I wrote about this new tool a month ago. At left is the picture I took at the time. The idea, as I explained at the time, is drawn from two sources: Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto and Maria Cilley’s Sink Reflections. The nice organizer I bought came with a heavyweight plastic sleeve, so I printed out a checklist and trimmed it to fit. The orange pen cap sticking out of the pocket belongs to the erasable marker I use to check off tasks, with the marks coming off easily with a kleenex and a little, well, spit.
This growing consistency has especially been true of the housecleaning checklist, which is the side of the page shown with this post. I want to go on record as saying that I made at least a stab at each day’s tasks this week, often doing so in the evening. As I sit here at about 7:00 on Friday the house is pretty well clean. I just spent quite awhile vacuuming, dusting, and scrubbing the master bedroom and bathroom and the loft area. It may be that I need to rearrange the list a bit, as the tasks aren’t very evenly spaced out. But here’s the thing: It’s working. And it’s working even though I haven’t necessarily done every job thoroughly. The blind dusting was given a pretty hasty pass, for instance. But, as the Flylady says, “Housework imperfectly done still blesses your family.” Far better to pass a dustcloth over the obvious high spots than not to do anything at all. (I hate and despise dusting, for some reason.)
And here’s another thing: this whole “at least give it a shot” mentality applies to far more than housework. You could see its benefits in almost any area of your life that you’d like to list: eating, exercise, even . . . relationships? Some sort of minimal effort being made consistently is far, far more helpful than the long slide and the frantic catchup. The principle works in two ways. One, as I’ve said, is that at least you’re not neglecting something totally. The other way, though, is even more helpful: once you’ve started doing a dreaded task you’re far more likely to go ahead and do the whole thing than not. So often it’s the getting started that’s the big hurdle; once you’re over that, then it’s easier to finish it than to contemplate stopping in mid-task and then having to come back later.
I mentioned in the review of the Super Bowl party that I was motivated to go ahead on Saturday and get most of the food prep done because I’d listed those goals in the previous post. I actually went back and read my own list–‘Okay, let’s see. What did I say I’d do? Hmmm. I guess I can do that.’ ‘The key is that you have to pay attention to your own advice. Writing that advice down helps.
I’ve just read a great book on health and fitness, and my exercise regimen is going to have to be re-jiggered, so a new version on that, plus the rearranged housework schedule, is in the works. Kind of ironic–the book says that everyone needs to do some form of resistance training. After 24 years Jim finally has his weight bench set up where he can actually use it, so I guess I’ll get him to show me how to do a few light bench presses, or whatever you call them. The book will be featured next week.
What’s something you could make at least a stab at?