Dana K. White

A SLOB COMES CLEAN

Reality-Based Cleaning, Decluttering, & Organizing

Daily Checklists, Weekly Tasks, and . . . Dusting Tropical Fruit

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The first week of our Return to Routine is complete.  Over the course of the week, I have done most many of the items on my Daily Checklist every most days.
I have, however, done my Weekly Tasks each day.  And now that the week is over, my house looks nice, feels nice, and overall makes me happy.  It may not be modern and impeccably stylish, but when it’s clean . . . it’s a beautiful home.
Today, Friday, was dusting and vacuuming.  Since dusting had been my 4yo’s job all summer, I took the time to be quite thorough today.
Y’know, even dusting the tropical fruit.
I bought that fruit when I lived in Thailand.  I dreamed of using it as a quirky decoration in my future perfectly-clean-all-the-time home.  My future perfectly-behaved-and-interested-in-their-mother’s-past children would play with it, and listen to all of my fascinating stories . . . again and again.
But the fruit lived in my closet for at least 8 years, until I unearthed it recently.  The reality is that as a slob, things that are just-for-lookin’-pretty don’t really happen.  If there’s a flat surface available for a “tableau” it’s likely to also be available for random stuff-stacking.  The pretty things get lost in the crowd.  In my years of housekeeping despair, I gave up on displaying anything.  It wasn’t until I started making progress last year that I started to see the point in trying to decorate.
This fruit makes me happy.  It’s not a designer touch, just something I enjoy looking at.  And when it’s sitting on a surface all alone, I don’t mind dusting it.
If you’ve read from the beginning, you know that I didn’t even attempt Weekly Tasks until I was months into this journey.  They overwhelmed me.  It wasn’t until the house was more under control due to consistency in my Daily Tasks that I started trying to be consistent with the big stuff.
But being consistent with BOTH the big stuff and the little stuff has helped me see how they work together.  If I don’t do the little stuff (the daily checklist tasks), big things like mopping become an all morning job.  If I haven’t been sweeping the floor everyday, then there’s a very good chance that I’ll have to do more than just sweep before I can mop.  I’ll probably have to move last Sunday’s pile of newspaper to the recycling basket and pick up and distribute toys and other junk.  In the end, I begin to view mopping as a huge job and let myself make excuses to not do it in the future.
But, even though I’ve known for a while that the daily tasks make the weekly ones possible, it hit me today how much the weekly ones help me on the daily ones.
Confusing enough?
If there isn’t an abundance of junk covering every surface, it’s easier to dust.  But it’s when I dust that my Selective Vision clears up, and I see the things that have somehow escaped my field of vision during the daily 5-minute-pickup-times.  For example:

These were sitting on top of our TV.  The video is one of many that end up piled there.  At least the video has an actual reason to be in that spot.

But the lint brush?  Really?

And the worst part is that I’m pretty sure that lint brush had been there for . . . several months.

Several months when hubby and I have been watching the DVDs of 24.

Nightly.

And we’re on Season 3, which means that we’ve watched seasons one and two already . . . making that 48 episodes that we’ve watched on that TV, and somehow I never noticed the lint brush.

I have issues.

My point is that it all works together.  Even when I’m making a point to straighten, pick-up, etc. . . I still miss what should be obvious.  But by having a Weekly Routine in place, one which makes me do more detailed cleaning tasks, I am able to compensate for my Selective Vision.

Make sense?

Oh, the Lovely Suds!

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One common misconception about slobs is that we don’t like to clean. I can’t speak for all slobs . . . but I actually enjoy cleaning. It’s the supply-gathering, time-designating, counter-unearthing that I don’t like. But give me a personal assistant who keeps track of the mop and bucket, puts away the clean dishes and […]

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Ten Things I’m NOT Giving Away on My First Blogiversary!

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Thanks for all of your well-wishes yesterday for my first year of blogging. While yesterday I completed a full year, today’s officially my first Blogiversary! I remember when I first started blogging, seeing other bloggers say that and thinking of my own as a not-truly-achievable-way-off-in-the-future event. But it’s HERE! Before you get your hopes up, […]

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Dreams of Organization

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I woke up this morning with renewed resolve.  I’ve been at this deslobification/blogging thing for one full year as of today. While life is never truly “normal” (and I’m thankful for that), the school year is as normal as we get around here.  So, it’s now or never.  Time to start making some more real […]

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It’s New (School) Year’s Eve!

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School starts tomorrow morning. I’m doing my best to adjust my mindset. I’m sure I’ll blather on and on about it for several days, but for today, in the spirit of what all mothers know is the true time for resolutions, I thought I’d share a few that I’ve been thinking about. Look cuter. While […]

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HOW Did I Let This Happen . . . Again?

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I don’t feel like writing a post tomorrow. Yes, I know that tomorrow hasn’t happened yet, but I already feel the donwannas coming on. And they’re coming on strong. I always go into a funk when it’s time for school to start, and going to Meet the Teacher Night tonight made it all too real. […]

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