When it's all too much.

I apologise for not doing my usual organised long post today - but I'm afraid I've had a bit of a wobble. Now I am sure that those of you with kids will know this 'all too much' phrase quite well already, but the rest of us also have our moments. Respect to all you mums though!

This week on Monday a stomach bug kicked into my system - it was tiring and draining and I stayed off work for the whole of Tuesday even struggling to make a cup of tea. By Wednesday of course the whole ordeal was over and it was back to my usual routine of keeping busy. But it's amazing how one day off threw me, and two days on I've fallen even further behind with housework. Last night after making dinner we took our beautiful Greyhound for his dog training class and the dog trainer once again pointed out that his feet look very sore and we need to get it checked. But we've already had his feet checked and I'm making him some booties to protect his feet - but at that point I was tired and that was just one more thing on my list that hadn't been done... and then I got that sinking feeling that it's all too much and I can't possibly get everything done in time (such a drama queen I am!). Now I know this all seems very dramatic over a pair of dog booties that need to get made, but it's been building up since we returned from our holiday - and the house honestly is in a bit of a state. It didn't help that I went straight back to work after our trip, but how did it get like this?

Picture taken from Balt Amour.

So what do you do when it all gets too much? First thing I think is to sit down with a cup of tea and sort out my mind. This is where I struggle with housework - it's too easy when things get out of control to sit down and ignore it - or ummmm, do some blogging, oops. So here I am with my research again to see what those of us who feel out of control can do to get back in control without pulling our hair out. But for the rest of you, please share your tips of how you keep on top of juggling it all? Do you religiously follow a routine? Do you use to-do lists and reward yourselves when it all gets done? Do share!

I've discovered that when it all gets too much, you need to break things down into smaller, less daunting tasks and prioritise. Disorganised spaces makes for mind clutter because it stops you from switching off. For me, it's all about how tidy the house looks - once it's tidy, I don't mind the cleaning! I'm going to keep it simple and short- writing a long list of things will just make it more daunting and unappealing. Here's how I'll start:

1. De-clutter... easier said than done. But few things give me a kick start to clean as much as throwing out clutter. I'll start with every unnecessarily kept magazine, catalogue and pamphlet. Then I'm going to sort through my jewellery and put all the things I've no worn over the past year in a charity box. Next up is make-up and toiletries - I'm chucking those out of date creams I know are lurking in the bathroom cabinet.
2. Put some washing on - one more pile of dirty washing out of the way already makes a huge difference to how the house feels and the idea of fresh smelling white laundry tumbling in the washing machine already puts my mind at ease.
3. Sort out the pile of done washing - pack away socks and pants and get the rest ready for an iron.
4. Make dog booties
5. Have some chocolate
6. Tomorrow - get back onto the usual cleaning routine and do that pile of ironing.
   

So that's my list of things to do after work, it won't get everything done that needs doing, but it'll be a great start.
Lucky for me, my husband cooks well, so he can take care of dinner tonight. Perhaps that's one of the secrets, don't try and do it all yourself - but it's so hard not to want to do it all perfectly all the time and then not feeling like a failure when things don't all get done. I need to remind myself however that perfection is not what we should strive for- but by being the best we can be and occasionally switching off to let things be is not the end of the world.

Today I've learnt that focusing on one small task at a time, and a bit of chocolate to aim for makes anything achievable.
I'll let you know if I get back on track! Don't forget to let us in on your secrets of getting it all done! It all seems so petty now.
Hopefully in no time I'll be ship-shape back to the happy busy vacuuming person - Anthea Turner style! Ha ha, I wish :)

I'll be posting again at the weekend with my normal more organised posts... that is if the chocolate hasn't distracted me too much!
Have a lovely Friday tomorrow!
x