Vicious Cycle

One of my demons is housework. I am not a born organized (BO) person. I have been trying to train myself (or fool myself) into it, but it is a daily battle of which some days I hold my ground (never feel like I win) and others where I lose (and sometimes lose big). It is this really BIG stumbling block for me because I know that ultimately it is my thoughts about housework that are causing this grief, but I cannot seem to change my thoughts. Housework is NEVER ENDING and even if I feel like I've given it the Girl Scout try, it still is NEVER DONE. If I get the house to sparkle, I know that there is a closet that is about to spill its guts. OR if there is sparkle, I know that under the couch are 3 year old crumbs. For every step forward, my brain will remind me of what isn't quite done.

My husband is essentially a BO....and his parents are too. Having spent time at their house I see behaviors in both my in-laws that are clearly passed down to him. He cannot stand piles, he must have cleared surfaces, his first instinct is to tidy before anything else (if there is something to tidy). Having said that, it only goes so far....for example there are piles that are 'out of sight' and that is fine with him. And "clean" to him is a tidy home (not a sparkly home). I say none of this in a judgement way, it is as much "fact" as I can describe eventhough it is subjective.

So, knowing that my husband likes tidy (and ultimately I do too), I spend each day trying to get to tidy...BUT my tidying is more of a perfectionist scenario. If I am going to go around and 'spiff' up the house, I'll be putting all of the laundry away folded in its right place, I'll be sifting through the magazines to purge, I'll put all the toys away in their right place, and then I'll be distracted by an untidy shelf and spend time doing that....so in so many words, I cannot turn on the 'good enough' button to efficiently get the house to a nice state vs. a perfect state. Then, by the time I've almost got the place tidy (to my standards)...I'm wiped OUT....so the cleaning doesn't happen. House 'on the surface' looks awesome BUT PLEASE do not try to focus (just put your eyes at a half glaze) or you'll see the crumbs, the handprints, the dust, the toothpaste spit, the ring in the toilet, the unmopped floor (and so on and so forth 'til eternity). Daily I feel as though I am putting out these clutter fires and NEVER able to get to the next level of clean. And SO my brain is constantly reminding me that eventhough you spent 2 hours doing stuff you HATE you are not done, nope, not even close.

AAAAARGH stop the madness. What is a person to do? THEN...there are those friends that are BO AND they are clean too AND they seem to always be 'on top of it' AND their kids seem to magically put their things away AND, AND, AND.....I'm thinking hypnosis...that is what I need...does anyone have a recommendation?