10 December 2010

Can you guess what my week has been like?



Just take a look at the mess on my desk! On Monday morning it was as clear and tidy as it normally is.

Then life and work happened and it's been downhill for that poor desk ever since.  Thank goodness I use a laptop or it would be even worse.

So my job for the weekend is to get my desk back to normal because I just don't function properly in a mess. The books can go back onto the bookshelves. The filing can be done. All the pens can go back into the drawer. So can the stapler. The samples for upcoming Journals and How Tos can go into the sample cupboard where they belong. I can put my camera away. And that can of hairspray can go back into the bathroom (I can't even remember what I used it for now).

I know it won't take long to get everything back in order, 30 minutes at the most. And I know that once I start it will be a breeze. I also know that when I've finished and can sit at my desk to work again, I'll be motivated to get stuck in and get things done and I'll be very happy.

So why have I let it get to this stage? Yes, I've been very busy this past week. Radio interviews and a couple of newspaper interviews took some time. I've had three editorial meetings to nut out 2011 for the Cheapskates Club along with a couple of other business meetings. I've had articles to write and a brain-storming session for a series for 2011.

We have had school meetings, Hannah's awards night (did I tell you she won four awards - three distinctions and an award for effort), the usual school runs and other bits and bobs.

If I had just dealt with everything as it came in and put things away when I had finished with them then my desk would never have become an overwhelming mess.

Getting into the habit of putting things away, where they came from, is a good habit to develop. It's why my desk is usually tidy and "TV ready" as we say in our house. Most of you like your homes to be visitor ready, here I like it to be "TV ready" because I never know when I'm going to get a call for an interview.

Keeping the house TV ready isn't really that hard. We have a routine of sorts, of daily and weekly chores that need to be done to maintain our home to my standard.  It's a little like Super Shopping, a repetitive routine that keeps everything running smoothly.

My housekeeping schedule is broken down into daily, weekly and monthly tasks. I can rest easy knowing that the whole house is cleaned from top to bottom every week, so normally surprise visitors or TV crews or even overnight guests aren't a problem.

The house is usually visitor ready, not Home Beautiful ready, but I don't need to do a dash and stash when the doorbell rings.

And it's this way because of the routines and because things are usually put away, in the right spot, when we have finished using them.


So off to conquer my desk, I'll post an after picture too, so you can see the difference 30 minutes and actually doing something makes.

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