Christa, Days 27 and 28: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

You may have noticed (or not) that I skipped yesterday's item:

Create a simple system for house work. Another example of a simple system is clean-as-you-go with a burst. Read more.

The fact is, I have housecleaning systems already in place. They probably aren't the best systems, but they work for us. Clean as you go is something that our household tries to embrace. I say tries because cleaning as you go works well when it comes to surfaces but showers? Those get kind of ucky after a while, and those self-cleaning sprays never seem to really do the trick. I'm a burst cleaner, a quick picker-upper, and so on. I call this "Doing things right the first time." Hanging up clothes that don't need a wash yet, for instance, instead of balling them up at the side of the bed. Trying to further streamline or systemize my housecleaning habits would just complicate my life at this point, so I'm going to check Day 27 off my list and call it done.

Today's voluntary simplicity idea, however, is a different story.

Clear your desk. If you have a cluttered desk, it can be distracting and disorganized and stressful. A clear desk, however, is only a couple of simple habits away. Read more.

Once upon a time, I had a clean desk. My desk at work is spotless and professionally personalized without actually giving away anything about me personally. It looks rather like a desk set-up from a catalog, actually. Mostly because I have an obsession with keeping my work life and my private life entirely separate. I can't brag similarly about my desk at home. Long story short: I used to have a whole office to myself, then that became our temporary bedroom, and for a while it was slated to become a nursery until it became a guest room instead. For a long time, I had no office, and then we made a mini office for me in the upstairs landing with a wee desk and no room for paper whatsoever.

Sounds like the perfect minimalist office, right?It was, actually, until I started decluttering the downstairs. Then various paper records and other things that had no real home started piling up on my wee desk. And my chair. And in my French market basket.

Am I embarrassing myself by telling you this? Maybe, but I did promise honesty!

Yesterday, we ordered a piano. Thank goodness we've been decluttering, because that piano is going to go where the tall sideboard that holds our tea towels and rags is, and the writing table I'm writing at now will go in the guest room. That means I better be able to use my desk as my workspace by Thursday. And while I'm at it, I may as well get my personal and family papers in order, collect a new batch of items for donation, and once the piano is here, do a house tour type post on my blog.

Deadlines? Love 'em.Thrive on them, in fact!