I am trying very hard!

What is my nemesis, downfall, pitfall, the one thing I wish I could do better?  ORGANIZATION!  And well, in general keeping my stuff put away and down to a minimum.  You know, the stuff I do that drives Matt up the wall and out the front door pulling out his own hair. 

It is no secret that I have recently grown to love blogs and reading about other people's lives - sounds creepy, but it isn't.  And I love reading about how all these other families are staying organized.  And they all have children, which I do not.  So if they can keep their houses organized and not live in chaos, I feel that I should be able to also.  And without much effort.  Okay, well with some effort because if it was really "no effort" I would theoretically already be doing it. 

So I was reading a favorite blog, A Year of Slow Cooking, and Stephanie has written a book, Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life.  One of the things she has included in her book is a Daily 7 - 7 things to do every day (as a start I believe) to keep your house looking organized and put together.  I am definitely going to invest in this book and see what I can learn. 

So I have started with 7.  Seems manageable enough.  In fact, I started 4 days ago.  I have been able to get at least 4 done each day - which is more than half! So I think I am on my way to success.  I didn't use all of Stephanie's because they don't all jive with me and our house.  Matt & I came up with 7 items for me to do every day to make our lives better.  So here are my 7:

1. Make the bed.  I do this anyway, so it felt like an instant win!  I included that the sheets get changed every Wednesday and the towels get changed on both Monday and Thursday.  
2. Garbage cans.  This is Stephanie's idea and I like it.  Empty all the cans first thing in the morning.  So I grab the garbage can from our bathroom and empty it into the kitchen garbage.  This way all the cans get emptied with some kind of regularity.  
3. Kitchen sink - also not a stretch.  But my list on my desk also says "DON'T COMPLAIN!"  Matt does a lot of the housework (because it bothers him before it gets a change to bother me).  He is pretty good about dishes getting into the sink, but not the dishwasher.  I can do the last step without complaining.  
4. Kitchen table.  EVERY DAY!  This is the one thing that Matt wishes I did without ever being told.  I cover the kitchen table with stuff as soon as I walk in.  If I turn around right now... I can see our bowls from dinner, the pool bag, my purse, a bag of stuff that needs to be returned, an old purse, and some stuff for decorating cupcakes.  And that is not all of it.  So I am trying to keep my stuff to a minimum on the table.  I am actually trying.  It is not easy, let me tell you.
5. Chores - shoes, clothing, electronics.  Those are my big three that I carry with me and leave behind.  I get to the couch and take off my shoes.  When I walk in the front door after work, I leave my sweater on the table instead of taking it upstairs when I change clothes.  And my laptop, it goes everywhere and stays there.  
6. Bathrooms - wipe them down.  I am not sold on this one.  I get it, it makes sense to me to do this every day to keep it clean and then keep the cleaning day short and sweet.  I haven't gotten to this yet.
7. Right before going up to bed, take 10 minutes and clean up the house.  This has helped me get the last dishes into the sink (to be washed in the morning) and make sure that there is nothing else that could be easily done.  In these 10 minutes I have also started making my "to-do" list for the next day.  Normally I wake up and have no memory of what I want to get done.  

So, those are my 7.  I have been good at getting numbers 1, 3, 5, & 7 done every day.  That is halfway there and all odd.  So I think I may be getting good at this.  So now I am focusing on that table and making sure I don't leave it a mess.  I lump it in with number 7.  It is making a dent if not a difference.