I used to hate the dish washer. You have to empty it and put away the dishes. You have to rinse the dirties and load it. Next comes the sink and counters. You have to organize, wipe and scrub. What a pain.

I also used to hate doing laundry. It was not so much the sorting and prepping, since boys can wash almost everything together. It was the folding and putting away. Ugh!

Then there was the killer: paying bills. It felt like it took hours and was an emotional drain. My bills were such a cluttered mess and it seemed to take so much time just to get them organized.

And then one day, I decided to see how long it really took me to accomplish these tasks.

And everything changed.

I found that when I put my mind to it, I could empty the dishwasher and put everything away in 90 second. Filling the dishwasher took even less time.

I could organize, wipe and scrub the counters in four minutes and the sink took another two minutes. With focus, I could fold a full basket of laundry and have it put away in less than 10 minutes. Matching socks included!!!

So what changed? I found that I was wrapping very simple tasks in unnecessary layers of drama. It wasn’t the unloading of the dishwasher that was the problem; it was my inclination towards procrastination that made little jobs appear to build until they were huge and daunting. I found that if I attacked the little things immediately, no drama ensued and I gained the added bonus of the satisfaction that comes with a job completed. I no longer built up dread as the tasks kept piling up: because there weren’t any tasks to pile up!

From there, I became proactive.

Since I am a cook, I started in the kitchen. I found that keeping the kitchen clean affected my health. Keeping the kitchen in a ready to use state meant that I would be more likely to cook a healthy meal from scratch, instead of trying to get by with something out of the microwave. I also found that keeping a cutting board and knife out on the counter made me even more inclined to cook. The kitchen seemed inviting.

I learned to keep all my laundry baskets in the laundry room. This forced me to put clothes away instead of living out of the basket. Twice a week I gathered all the empty clothes hangers and staged them in the laundry room. That way all the clothes went straight from the dryer to hangers instead of onto all the other pieces of furniture that used to act as my closet in transit.

Bills became easy once I learned to simplify. I gathered all my bills, and then struck a match. No, just kidding. I now open my bills when they arrive and separate the statement page and the return envelope, and all the rest of the junk goes directly into the recycle bin. This simplifies things and keeps me focused. When I am ready to pay my bills, they are ready and waiting for me to pay them. An added bonus of opening my bills when they arrive is no Bill Pay Day surprises. I know in advance if a particular bill is bigger than normal.

The bottom line

In the end, I did not change my household tasks. I changed my thinking by eliminating the drama I commonly associated with even the most menial chore. I now find myself happier in a cleaner house. I can find all my clothes. My bills are paid and I have time for bigger and better things. Like mowing the lawn. Or, maybe I should wait till later… after the grass grows a little more… when it is not so warm...