Getting back on track

I have not wrote a post in a long time. I got out of the writing habit and then felt I did not have anything of value to share. That is the thing with a habit, once you have them established they come natural, when you are still in the building phase it takes work to keep them going. The key is, if you get off track, like I do, pick right back up and keep going. I am trying to do that now.

I had events I was looking forward to get canceled in March and April, which effected my mood and motivation. Things were changing daily and caused some overall stress. I felt myself being more tired even when i would get plenty of sleep. It was effecting my workouts too, I know I was not pushing as hard as I could. At the end of April a new workout program came out so I started that. It is a challenging workout which is exactly what I needed. I also ran my virtual half marathon a few weeks ago, I will write another post on that soon. Both of those things got my energy back up and reset my mindset and mood.

I am slowly adding back in my reading to my mourning routine. I have heard many people talk about all the projects they have gotten done because they had more time on their hands right now. I had not done anything, and I let that bring me down also. I do like to clean, but there are also weeks I like to do nothing and so the work piles up. That means when I do clean, it takes more time and effort.

I got some new pyrex containers, which meant I needed to clean out old ones. That started it all. I started by cleaning out my containers and organized that cupboard and then I put a storage unit together I had gotten a few years ago for my crafting projects. The next day, I did even more cleaning, I dusted (which is the one task I hate doing), moved things out of the closet to vacuum in there and washed the curtains that cover our master closet.  I laid in bed that night and felt so relaxed, it was looking so good already in the house and smelling so good. It is hard with three cats in the house to keep it smelling fresh so that was huge for me.

Something changed for me then, I decided I was going to work on cleaning all the curtains and windows in the house. It is amazing how much different a house can look with clean curtain and windows. We are even sitting in the living room now with blinds open.

I guess you could call what I am doing Spring Cleaning, I have never really done that so not what I have been calling it. I am just kind of going with it now, I make a list of 3 things I want to get done each day and know it will all add up. It took me 4 days to clean the fridge because I did it one shelf at a time but the work added up and its done and looks great now.

I am determined now to continue with the cleaning and organizing. With that being the goal, I have the plan in place to make it happen.

• I will make a list of 3 things I need to get done each day.
• One day a week, I will do the deep cleaning and touch up the dusting to keep it under control.
• Each time I touch up the dusting, I will add one spot I need to dust and then the next week maintain that area.
• Give myself grace, if I miss a day I will not beat myself up. I will leave it for the next day. If I do not do it the next day I will leave it to my one big cleaning day and get it done then.

Those are the three things I am going to start with. It will help keep me on task and not be too overwhelmed by thinking I need to clean it all at once. I know, if I can keep up with maintaining the work I have done already, it will make my normal cleaning go faster.

There is no shortcuts, I know it is going to take a lot of work, but the results I have already seen it will be so worth it. Time to put in the work and get it done!