clean my apartment and keep it that way

You know, there is cleanliness and then there is cleanliness. It has been bothering me for a while that this is at the top of my list, and it’s really not that important. I had a moment of realisation when it occurred to me that this goal doesn’t really matter to me – so I’m not sure why it’s even here.

Who cares about the odd pile of books or basket of laundry? Who cares if the bed isn’t made every day? If I lived by myself, consistent tidiness would be achievable; but at the moment it’s just not – and the whole goal annoys me more than it inspires me.

Besides, who invented the idea of living in total order all the time, anyway? My apartment is perfectly liveable and relatively organised… and it’s a constant work in progress, which is good. It’s a living, homely, creative space and I resent feeling like it isn’t good enough just because it’s a little cluttered.
We are creatures of choas; so I figure that a little chaos is good for the soul.

After a period of improvement… things started to get worse. A lot worse. I realised something had to change when I started feeling anxious at the prospect of having friends of family drop by – because I love seeing people, and entertaining them in my home, more than anything else.

Three things have made a big difference. First, accepting that the dining table (which is currenly doubling as my desk and work area) is going to be messy. As lnog as it’s an organised mess, I’m happy.

Second, resolving never, ever to leave washing in the lounge room. Part of the problem was that we so often had a clothes rack with drying clothes that just dominated the room… and it quickly attracted other mess, like washing baskets, piles of clean and sometimes dirty washing… it was a recipe for disaster. Now, if the weather isn’t nice enough to dry my clothes outside, we don’t do washing. It’s pretty simple.

Third, I’ve started following the FlyLady Beginner BabySteps at flylady.net. I’m not following it to the letter (I didn’t subscribe to the email list; I don’t wear shoes in the house; and I don’t like putting post-it notes everywhere, my place is just too small). But it’s really helping me keep focused! Having a clean sink, always being dressed, and being conscious of my hotspots is really helping.

I’m doing some spring cleaning today. It is time.

It begins with the washing: I find clothes are the hardest aspect of keeping organised. They’re everywhere, and whether clean or dirty, they always make the place look like a laundry rather than a home. Then I’m going to sort out all my uni books and papers and do my filing… and then I’m officially on my way to tidiness!

The three week apartment challenge begins. Have made enormous progress over the last two days; will complete the task tomorrow, and proceed to ‘keep it that way’ for the next three weeks.

See also:
give up caffeine
do yoga every day
eat better
get organised

I have sabotaged myself a bit with this goal – the ‘and keep it that way’ is always going to ruin me. I love tidying and I love to be tidy – but I don’t have time to do it every day, and there’s so much time for decay in between cleans! I suspect this goal will remain unfulfilled until I can afford to hire a cleaning service..!