anneruthmann

This place is a mess. My husband and I talk about hiring a maid just to help us stay on track, but sometimes I feel like having a maid is just paying someone so that we can continue to be lazy about cleaning… and that’s not going to make us any better at keeping a clean and organized life.

So, today I went through the main areas of the house with a trash bag and threw out everything that we had been lazy about throwing out. I know the reason we hadn’t thrown so much of it away was because the trash can in the house was already over-flowing and neither of us wanted to take the trash out and down the hall or elevator. So, while the place is still not clean, at least there was one baby step of progress made.

Right now I’m sleeping about 6 hours or less every day. I usually go to bed around 3 or 4 am and then wake back up around 8 or 9 am. I tend to catch up on my sleep a little while I’m traveling- but it’s usually at the expense of not talking to someone who’s driving, or drooling on the person next to me on the plane. My husband would really like it if I were on his sleeping schedule more often, but I usually get the most work done when he’s asleep since it’s one of those times I don’t feel guilty working while he’s home. I’m not sure how easy it is to start waking up earlier, or if my body and mind will be equally productive on that cycle… but it’s something to aim for… oh yeah, and 8 hours of sleep would be nice too. ;-)

- Reclaimed office furntiure
- Using natural light whenever possible
- Using low-energy light when needed
- Reducing power usage by turning down brightness on screen
- Electronic documents
- Meetings over webcam or phone instead of in-person
- Carpooling when possible
- Washing clothes in cold water to save energy
- Taking grocery bags back to store to be recycled
- Using recharageable batteries
- Recycled ink cartridges
- Public transportation and walking when possible
- Fuel efficient vehicles
- Reused and reusable packaging products
- Home office eliminates daily travel emissions and additional power usage
- Electronic subscriptions to magazines & newspapers
- Electronic statements and billing
- Using my debit card instead of cash whenever possible
- Using an environmentally friendly Aveda Salon for haircare
- Purchasing more organic foods
- Using more natural cleansers and remedies

I’m always looking for more ideas!