That’s a how-interesting-so-that’s-the-way-it-works kind of “huh.”
Not a Texan version of “Pardon me?”
I love (affiliate link alert) my dishwand. I’ve blabbed about it already this week. And I really love using my favorite mug to keep it clean and dry and out from under dishes in the sink.
But alas, about three weeks after I’d come up with this oh-so-fabulous-and-couldn’t-be-any-more-perfect solution, my face fell when I saw it in the bottom of the sink, its handle in the garbage disposal.
I’m not sure how it got there, out of its designated home. I could probably pin it on one of the kids, but it’s not like I’ve never done that. By “that” I mean: come up with a perfect solution/spot/routine, and then life happens and I don’t put the item back in that spot and all is lost.
The “all is lost” part is overly-dramatic, but it’s how I roll.
I think that attitude is why the “a place for everything, and everything in its place” concept that Fancy Homemakers chant with a smile makes me tilt my head slightly while my eyes glaze over.
I felt the sadness of another failed solution, another not-put-back-in-its-place item, but then I realized I didn’t have to be sad.
I didn’t have to mourn another System Gone Wrong.
All I had to do was put the dishwand back in the mug.
Which is so much easier than crying. Y’know, with the tissue and the blotchy face and the runny nose and all.
And it hit me that A Place for Everything is how people pick up their houses so quickly. They don’t have to moan or groan or stare at an item for ten minutes wondering where to put it. It’s not that nothing EVER gets out of place. It’s just that when it does, there’s an angst-free place to put it.
Getting rid of A LOT of stuff and asking myself my two (and ONLY two) decluttering questions means most of my stuff does have a place. (Not all, but I’m excited to say most.)
My dishwand has a place.
So put it there.
Huh. Pretty easy. Who knew?
If you’re overwhelmed and feeling panicky because you think you will never get to the point where even most of your stuff has a place, you need my books. Check them out here.
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it does get very exhausting though when it seems like you’re the only one in the house who ever puts anything “in its place”….
I do forget that it’s a process! I keep thinking, “I don’t have time to do all of that!” but I do have time to put a couple of things away. If I put a couple of things away now, that is progress, right! Progress, not perfection!
Thanks for the reminder.
Tonight I have to pick up my house some so the cleaning lady can come….how ridiculous is that?
To pick up bevore the maid comes – ridiculous, I used to think so too. One of the 1000 “buts” that kept me from getting help.
But…
Is it not a bargain? You pay for cleaning and get the motivation to pick up for free. 😉
When I employed a cleaner, I always tidied things up beforehand, on the basis that I was paying her to clean, not to tidy up.
Years later, when I worked as a cleaner I realised just how much easier it made my job if the owners had tidied the place before I got there, and just how much extra actual cleaning I could do if I didn’t have to stop to pick things up and move them.
A place for everything, that’s my goal! Keep up the periscope reminders! Seeing them here on the blog is the best place for me to find them. Everywhere else they just get lost in amongst the noise.
More periscope kitchen cleaning club please!
I can’t believe my first real scope was me doing my dishes.
Must have missed it bad!
I always, always, always finish decluttering with a little pile of things that I need to keep but doesn’t seem like it goes anywhere. One in the kitchen, one in the office, one in the living room (you get the picture). They are random, single, miscellaneous items that I need to keep for some reason but just don’t know what to do with! That is always the beginning of the new pile of crap that I eventually have to declutter again. I need to know where they go! What should I do with the last few items that need a place and don’t have one? (just picking a spot in a cupboard or filing cabinet doesn’t work for some reason)
I totally understand! That used to happen to me too! The first decluttering question (explained in this post) takes care of that! https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2010/02/my-two-decluttering-questions/
Hi Dana!
Can you do a post/ write sometime about what to do when your “first place I’d look for that” needs to change because it’s impractical to walk up two flights of stairs or possibly into a different zip code 😉🙄 to put it where I’d currently look? Sometimes there are several places I’d look for an item because I haven’t made homes for items ( I just find them around:) I love your books classes and resources in general. Thanks for all that you do,
Hillary
Ha! I actually told my husband the other day that I was going to work on actually putting things in their place at the moment I have them in my hand rather than later. For example, when I take off my shoes, it’s not that hard to put them in the closet, but I instead tend to just leave them by the door. And then they pile up. Or my dishes can go in the dishwasher when I’m done with them rather than waiting for some reason.
So at least I know my kid comes by it honestly. If Mom doesn’t put her things away, why should she?
Hi, Dana! This saying never made sense to me, nor did a closely related one advising one to pick up an item from where you are and take it with you when you go to another part of the house anyway. I was bewildered because I wondered which of the many things that were out of place I should take and what I should do with it when it got to the totally out of control place I thought it should be.
This was three years ago before I started my journey to a home that I can keep reasonably clean and tidy. I had recently retired and realized that I had to deal with 35 years of putting off decisions about how to deal with all my stuff. I am not a hoarder, but parts (most) of my house looked like I was. ADD does contribute.
The task felt hopeless, but I signed up for the organizing bundle which helped me to get inspired to do something. The short story is that I just had too much stuff. Three years and literally seven 5-yard dumpsters, many trips to Goodwill and Friends of the Library later I finally have a place for almost everything.
Now, when I travel around the house, I can pick up an item and I do have a place to put it. It just doesn’t bother me that something is out of place because it takes less than a second to grab something when I’m already on the way to where I know belongs.
I adore you, Dana White, because you put my struggles into words that help. Thank you.
Alas, unlike many, we do not have an electric dishwasher.
Luckily, hubby does not mind doing dishes and I do not mind doing laundry, so we are a good fit.
So you would not use your brush as much as we.
But can you estimate how often it would need to be replaced?
THANKS for all your help, Dana.
Peace, Love, Blessings, Health and Happiness
to everyone and their families –
always but especially during this coronovirus emergency!
I’ve been following you for a few years now. I have most of house under control now. I know your 5 steps like the back of my hand. But this realization you just shared blew my mind. In a good way. Huh.
True wisdom. I was just reading a very deep religious book, and the main point is we can choose how external things affect us. You can get bent out of shape and despair, or you can put it back and move on with your day. Imagine that. You are a very wise woman, Dana!
And little by little as we go through this many times in the process of working through the current chaos, things will start to fall into place, literally.
It’s great when everything is in its place, but not everything “deserves” a place, so out it goes.