergy kit, make sure it's up to date

14. Read two pages of a book

15. Eat some fruit or veggies

 

16. Sit on the floor and stretch for ten minutes

17. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and doodle for five minutes with no particular goal or ideas in mind -- just scribble if that's all that makes sense in the moment!

18. Clean a toilet or sink

19. Do a face mask or other easy beauty treatment

20. Floss your teeth (brush them too if you haven't yet today!)

 

21. Unsubscribe from five email lists

22. Delete 10 terrible photos from your phone

23. Delete two unused apps from your phone

24. Clean out the center console of your car

25. Make yourself a cup of your favorite coffee or tea and close your eyes and savor it

When life is crushing us and beating us down, it can feel impossible to do anything. I find that breaking my day down into micro-tasks like those listed above can make a difference. I like to keep track of what I'm getting done over the course of these "I don't want to do anything" days as it helps me to see that I am actually capable of doing a lot and of taking control of my life.

What are your go-to tasks for when you don't want to do anything?

 

Currently -- February 2023

Hello, dear readers,

 

Over the next few weeks, you'll see some changes around Mom2MomEd headquarters (also known as this blog), in the Etsy shop, and on social media (both Facebook and Instagram). I'm going to do a rebrand and refocus. I hope you'll stick around!

 

In the meantime, here's what I've been doing, experiencing, working on, etc. over the course of February 2023:

 

Listening to: 

(Links are to the respective YouTube channels)

• Pink Martini
• Of Monsters and Men
• Bastille
• Christine and the Queens/Redcar
  

Watching: 

• Saving Grace (on Hulu)
  
• Notting Hill (on Netflix)
  
• Young Americans (theater)
• La Sylphide (ballet)
  
• YouTube de-cluttering/simple living/lifestyle channels (should I do a list of the channels I watch?)
  

Reading: 

(These books are affiliate links to Bookshop.org -- thank you in advance for any purchases you make through Bookshop. They may result in a small commission for me.)

• No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib (5/5 -- excellent! Contemporary fiction, dramatic, tense)
  
• The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (still reading -- Contemporary Swedish fiction, humorous)
  
• Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan (5/5 -- so good! Contemporary fiction set in the near future, dramatic, tense, psychological thriller, family and friend psychology and climate crisis)
  
• The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (5/5 -- lighthearted and sweet; Contemporary fiction set in a village in England; a rom-com about underdogs/unsung heroes)
  
• Cold by Mariko Tamaki (4/5 -- contemporary young adult fiction, murder mystery)
  

Craving: 

• Coca Cola...always, but trying so hard to not drink any soda at all!

Making: 

(links are to my Etsy shops or individual Etsy listings)

• Junk journal bundles and supplies
  
• Stickers (the most fun I've had creating in a while!)
• Envelopes and stationery
• Book plates (still creating and have not listed any yet)
• Collage kits (still creating and have not listed any yet)
• A collage how-to course (still creating, but likely will be hosted on Teachable)
  
• A how to become a private tutor course (still creating but likely will be hosted on Kajabi)
  

One change that is coming up relates to Etsy. I will be closing my Mom2MomEd Etsy shop and instead combining it with my Shop The Junk Drawer shop unless I suddenly start having100 or more monthly sales in the Mom2MomEd shop consistently. I'm looking to streamline and finesse my Etsy shops. 

Eating: 

• Loads of produce! I'm working on eating 30 different fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds every month. In the process, I discovered that I'm allergic to goji berries!
  

Planning:

• A trip to Paris
• A trip to Buenos Aires
  

Loving:

• Snow days
• Cuddles on the couch with my dog
• Warm blankets
• Hot coffee

Needing: 

• More hours in the day
• More Etsy sales
• More energy
• To drink more water every day
  

Wearing: 

• Navy blue Patagonia hoodie
• Raspberry pink Adidas leggings
• White ankle socks

 

The Rule of 5 Mini-Tasks for Easy Housekeeping

Lately, I've been struggling to keep my house tidy due to a number of factors ranging from just everyday life to anxiety and mild depression to trying to work from home and beyond. As a result, I've reverted back to a lot of simple, but effective, little tricks to make housekeeping easier and faster. Each one centers around the number FIVE, and you can read them (and other housekeeping posts) HERE.

Today, I decided my rule of five would center on five mini-tasks. These are the small tasks we all know we should do, but we ignore them in favor of either things that are bigger projects, bigger eyesores, or things that we perceive as being more important.

 

As a result, we end up with a build up of small annoyances scattered about our physical space and creating both physical and mental clutter. 

I get tired of walking past the same jacket over a chair back, the items on my steps waiting to go upstairs, dishtowels that need to go to the laundry, and so on. 

It takes next to no time to do these things, so why does it seem to take so many of us foreeeever to actually do them?

Enter the Rule of 5 Mini-Tasks for Easy Housekeeping. I want you to set a timer and see how long it takes you to do five tiny tasks. I'm betting it takes less than ten minutes.

 

The five mini-tasks I completed right before writing this were:

1. Put away my coat (fully hanging it up in the closet)
2. Emptied and put away my backpack (in the same closet as my coat!)
   
3. Took two items upstairs (sweater shaver -- put in dresser drawer; book -- put on bedside table)
   
4. Put away small stack of folded laundry (mostly belonged in three drawers total)
   
5. Put away small amount of clean dishes (the longest task, but still easy!)

These five tasks took me just about eight minutes total!

 

To some, these tasks may seem like no brainers and so easy to complete, and maybe at times they are, but if you are suffering for depression, anxiety, burn out, and other overwhelming feelings, these small tasks can feel like huge burdens. 

 

By doing five mini-tasks rather than larger cleaning or organizing chores, you are still getting something done. If you feel motivated, continue and find five more mini tasks! Do this and one (or more) of my other easy housekeeping rules every day, and over time, you should start to see some shifts in your living space.

 

Have you seen my other easy housekeeping posts? Check them out HERE.

 

I mentioned putting away my sweater shaver -- do you use one? Should I write a blog post or film a video about using mine?

 Check out our Etsy shop and a few more blog posts:

Visit us on Etsy!

The 5 Minute Rule for Easy Housekeeping

I am a fan of the idea that nearly anyone and everyone can do something for five minutes -- even if there are times when you feel like you can't for whatever reason. Maybe you are seriously depressed or anxious or over-excited or sick or exhausted. 

 

You can probably carve out five minutes to do something, even if it's a tiny task.

 

On its own, five minutes isn't going to revolutionize your life or your housekeeping, but five minutes multiple times per day or multiple times over a week and built into a habit can have a significant impact.

 

If you are struggling with housekeeping, de-cluttering, getting things in order, or anything else, set a timer for five minutes and tackle one thing. 

In five minutes, you can probably:

• Unload one rack of your dishwasher, if not the whole thing
• Hand wash a few dishes
• Hang up several pieces of clothing or coats
• Gather shoes and put them away where they belong
• Clear a small counter space 
• Go through a small pile of mail
• Match food storage container lids and bottoms
• Sweep through a room with a trash bag and pick up trash
• Take your recycling or trash out
• Tidy a section of your workspace
• Wipe down a counter

Some days, I choose one area of my house to focus on in five minute increments. Other days, I kind of go slipshod through my house and clean lots of small areas in five minute increments. Some days, I manage to do both. 

On days that I choose an area of focus, I make it a point to clean or de-clutter that area for five minutes either every time I go in that space or every few hours throughout the day -- I work from home, so this may be easier for me than it is for you, but you can still follow this method on a day off or over the course of an evening. 

Most recently, after a dinner gathering, my kitchen was an absolute wreck. My kiddo and I attacked the kitchen in five minute increments over and over throughout the day to make it more manageable. For us, it looked something like this:

1. Gather any visible trash or recycling and put it in the appropriate bins. If full, empty the bins into the appropriate places.
2. Put away clean dishes and items and move as many dirty dishes as possible to one defined space. Try to open up a clear space for air drying dishes later. Remove dirty dishtowels and linens.
   
3. Put away any ingredients that have been left out -- usually spices, herbs, pantry items like pasta or rice, and so on -- or unused cooking tools.
   
4. Wash dishes using my Five Items rule -- read about it HERE. Repeat until five minutes are up or repeat for another five items/five minutes.
   
5. Choose a small counter space -- maybe 1ft by 1ft in size -- and focus on cleaning and clearing that space. Repeat several times over the course of the day. If our stove is particularly messy or cluttered, this might mean focusing on one fourth of the stove at a time.
6. Spend five minutes tidying items in the fridge or freezer door or on a fridge or freezer shelf.
   

By repeating these tasks over and over throughout the day (or over several days, if necessary), eventually the mess gets taken care of and you begin to see progress. 

 

Of course, there is a risk that the mess will reoccur -- it does -- but, these five minute tasks have made subsequent messes much easier for us to handle and much easier for us to get back on track when we get derailed.

 

I've even used this rule when sick -- with the flu, with Covid, with food poisoning. When sick, I might take my time getting to the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, living room, and so on, but once I am there, I sit down for a few minutes and focus on catching my breath or gathering some energy, and then I choose a small task that I can focus on for five minutes, even if those five minutes are with me sitting down or with me expending as little energy as possible. I might fold socks and underwear (yes, I fold my undies) while sitting in bed or put away silverware while sitting on a stool or wipe down the dining table while sitting in a chair, but I get at least a few small tasks done. Of course, do NOT do this while sick if it will impair you further or put others in your home at risk! Follow your doctor's recommendations, please!

When it comes to doing these tasks, I also find it helpful to use tools that feel good in my hands or that make the jobs easier. A few of my favorites are from Grove Collaborative -- this post is not sponsored by Grove, but I do have an affiliate link following this small list -- and include: 

• Grove Collaborative Free & Clear dish and hand soaps
• Grove Collaborative glass spray bottles with silicone sleeves
• Grove Collaborative Replaceable Head dish brush (the head can go in the dishwasher!) 
  

You can sign up for Grove Collaborative using my affiliate link -- I will receive a small commission if you sign up and order and YOU will receive a free gift set and $10 after your first purchase. Sign up HERE and login to take a look around! Please note that per Grove's terms, this offer is only open to new customers and they currently only ship to the contiguous United States.

 

I love that Grove Collaborative is committed to the environment and has worked hard to greatly reduce plastic and other non-sustainable products and waste. They are a certified B-corporation and I've had great customer service experiences on the rare occasions I've had to contact them about an order.

Have you tried any of my "Rule of 5" housekeeping tips? Have they helped you out in any way? What are some of the ways you make housekeeping more manageable in your home?

Check out all of my Rule of 5 and other housekeeping posts HERE.

 

And, please consider visiting our Etsy shop where we've got printable lunchbox notes, thank you notes, Valentine's and more! Just click on the image below:

The Rule of 5 Items for Easy Housekeeping

 

If you saw my post, The 5 Up, 5 Down Rule for Housekeeping, you'll know that I love simple, easy, and fast housekeeping rules to help keep my home under control. I love easy and fast wins that add up over time, but I hate housekeeping. By creating a series of rules for myself that revolve around five minutes or five items and repeating these rules over and over throughout the day, housekeeping has become much more manageable for me.

Today's housekeeping rule is The Rule of 5 Items. This rule can be applied in many areas of your home and housekeeping routine, even if you are super busy.

In essence, the goal is to take care of five items at a time. 

If you have a sink full of dishes and can't fathom washing them all at once, focus on washing just five -- five plates, five cups, five cooking tools, five random dishes. For this particular situation, I classify five utensils (forks, knives, and spoons) as one item -- so, I might wash four plates and then five forks. I classify cooking utensils (spatulas, wooden spoons, carving knives, and so on) such that three of these make up one item -- so, I might was a bowl, two cups, a plate, and then two spatulas and a wooden spoon.

If I have piles of laundry to fold and put away, I focus on folding only five pieces at a time. I will fold five pairs of pants or five shirts. I'll put five dresses on hangers. I classify socks and underwear in groups of ten, however. After I've fold five items (or ten pieces of undies and/or socks), I put them away before folding the next five. 

If I am de-cluttering, I will look for five items to purge all at once. Or, I will go through my home and find five items that aren't where they belong and I will put them away before moving on to anything else.

The key here is to repeat these rules several times throughout the day.

For example, right now our dishwasher is broken and we don't particularly enjoy washing dishes, so they tend to pile up in the sink. If I wash five dishes first thing in the morning -- while I wait for my coffee to be ready -- then another five when I take a work break (I work from home) at mid-morning, five more at lunch, and so on, by the end of the day, most of our dishes are washed. If my kiddo does the same, then by the end of the day all of the dishes are washed. 

If I am feeling really motivated, I'll take care of five items and immediately take care of another five. For me, this is particularly easy when I'm folding laundry. If I fold and put away five items immediately, it is much easier to fold and put away the next five as I see the pile shrinking as I go. I find it hard to fold the entire mountain of laundry first and then put it all away all at once -- the pile never shrinks, it just gets tidier. Shrinking the pile is key to my motivation!

Stay tuned for our next Rules of 5 post!