It’s the new year - we’re safely distanced from all those holidays and have a little more time on our hands. But will you fall into your old habits? (My hand is raised as a classic procrastinator over here.)
Here’s a tip to help us all start the year off right:
Do things right away. Do you often tell yourself that the laundry can be folded later? That the dishwasher can be unloaded tomorrow? That the bills can wait until their due date? A great habit to get into is to do things right away.
When you get out of the bed in the morning, immediately make it. Right after you do the laundry, fold the clothes and put them away. When you are done eating dinner, immediately do the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Soon you will be doing these things without even thinking about it, and they will be taken off of your ever-growing to do list!
It is also a good idea to get your children into the same routine. Teach them to put toys away as soon as they are done playing with them, to put their dirty laundry in the proper hampers instead of on the floor, and to bring their dishes to the sink immediately after they are done eating. Having the kids do their part will greatly lighten your load!
- Nealey Levi, Professional Organizer, www.liveontrack.com
Seems so easy, doesn’t it? That’s the point, I suppose. If we just do things right away, we don’t have to “manage” our time to try to get back to doing all the things we should have done in the first place (whew)!
And, just to prove we practice what we preach, we have and will continue to encourage folks to apply this planning principle to dishing with our Sign Up Before You Leave offer each month. In just a few minutes at the end of your session, you can take care of keeping your freezer stocked for the future - and keep dinner off your to do list!
One Comment
I love this idea of doing things right away. I started living this way years ago, when I had very young kids. I found if I didn’t do it right away, my pile of “to do’s” grew to a scary size and my family would spend weekends trying to clean it up, so we could start off the next week with some semblance of order. To get started living this way, think of your everyday “to do’s” as five minute blocks of time. If you do the dishes right after dinner, it only takes five minutes, throwing a load of laundry into the washing machine only takes five minutes. Even running errands can be broken down into five-minute blocks of time. Try putting your dry-cleaning or an item you need to return somewhere into your car. If you have it while you are out and driving by the place, it takes much less time to complete the task then and to make an extra trip for that one errand. By doing things now, you can have guilt-free time later.