Cleaning up my act.

I've never been an orgainized person and I've always been a procrastinator. While I always manage to get the big shit taken care of, like final reports or putting cribs together in time, it's the day-to-day I struggle with.

Keeping my kitchen and its one square foot of counterspace workably clear.

Starting laundry and actually getting clothes folded and back in my dresser or closet in the same day.

Finding a sensible location for our keys, sunglasses, wallets and various bags that we'll actually return those items to upon arriving home (so that it doesn't take half an hour to find everything the next time we go out).

Mail. Like, bothering to open it, let alone sort it and eventually, throw away the junk we don't need. If it weren't for online bill pay options, we'd be in serious trouble because seriously, who even deals with mail anymore?

Miraculously, I actually keep things clean. I dust, vacuum, wash dishes and disinfect the counters (when clear). I clean up after myself when my meal explodes in the microwave and I scrub toilets. These are NOT habits I took from my home growing up, but because I grew up in a messy house, I knew I didn't want bad habits to spill over (literally, and figuratively) into my adult years. Organizing, however, is a completely different game. It involves not throwing things on the first convenient shelf or stuffing crap into drawers, which, right now, pretty much constitutes "cleaning up" for me.

So that's why I'm going to jump on this bandwagon.

There's an element of accountability with before and after pictures, managable deadlines, plus, I work better when I actually have an assignment. I run with a goal race in mind, I plan my day around the places I need to be and when I need to be there, but when it comes to orgainzing my home... well, "eventually" just never comes. Knowing I need to get something done by Friday, though. Well that I think I can do.