Oops, I sent out yesterday's blog with a bad link. If you had trouble accessing my 6 Top Organizational Posts, here is correct link to the post: 6 Top Organizational Posts.
If you're struggling with clutter and messiness, it might surprise you to know that my diagnosis of your problem may just be:
Perfectionism.
Yep.
You may be a Messy Perfectionist.
I know, sounds like an Oxymoron, doesn't it? But it's a real problem.
I wrote about being a Messy Perfectionist a few years ago and here's an excerpt:
You see, perfectionists like to do things the Right Way. We know how things should be done. We know that we should scrub the grout with a toothbrush and bleach whenever we clean the shower. We know that the insides of garbage cans should be disinfected. We know the blinds need to be dusted slat by slat. We see the filth and the grime and the clutter....and feel powerless to do anything about it because it would take 10 lifetimes to take care of things the Right Way. So we get bogged down in inertia instead, and spend a lot of time thinking "I should be better than this. Why can't I get it together??""
Maybe that's why I need Minimum Maintenance so much! Several of you commented that it was a challenge to stop at 5 minutes...and I feel your pain. It IS hard.
But liberating.
Perfectionism is often the thing that keeps us from living the kind of life we want to live because we are chained to standards we cannot maintain.
I am convinced that letting go of perfectionism is the first step to getting organized.
Perfectionism makes me believe that my schedule should clear, the kids should behave, my bank account mysteriously fill, and the stars should align before I can tackle the housework. I mean, it's SUCH a big job, it's going to take all of that, and more, for me to get it done.
Right?
Well, seeing as how that never happens, we need to rethink the "perfect" scenario for getting started. And rethinking the "perfect" way to do things. And the "perfect" way things should look.
We need to let go of perfectionism and accept Good Enough.
Most of the time, Good Enough is enough. You don't need to apologize for it, feel ashamed of it, worry that someone will grade you for it. Good Enough means you can move on to other things, like living life joyfully and freely.
Good Enough is better than Never Started.
When it comes to keeping house, we need to stop comparing our mess to the perfect pictures we see on Pinterest. That only zaps our time and convinces us that we can never attain such perfection.
So......let's just start.
Today, I offer a challenge: I challenge you to do something halfway. Do a Good Enough job.
Ideas:
- Wash your dishes but don't put them away.
- Wipe your sink but don't scrub it down.
- Straighten the shoes by the door but don't haul them to the bedrooms.
- Set your table with paper plates.
- Stack the mail neatly but don't sort it.
- Write one page in your journal but don't try and catch up on the last decade.
- Put one photo into an album, rather than baby's whole first year.
- Slap some paint on that dresser that's been sitting there forever and don't worry about creating a museum piece out of it.
- Hang some pictures.
- Hot glue the broken trinket, use duct tape to hem your pants, do the exercise video you aren't good at.
Give yourself permission to do something less-than perfectly. But do something. Be free of perfectionism today!
What will you do that's Good Enough? I'd love to hear! I'm going to quickly clean my bathroom - and only give myself 10 minutes to do the whole thing.
