The Pick Up Clutter Work Out

You know that funny email from the mom who described trying to get something done, but she goes from thing to thing and never getting anything done for the day?  Have you ever had a day like that?  I have.

Most of my advice here is about trying to get stuff done in the most effective and efficient manner.  All the “experts” will tell you to try to focus and accomplish a thing – even a small thing – each day.  And I agree with them.  But, sometimes you just have to give into the crazy.

That’s where I found myself the other day.  Pretty much every room in my house needed major decluttering and cleaning.  I started with the kitchen.  I found a toy of my daughters, so I brought it up to her room.  In her room I found dirty dishes, so I brought them back down to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher.  Then I continued picking up stuff in the kitchen, and I found clothes that had been outside and left on the floor, so I took them up to the laundry room and put on a load of laundry.  I knew I’d need an empty laundry basket, so I took a full basket to my bedroom and and folded it.  Then I brought the towels and sheets to the linen closet in the bathroom and put them away.  In the bathroom I found that there were dirty clothes and towels on the floor, so I picked them up and brought them to the laundry room.  Just in time to move the wash to the dryer.

Do you see where I’m going here?  Somewhere after the third or fourth task, I realized that I was bouncing from one thing to the next.  On a different day.  I would have steered myself back to the kitchen – my goal was to pick it up and clean it – but this day I decided to just keep going from one thing to the next, getting a little of this and a little of that done.

Where does the work out come in?  Well, it turns out that this perpetual motion burns a ton of calories.  I must have gone up and down 30 flights that day (not that my tracker said – for some reason it doesn’t like to give me credit for all the stairs I do in my house).  I just kept going and going for 2+ hours, and I was hot and sweaty when I finally stopped for a break.  And I felt very accomplished.  The kitchen wasn’t spotless – far from it, but I had done a lot.  When I gave myself permission to just go from one thing to the next, it became a game of sorts.  It made it a little more interesting, and when I was done, I had done what I set out to do – a lot of going from this to that 🙂

If you are sometimes frustrated with trying to get one thing/room/task done, give this method a try.  Turn on the radio, set your timer for 30-60 minutes, and just start picking up and going from thing to thing.  I can guarantee you that you’ll break a sweat, and I’m also pretty sure that in the end you’ll feel good about what you’ve accomplished.