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Friday, October 8, 2010

Clutter

I'm doing a fall cleaning today. This means I'm going to organize the closets, mop the floors, dust, bathrooms...basically just do a deep cleaning while organizing at the same time. I'm a purger by nature, I don't hold on to many things and this means meaningless crap doesn't build up too much, which is good. This doesn't mean I'm a neat freak though. I'm a purger with a messy habit. I may only have 15 pairs of shoes, but 10 of them seem to always find their way into the "death zone" as Scott calls it. Meaning, in his path down the stairs, in the path to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Any place where he can brake his neck. I hate when he jokes about it, but really, it's true.

In many ways I'm like Sarah-Cynthia-Sylvia-Stout. OK, not that bad, but I have been known to let the laundry pile up the wall...regularly. Not my best moments.

Here's what I notice about clutter. When the house is messy, I feel messy. I feel out of control, I want to do nothing. Scott and I both have a bit of a nasty perfectionist streak. Not the kind that obsesses about having ironed sheets and dollar bills, but the kind that get so overwhelmed that we have a tendency to do nothing. When I see a pile of clutter I can tackle it. When I see 7 piles, I just want to shut down. It's like, if I can't do it all right now, I want no part of it. Scott's dad struggled with this so bad, every year he'd start cleaning out the garage and only finish this small section, but that small section was pristine down the the garage floor.

When the house starts to get messy I notice Scott and I bicker more. When the house is cluttered I eat more and move less. It's like there's this psychic weight to the house when it's dirty and that weight somehow finds its way to my gut. Do you know what I'm talking about? Think about when your house is super clean and neat and you climb into bed into clean fresh sheets. Don't you just feel relaxed? I think having a orderly house can be so important for weight loss. Maybe not for all, but for someone like me who's highly sensitive to her environment, it's a must.

If you do only two housekeeping things a day, I suggest having a clean sink and a made bed. it's good for the soul :)

Now, back to picking up the 900 fur balls floating around in the corner of the wood floors! awesome.

10 comments:

  1. Ohmygod, Kat... Death Zone! LOL LOL. I'm going to have to tell E about that. Our death zone is the garage, w Eric's gym clothes and basketball shoes, spin shoes, and leaf blower, all in the walking path bw our cars and into the house. I told him if the leaf blower's chord ever trips me, he's going to meet his Maker.

    I turn into a cranky baby when the house isn't cleaned and the mail piles up for a month (E's mail, not mine. I'm perfect, remember?). ;)

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  2. Totally know what you mean. Those are the two best things to get done too! We're one in the same on this one. Good for you for tackling it & for writing it here to keep you accountable. How's the swim team going?

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  3. OMG this is totally me. I feel so overwhelmed by it sometimes, I know I have to do the dishes, sweep, laundry, but after that sometimes Idk where to start with the rest of it. Also our son has a gabillion toys from his grandparents so there is just no place for them! It makes me feel so hopeless and I often end up doing nothing. This post makes me want to organize the whole house right now!

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  4. I completely agree. i read that book about how clutter makes you fat and I really think there's truth in it. Now be a friend and get over to my house and help me out. I swear by the made bed. Makes all the difference

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  5. I know exactly what you mean! My husband and I lived in a one-room studio loft for a few years so we are somewhat 'minimalist'. When things start to pile up we go into panic mode. The kind that just paralizes us from doing ANYTHING.

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  6. What's housework??

    Anyway, I referenced you on my blog today about Tour de Fat, because I am going to the AZ one tomorrow!

    Big Clyde

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  7. you are so right. Clean and order in your environment promotes cleanliness and order in the mind. I know this so WHY don't i keep things orderly!

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  8. Oh what a good and timely post!:)
    I have been feeling overwhelmed by all there is to do around the house lately. It's piled up because as you said, if there is too much to do it's almost paralysing and the easiest way out is to ignore it!

    I know whan I am in that frame of mind I also develop a reckless/vaguely depressed side which encourages me to give on myself too! I go and over eat - because I can! I can read the signs now, but I am still not as disciplined as I should be at staying on top of mess and housework. I have plenty of time to do it - just no inclination as I see it as 'boring'.

    There are so many more interesting and absorbing things to do than repetitive housework! I know all the theory. It's all down to me. I can be my own worst enemy at times!

    Tomorrow my kitchen will sparkle!:)

    PS: One of my fridge magnets reads "Dull women have immaculate homes" (It's there to console me although there is no basis of truth in it.)

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  9. Oh....that is me...a clean house...a happy woman...a messy place, a crabby me!! I hired my grandaughter this week to deep clean....she is cheap -- only $10 an hour (age 11)....but, she is like her mama....a clean freak....so when she suggested she liked to earn some money this week, while on fall break -- I jumped at the opportunity! So far 2 hours into this morning...she has both bathrooms cleaned, and she used the steamer from home to clean my tubs! Perfection!! I am getting off easy! I think I will hire her on a permanant basis! When I worked I justified the cleaning lady...now that I am at home (busier than ever, but not earning a paycheck) ... I feel quilty hiring someone -- solution solved... I get a really clean place, and cheap labor! Miss our weekly weigh ins!!! And if I knew Big Clyde was going to Tour de Fat in Tempe....I would of told him to stop by the kid zone where I was volunteering that morning!! What a blast that was!! I got a volunteer shirt, and two free beer tokens...I could of passed the beer tokens on to him...lol...I have them sitting on my desk as I type!!

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  10. I've had this as "unread" in my reader because I knew I wanted to comment on it.

    For the record, I'm the same way...as you and apparently everyone else who comments.

    Seriously, the best mood picker-upper is when I clean away the clutter.

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