Doing is not always the way to get results. Give yourself an awareness break
Mo Gawdat, Solve for Happy
Mo Gawdat, in his book Solve For Happy, says that in order to be fully aware, we must do nothing. Today I have one of my stress/tension headaches so after working a very full and busy day I’m going to rest. This is day 199 after all, and from tomorrow I’m going to be starting on the spare room which is a big job. Might just do some planning tomorrow if I’m still feeling like this, or listen to Mo Gawdat and sit and do nothing.
Today the most I’ve achieved is a tidy windowsill.
After decluttering windowsill
No embarrassing ‘before’ pictures, just a clean and clear space including using the Minky M cloth on the window.
I wrote this post whilst standing in the queue for the fish and chip shop, as I didn’t feel like cooking either. I then tripped out of the shop and everyone stared. All I can assume was that the rubber mat on the shop floor had been left folded at the corner and I wasn’t looking where I was going (but then I was cuddling the fish and chips 😀).
Time for a bath with lavender essential oil to ease my head and a cup of camomile tea made by my husband. My daughter cleaned out the bath for me first as well… how sweet.
Before (top) and after (bottom) decluttering and cleaning the cupboard under the sink
This wasn’t even something I was planning to do today, but my youngest daughter and I were watching Mrs Hinch’s instagram story where she took everything out of her under sink cupboard, wiped it all and put it back. I knew that mine wouldn’t be as easy as that, but I do like a challenge. So, I said to my daughter ‘Shall we do the cupboard under the sink today?’ an she said “Yes, let’s do it now”. When help falls into my lap, I take it.
My daughter did most of the work at first by pulling everything out and wiping it down thoroughly. I think that if she had her own way, she probably would have thrown some of the cleaning products away, but I knew what I wanted to keep and what I could get rid of. I also got some products from the spare room bathroom upstairs so that we could put everything together to see how much we had. I then had to get dinner ready so the cleaning products, cloths etc. stayed all over the floor until later this evening.
When I got back to it, I couldn’t decide whether to just put it all back in the cupboard or get some plastic two tier shelving that I’d seen online. What I did know is that I couldn’t leave it all over the floor, so I thought about what I could contain it all in.
I then remembered that I’d seen some grey rattan baskets in the spare room bathroom earlier so I retrieved those and gave them a clean. I forgot that they even existed as no one uses that bathroom upstairs (another story for another day). Abandoning the idea of buying plastic shelving, that I don’t think would have fitted properly anyway, saved me money. I managed to fit three baskets and a small cardboard box perfectly around the Insinkerator (food waster disposal) and the Quooker (hot water tap).
I separated out all of the products I wanted, making sure that things I use regularly were at the front, and put everything back in and around the baskets. It was late by the time I’d finished so I wasn’t able to show my daughter. Let’s see if she notices in the morning.
All in all, a productive evening. Thank you Mrs Hinch for the inspiration.
I’m starting off with the ‘after’ photo today as it’s so much clearer. I’ll show you the ‘before’ photo in a bit. After work today I moved my attention to the clutter building up by the back door in the dining room – an area that I’ve cleared so many times this year and was doing very well with keeping it that way; however, since my husband’s easel got put there, it’s been difficult to maintain.
Today, I moved the easel out of the way as it’s stopping light coming through and it also means that we can only open one door. With it being there it is attracting clutter; somewhere easy to throw boxes and things when it’s raining and no one wants to go out to the recycling bins. Bags get added to the pile and before you know it, it’s a full on dumping ground.
I’ve also moved two of the dining room chairs from the table and they can go in the garage in the morning. It will make it easier to get the other chairs in and out and will give us more room to walk around it. They can still be used if anyone comes round, but let’s face it, we’re not likely to have any dinner guests whilst the pandemic is still around. Ideally I’d like a different table but that’s a whole other discussion that needs to be had with my husband (we can’t agree on what to get as we have different tastes).
Ok, time to show you the embarrassing ‘before’ photo. I’m not letting it build up like that again!
Clutter by back door
The easel is still in the dining room but in the darker corner on the other side. When my husband eventually finds a picture to paint, we can put the easel outside for him.
It can’t go anywhere else because the only place would be the spare room but my daughter is seriously considering having that as her bedroom as it’s bigger. She’s planning and designing it at the moment so watch this space for updates. All I know is that there’s a LOT of clutter in the spare room, so I’m going to have to shift a lot of stuff for that ‘move’ to happen.
I feel exhausted thinking about it but it will force me to make decisions on the clutter which can only be a good thing.
I didn’t take a ‘before’ photo of the utility room floor because I thought I’d taken one the other day when I cleared the counter top, but if you imagine it all messy… well, now it looks like this.
Removing clutter from utility room
You’ll have to trust me that it looks a lot better. I had to make a few decisions about stuff that had been sitting in bags, but I feel pleased with myself that I’ve dealt with most of it. It’s also highlighted to me where I still haven’t got places for things e.g. carrier bags, mop and bucket, and the old (but still useful) hand held vacuum cleaner that we were supposed to put on the wall years ago. There’s a plug on the wall ready for this very purpose (on the left). I like to keep the little green gardening seat near the washing machine because I usually sit on it when I’m loading and unloading it; however, I may need to invest in something a bit more appropriate that isn’t covered in paint. Then there’s the box of receipts that I need to file or shred.
Other progress today
I had to do a 50 mile round trip this morning to take my daughter to her orthodontist appointment at hospital (quality mother and daughter time). The orthodontist department is starting to see patients again, but we were required to have our temperature taken and wear a mask. We were given the all clear and asked to go straight in. No waiting and no car park fees! The appointment went well and we were in and out in around 30 minutes so it wasn’t too bad.
After work, I was determined to clear out the AeroGarden and sort out the herbs on the windowsill, firstly because it’s cluttered and secondly because we are getting little flies around the kitchen. You’ll see from the top two photos how untidy it all looked. The photo at the bottom is how it looks now. It looks and feels so much better and it didn’t take long to clean and wipe everything down.
Tidying and decluttering the windowsill
I’m going to grow some more plants in the aero garden like I did in the February post. I just need to get some more seed pods with herbs that we all like.
I even gave the windows a wipe with the fantastic Minky M microfibre cloth that I bought last week.
I then sat back with a lovely calming cup of camomile tea, lit a candle and admired my kitchen.
Calming candle
It looked and felt really clean and it was soooo lovely and quiet; not surprising though as I’m up late again.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve been listening to Mrs Hinch’s book Hinch Yourself Happy over the last week or so and it’s given me the kick I need to start a more regular house clean. I decided to try out the Zoflora disinfectant fragrances that she keeps talking about. I also ordered two plastic spray bottles to make diluted solutions out of a couple of them (more bottles on order).
My youngest daughter helped me dilute them – we put linen fresh in the blue bottle and midnight blooms in the green one and we cleaned a sink in each bathroom to see which one we liked best.
Diluted Zoflora
They both smelt good and the fresh and pleasant smell lingers as they eliminate bad odours. I also used midnight bloom for the kitchen surfaces and then diluted a capful in hot water to do the kitchen floor. It’s looking and smelling good.
I’ve now ordered Zoflora Springtime which is Mrs Hinch’s favourite along with two more plastic bottles. It’s definitely making the kitchen smell more pleasant but that might also have something to do with the fact that I’m keeping on top of things in there as well.
Other progress today
BINS: It’s Monday so after work I sorted out the rubbish and dragged the bin round the back. I was pleased that I’ve managed to fill two large black sacks from more decluttering (and that’s not recycling either as that all goes in the green bins). I went around and topped up the black sacks by emptying the bins in all rooms. I even managed to fill a bag with unwanted polystyrene that I found in the garage.
KITCHEN: My eldest daughter helped me clean the kitchen this evening and was fascinated by the dishmatic washing up brush that I bought. She made some patterns while she scrubbed.
As long as she helps clean, I don’t mind how she does it. I’m just very grateful for the help. Her words were ‘it’s not fair that you have to do it all’. Ahhh 😌 how sweet.
UTILITY ROOM FLOOR: I started to tidy the floor in the utility room but I only did some of it. Firstly because I didn’t know where to put it all and secondly because we wanted to sit down as a family and watch something together.
That’s it for today. Hope you’ve all had a good Monday.
I am really enjoying listening to Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat – he’s such an inspiring person. The below quote stopped me in my tracks as I was out walking this morning, as it made me think about the room I was going to tidy when I got back.
“By removing the clutter we become present, pay attention and start to receive. You cannot fill a glass that’s already full. You have to throw away the stale water to let fresh water in”
Mo Gawdat, Solve for Happy
So, where did I put the cabinet?
New cabinet with no home
I left you in suspense yesterday with what I was going to do with the empty cabinet that we’d put together but couldn’t put in the downstairs cloakroom or en-suite. (If you didn’t catch my post yesterday, you can read it here).
Last night I was trying to think where the cabinet would come in useful. I went to get some icecream out of the freezer and I glanced at the annoying mess next to it, and then the idea came to me. If I cleared the counter top next to it and placed the cabinet on there it would sit back far enough to be able to use the space in front of it, and there would still be room to the side. Finally, a reason to clear the counter top which embarrassingly looked like this…
The plan
My plan when I got back from my walk this morning was to completely empty the utility room counter top and throw away anything that didn’t belong there and put the rest in the appropriate rooms. I have been waiting to get the time to sort it out but I thought it would take ages. I feel guilty every time I dump something in there; however, it’s only because I’m trying to keep other rooms tidy. Dumping random stuff in rooms is the same old story in this house, but I’m pleased to say that things are getting better.
The ‘before’ photo above may look like there is absolutely no organisation whatsoever, but behind the clutter at the front is (or was) a system… the problem is that I can’t get to it plus it never worked. I was trying to use the space as a mini office with trays, folders etc. but the area just isn’t big enough. I clearly need the space for other things.
I think that the rest of the family thought I was out of my mind when they saw me dump all of the stuff onto the dining room table where we were going to be eating a roast dinner in two hours. I knew I could do it though.
I’m much more motivated when I have a deadline
My challenge by 1pm was to sort and clear everything on the table before I served up dinner. I couldn’t wait as I do love a decluttering challenge when there’s an end goal!
I was soooo excited as ‘storage’ was the motivation I needed to give all the stray bits and bobs a home either in the cabinet or somewhere else. The cabinet was going to have a purpose. Why didn’t I think of it before? It didn’t cost anything, and it got rid of something out of the garage.
Here it is finished but without the doors for now because I need to find the spare handles that match the other utility and kitchen cupboards. I think they are in the garage somewhere!
Utility room afterwards
It took much less time than I thought because all I was doing was throwing away rubbish/recycling and putting the rest in appropriate rooms (mainly the spare room and garage).
This was all done before dinner was ready and I felt very pleased with myself. I enjoyed my roast…
Roast chicken dinner
Utility room floor
I didn’t do this bit. This area also provides me with many challenges, for example, just getting to the washing machine. I’ve cleared it many times before and even blogged about the clear space, but it just accumulates again. Another problem area that I need to monitor closely. It wasn’t part of the plan to sort out today but I did want to start it this afternoon, until I noticed how hot it was outside 😊. I relaxed on the sun lounger instead and carried on listening to Solve for Happy. I heard him say the following which proved to me that I had made the right choice to relax.
Doing is not always the way to get results. Give yourself an awareness break
After the work I did tidying and cleaning most of the conservatory yesterday, it was worth spending a bit of time today sorting out the final part which was the accumulated clutter on the desk and to give it a good clean. I only got the desk about five weeks ago and I was determined to keep it tidy but my bad habits took over. I just kept bringing things into the room and not taking them out. Can’t really use the excuse of being busy, even though I have been.
The desk clean
I took everything off the desk, decluttered underneath, and gave it all a good clean and polish. I only put the important things back so that I actually have room on the desk to work.
The top two photos below are from before, and the bottom two are how it looks now…
Before and after decluttering desk
After I swept the floor, I sat down on the armchairs with a nice cup of tea and enjoyed the view of the garden. It was very pleasant as the sun was shining so I could have the doors open. I’m so pleased that I finally have somewhere tidy and clean to relax, read, reflect on my day and so on. I’m going to try my best to keep it tidy from now on. Yesterday’s post is here if you missed it.
Other progress today
DIY
My husband and I put a small white cabinet together this afternoon that I found boxed up in the garage a few weeks ago.
It was one that we were given by the bathroom company after we had a leak in our en-suite. We only asked for replacement shelves but they gave us the whole cabinet. We never got round to replacing the shelves and the box got stored in the garage.
I had an idea that we could use the cabinet in the downstairs cloakroom on the wall as extra storage. We laughed when we were halfway through putting it together because it had no top to it as it’s an ‘under basin’ cupboard 😂. It also wasn’t designed to be put on the wall as there’s sort of a false back to it.
So, the cabinet sat in the middle of the lounge, whilst we tried to work out what to do with it. I didn’t want to put it back in the garage. We briefly thought about putting on the side in our en-suite, so we carried it up. It really didn’t look right.
I then had another exciting idea but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear about that 😀.
The conservatory is getting untidy again and making me feel uneasy whilst I’m working in there, so today after shutting my computer down, I decided to do something about it. The sun was still shining so I opened all the doors and took all the clutter out. I like to be honest with my readers, so I’ll own up now to moving some of it to another room, but my logic today was that I want to have one room that doesn’t have clutter in it, and I’ve decided that this is going to be the one as I have more control over it than the other rooms. I am in there a lot and most of the time I’m responsible for what ends up in there. Here’s the ‘before’ photo… which not as bad as photos earlier in the year but still drains me of energy when I walk in.
Before decluttering and cleaning
We do want different furniture eventually but for now we’re making do with what we’ve got so that we can use it and get a feel for the space. I’ve been wanting to move the small table next to one of the chairs so that when I sit down with a cup of tea I have somewhere to put it. I didn’t think it would fit that way round… but moved it today and it worked; it actually opened up the room a bit more. To make this change I had to move the exercise machine and weights further along. They also should really be somewhere else, but we have no room in other rooms at the moment.
The conservatory tends to get things dumped in it that I use in the garden e.g. chair covers because they haven’t got a home, a bucket of gardening stuff because I can’t find the key to the shed, and random items. I’ve been tidying and cleaning different sections of the conservatory over the last few months including cleaning the windows the other day, but have never really dusted the ceilings as they are too high. I put the music on, took out my new microfibre long-poled duster that I bought earlier in the week and swept it across the glass ceiling panels and then the walls. The telescopic pole was perfect to get into the hard to reach areas as it extends to 100 inches.
I gave the windows a wipe over again with the Minky M cloth I bought the other day (it’s so quick). One of my readers was asking me how this works on the outside of the windows and so I tried it on the conservatory door. I just needed to wet the cloth a bit more, but the glass panes came out sparkling clean with minimum effort and no streaks or smears. Once I’d dusted the furniture and swept the floor the whole room felt much cleaner.
After decluttering and cleaning
It’s not perfect as I still need to do the desk but that shouldn’t take long tomorrow, and the bucket of gardening stuff crept back in this evening (temporarily of course). Overall, I felt happy so I rewarded myself with a slice of birthday cake from yesterday and a cup of tea (and it was nice to be able to put it on the table next to me!).
The other amazing thing was that the clean and clear room attracted the rest of the family to join me and we chatted and listened to music. I lit a candle as the sun had just gone down, and it felt calming. One of us had to perch on the arm of the chair though as we have limited seating in there, so we didn’t stay in there for long. It was a lovely moment though and I’m starting to see how we could use this room as a non-TV room when we just want to chat.
Other progress
The dishwasher took a back seat on everyone’s list today so I eventually got around to doing it this evening. I also cleaned all the counter tops etc. so I can come down to a clean kitchen in the morning.
The large balloon floated out of the box as my daughter opened it. It looked amazing with the heart shaped confetti inside and the message on the front; definitely worth the money. My youngest loved all of her presents and then my husband made us three large pancakes each with the batter he made yesterday and we were stuffed by the end of it. We then all had to start work and school for the day until around 3pm.
Our first short trip out as a family for 4 months
We’ve had a few takeaways since lockdown began which I’ve mostly gone out to collect, but this afternoon we went to a MacDonald’s drive thru and ate it in the car. It was the first family outing for 4 months and it was lovely. We were still able to social distance from everyone else.
My progress today
When we got home I motivated myself to do some cleaning by listening to Hinch Yourself Happy by Mrs Hinch. I only managed to clean the kitchen before tiredness overcame me (it was a late night last night) and I had to sit down with a cup of tea in the conservatory. It was only meant to be for about 20 minutes but after drinking the tea, I dozed off and then my daughters came in to spend some time with me. 3 hours later I was still sitting there, I couldn’t believe that I’d rested for so long. I was pleased as I needed it.
Birthday cake
You would have seen a sneaky peek of the cake on yesterday’s post whilst my daughter was icing it (her first time might I add). We lit the sparklers and sang happy birthday. I had no idea how the inside looked as my husband did that bit, but when we cut it, I think it looked fantastic. They did a great job between them and it tasted amazing! Can’t wait until tomorrow to have another piece.
The Movie
The birthday girl requested the movie for the evening… Zombieland Doubletap which we downloaded from Sky Store. I didn’t think it was going to be my sort of film but I actually quite enjoyed it and I even stayed awake all the way through.
A selection of photos from today…
A cup of camomile tea before bed
I’m sitting on one breakfast bar stool in the kitchen with my feet up on the other sipping my camomile tea and reflecting on the day. Even though I spent an hour cleaning and tidying up the kitchen earlier, some of it still looks untidy. This is because there is still too much stuff in the kitchen so I need to continue working on decluttering in here until I’m happy.
Even though a small part of me really wants to do that now whilst it’s quiet, there’s plenty of time for that tomorrow or the weekend. It’s time I went to sleep now as my grocery shopping is arriving at 8 in the morning.
I don’t currently have a cleaning routine, it just happens when I get around to it. I know I can’t do it all and I know that I should ask for help, and I have been better at doing that lately. I have to as the lists of things at home and work that I’m trying to juggle are forever growing.
Whilst I was on zoom call after zoom call today at work, a few things just got done for me around the house which made me feel happy. My husband and eldest daughter have been doing the dishwasher and keeping things tidy over the last couple of days and then today they made a birthday cake between them (as it’s the younger one’s birthday tomorrow). My husband made it and my daughter iced it (it looks amazing.. sneaky preview further on).
My daughter has also beautifully wrapped all of the presents that we’ve bought with different types of paper and ribbon. She’s very talented.
Back to thinking about cleaning
As I’ve mentioned before, I need to introduce a very basic cleaning routine to our day and see how it goes. It has to be basic otherwise it will become too onerous to maintain. I don’t know what the routine is yet – watch this space – but what I do know is that it won’t be hours and hours each week. Instead it will be bite-sized tasks. I started by ordering myself a long-poled microfibre duster the other day which I tested out yesterday.
When I was perusing the internet for the duster, I stumbled a book called Hinch Yourself Happy by Mrs Hinch, which contains ‘All The Best Cleaning Tips To Shine Your Sink and Soothe Your Soul’. I listened to the sample on audible and loved it. The author sees cleaning as a release and maybe I should see it like that as it may be a way of de-stressing.
I used one of my audible credits to buy the book and I’ve been listening to it on and off for a few days. One of my faourite lines in the book so far is:
There isn’t a single place in the house that I dread looking at
Mrs Hinch, Hinch Yourself Happy
This made me feel hopeful that I could possible get that feeling too, as there are so many places in the house that I dread looking at. I’ve learnt loads from what I’ve listened to in the audio book so far – mainly about what cleaning products to buy, some of which I already have in my cupboards.
There are also chapters I haven’t listened to yet containing information on garages, junk, recycling, how she got her wardrobe under control, how to clean each room and so on. I’m really excited about listening to more and just know that this book will be the perfect companion for me as I continue with my challenge. This was the kickstart I needed I think, as I’ve been focusing on decluttering a lot more than cleaning.
Birthday preparations
As well as the cake that my daughter iced…
… there is also batter in the fridge that my husband has made ready for pancakes in the morning.
Pancake batter
The presents are all beautifully wrapped in the lounge and the table is set for breakfast. I’ve just mopped the floor throughout the whole of downstairs as it was very sticky after all the cooking.
Sandra Madeira 