Taking Back the House

January 17, 2018April 30, 2018 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 4 Comments

With Christmas over for another year the kids as always were a bit forlorn.

I on the other hand was elated.

Not because I don’t love Christmas but because I get my house back.

Well as much back as it will ever be.

If Christmas is all about the children than January HAS to be all about the grown ups and reclaiming a little space and sanity.

Christmas pushes this tiny house to its very limits. Every single surface and corner and space seems to get crammed full to overflowing. I don’t mind it at first, I take it as a blessing – it feels cozy and festive but oh my goodness it has a limited life span.

Theres a fine line too between cozy and cramped and I think we may have crossed it when the third Christmas tree went up. Kids set up a tree each in there own rooms just to add to the Christmas cheer ! and lets just say those room sizes were not designed for that sort of action.

It may take me some time to get my head around the new year but by January 1st the house is well and truly ready to shed the Christmas kilos.

The Nester shared this quote on Instagram recently

Carving out a haven for yourself and those near to you is a sacred endeavour (Sarah Ban Breathnach from “Simple Abundance”, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy)

My heart says yes it is.

It just doesn’t always feel that way.

Simply put sacred means “connected to God”

That’ll do me

But most days it doesn’t feel sacred

Most days

It feels like a slippery slope

It feels like clawing my way back from the brink

It feels like a one woman losing battle.

It feels like herding cats

We returned from our lovely christmas camping trip exhausted and happy on January 1st and I went back to work (now 9-5) on the 2nd. Our camping stuff basically got piled on top of our Christmas stuff and a lot of it just as you walk in the front door. And despite kind requests from me to start putting things away, thats pretty much where it stayed for the next three days. No one else seemed to worry about it. A mountain of stuff trailing into every room in the house – rooms bursting at the seams – baskets of clothes to be unpacked stranded in the hallway – not a problem apparently.

By Friday morning my mood was anything but sacred. I got up early while they slept. I banged things around, swept loudly, packed the dishwasher loudly, threw things in the washing machine, shoved baskets of clothes and christmas trees boxes into there rooms and with that off my chest left for work surprisingly happy with instructions to pack up their trees and clean up “or else”.

I don’t know what “or else” was.

Me doing it myself probably but it seemed to work as I got home to a slight improvement in affairs and the trees were in their boxes.

Oh a little bit of progress can go a long way and so can a tiny bit of clean and organised. It was enough for even the kids to mention how much better their rooms felt. So that kick started a discussion of a few improvements they could make in their rooms and I piped in with a few random thoughts on the new year and letting go and making room and fresh starts. That kind of thing.

They agreed in theory but it took bribery to get them over the line.

The following Saturday we had a wander around the shops and Ethan chose a clothes rack/ wardrobe type thing he’s wanted for a while in exchange for letting go of at least 50% of the stuff in his room. It was a bargain he was willing to make. We also had a chat about only keeping the clothes he wears and loves. The word capsule wardrobe was not mentioned but thats quietly where we are headed. Garment rack was $20.00 from Big W – not designed to last a life time but designed to get my boy inspired and taking some pride in his room. I don’t for a minute think he’ll be in a big hurry to hang his clothes up but who knows lets give it a try anyway.

A mountain of dust and dirt and unwanted stuff went out. We found the can of paint we bought for his walls six months ago hidden under his bed. Yes we’ve had that paint six months !!!! We exchanged glances and deep breaths and decided it was now or never. I did the edges, he rolled the walls and it was done by the next day. Mid summer in that tiny room was like a sauna even with the fan on but he now has two charcoal grey walls – his choice – and they look great. It was a marathon, it looked way worse before it looked better but we all felt great and like we’d accomplished something when we were done.

Remember that word sacred – hanging out with my boy for the better part of a weekend, talking about things he wants to do this year, helping make his room a place he feels is his own and has his stamp on it, me not nagging or micro managing – that felt a little bit sacred.

Not perfect but a whole lot better and yes he’s claimed this chair for his own “just for now”. He ditched the faux fur.

It took me to the following Wednesday to work up the energy to deal with the family Christmas tree that was still taking up an entire corner of the lounge room. She’s a beauty but I have to rearrange the furniture each year to fit her in. I think everyone, except me, had just stopped seeing it but oh my goodness what a difference when it was gone. I had my lounge room back – the space, the light – I could suddenly think straight again. So I kept going and completely cleared off my kitchen bench as well (its about three feet away from the lounge room) and that too was worth its weight in new years resolutions. I basked in that sense of freshness for days.

And yes that felt a little bit sacred too. Clearing out the old to make room for the new – making small changes even very simple ones can shove us into the territory of fresh hope and new possibility. It can help us see and appreciate what we already have with fresh eyes and maybe even believe that the most outlandish of dreams might be possible in the new year

The following weekend it was Livvy’s turn and having got wind of what we’d got done in Ethan’s room she was more than ready to give her room a little revamp. Her idea of tidying up to date is shoving everything she can find into the wardrobe or on top of her desk or under the bed. Heres the evidence – pics taken last September.

I’d title this the mother of all messes but its a little girl who master minded this horror. We’ve had a few tidy ups and throw outs since of course but things have a way of building up again especially with the festive season thrown in.

So in exchange for letting go of a whole slew of unwanted stuff she decided on a storage container for her Christmas decorations and for her and I to go out and get our nails done together. Bless her. No arguments from me.

Olivia’s a bit like this when it comes to tidying up. (Aren’t we all)

But this time was kind of special – new year, new room kind of special. She put on the music, she brought in snacks, I didn’t have any melt downs about what a bomb site the room was and why does it get to this stage – it was almost a party. It took us three hours, it was messy, it was mind boggling what was in that room, it was fun, it was time together. And that too felt in the ball park of sacred. We finished up with her sitting down at her freshly cleaned down desk – miracle – with her new year diary and colouring pencils and washi tape and scrap book paper and scissors – another mess on the way for sure, but a million dreams in her head and a sparkle of adventure in her eyes.

So at what point in our making home do we nudge our way into the territory of the sacred.

In all of it I’d say. When we keep showing up. When we say this is important, this is worth every ounce of my time and attention.

And maybe when we throw what we have (and a girl throw will do) – our limited time, our still broken hearts, our so so skills, all of that love and hope – at our right now lives – the sacred is what bounces back.

What bounces back isn’t a perfectly appointed home, or a cookie cutter life.

Nothing as fleeting

What bounced back these past few weeks – after my tantrum and my wondering “who lives like this?” after our shopping and painting and clearing and cleaning was some of that golden one on one time with the kids. Us just being together – a shared project, a bit of fun, a laugh, a few squabbles some hopes and dreams shared. And below the surface of that, the message (I hope and pray) that is really soaking into their skin is that their dreams are my dreams and that being with them and making things right for them is the most important thing I’ll ever do.

What bounced back too is the house a bit fresher and cleaner and more comfortable than it was – a bit easier on the eye and little more restful and inspiring to two little peoples souls and ours as well – one thats a safe place to dream dreams and that points us all in the direction of a new year and fresh possibility.

That feels sacred.

Id like to say the house is now “back” and all under control but this is me so let’s be serious – the kids are sitting pretty but right now my own room is completely pulled apart while I paint the walls white, I’ve a stack of op shop frames waiting to be spray painted cause there’s a new gallery wall percolating in my head and my lovely striped dining room table is right at this moment completely covered in clothes waiting to be folded.

Its a good life.

Happy New Year friends.

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More or Less Part Two

July 19, 2017April 30, 2018 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 8 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot since I wrote this post.

Thinking and staring into cupboards and rifling through drawers and wondering if I’ve even scraped the surface of this decluttering thing.

I’m convinced less is more

My heart says yes

but my cupboards aren’t so sure

and the drawers say not even nearly.

I’m no hoarder, not even close, I don’t need an excess of stuff to keep me feeling OK in fact its quite the opposite but still I find my cupboards filled to the brim and more than a few of my shelves laden down.

Its taken me a while to work it out.

While I’ll happily let go of things we no longer need or have grown out of or that are broken or for whatever reason I no longer want

There are other things I have a whole lot of trouble letting go of.

Things:

that might come in handy one day,
that are still useful or pretty or I really like but for whatever reason I never use.
clothes that I love that I wore when I was pregnant or thinner or younger, T shirts and outfits the kids wore and wore and loved when they were three and I look at them and remember how tiny they were
favourite toys from when they were little

These are the items that do my head in because they have that heart attachment.

Heres the other thing I haven’t been good at letting go of – the excess of volume. Its the difference between having five sets of pillow slips and twenty five, same goes with towels and sheets and maybe shoes and plastic containers.

So its the excess I’ve been working on recently rather than the heart attachment stuff simply because its easier and less mentally draining.

Before we get into that though heres a couple of things I have worked out from underneath this mountain of stuff

The space is worth more to me than the stuff.

Even if I do let go of something that I may need later on – its OK – the space I have created is still more valuable that the item I may have to replace somewhere down the track.

An excess of stuff steals your time, your peace, your enjoyment of your home and it just takes far more than it gives.

Letting go of unneeded, unnecessary things makes room for the things that actually matter – heart wise, home wise, soul wise.

So I bought a twelve pack of the largest garbage bags I could find – they’re the stand up on their own kind which is very handy but I found out impossible to lift when they are full so maybe not such a good idea but anyhoo I decided that I was going to fill everyone of them up for donation before Christmas arrives.

Three down – nine to go.

Unbelievably I filled one with just random things sitting around the house without even opening a cupboard so that was kind of scary.

I filled two cleaning out my linen cupboard. Now keep in mind I have cleaned out this cupboard many a time before but somehow things it just seems to fill up.

Heres the before – I accidentally chopped off the very bottom section with the random shoes and plaster casts and dust collecting and God knows what else.Unfortunately theres no way of making this before shot look good even with the morning sun streaming in .

Very bleak to open your cupboard door and be faced with that. So I launched in one shelf at a time in twenty minute stints. No I didn’t pull everything out onto the floor in one go and then step over it for a week as has been known to happen. One shelf at a time is far less dramatic but on the upside I retain my sanity and my motivation.

Heres the middle progress

And heres the after.

Not perfect but a vast improvement. As you can see I did a little makeover on the shelf fronts with an old map I had on hand – details are below. I had a rearrange as well and folded everything as neatly as I could which I might say is not as easy as it may sound. Now it may not stay like this for long but amazingly I can now find a pillow slip or a sheet when I want one. The containers and tubs have always worked well for things like fitted sheets which are impossible to keep neat and for the smaller items like pillowslips to keep everything corralled and out of sight. And now that I’m done I see I could do with a few more cause those folded clothes aren’t looking too pretty to me.

Regards the makeover of the shelves I had thought about painting the whole interior of the cupboard but I didn’t want this to turn into a six week project. Somewhere in the process of folding sheets I got the idea to do something with just the shelf fronts. I love a quick little project and this one was very very simple. I cut five strips of map the width and length of the shelf fronts. I applied a coat of Aquadhere craft glue onto the shelves and just pressed the strips on. That’s where I discovered my cutting could have been a whole lot straighter but too late to worry about at that stage. I let them dry overnight then sanded the edges very lightly to get rid of any slight overhang then I put on one coat of clear Estapol. That was it. I love the soft mottled colours in maps so I like the result.

This is what I let go of

Most of flat sheets because we rarely use them anymore.
At least 15 pairs of pillow slips.
The double bed sheets and doona covers as we only have single or queen size beds here now.
Some lovely table cloths that I never used
Anything I had to iron before it could be used
Everything on the very bottom shelf.
Scrap pieces of pretty material that I have had forever and haven’t used
A couple of random blankets

So I’m happy with the result, happy I can now find things in my linen closet and happy my little map project didn’t go pear shaped as I thought it might.

I thought I would keep photographing and sharing decluttering progress as I make my way through my various cupboards. I’m gonna just go ahead and assume your as interested as I am in what’s going on with other peoples cupboards and share away.

Now I’m no expert on the topic of decluttering or organisation so please feel free to weigh in. Any thoughts? any tips or tricks? anything in progress your way – would love to hear.

Love as always from my home to yours xx

Linking Up with Chasing Community and Porch Stories today

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Five Minute Friday – More (or Less)

May 1, 2017June 1, 2017 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 4 Comments

Five Minute Friday on a Monday night but it still works the same way. Prompt word, five minutes, just write. No overthinking, no over editing.

This weeks prompt word is MORE

We always think we need more, if not for now then for later, for just in case. Survival instinct I guess – the more we have the safer we feel.

But what if we used – really used – what we already have. Used it to its fullest potential without waiting for more. What if we wrung the day dry of its possibilities and opportunities – use up every bit without waiting for more or better before we begin. Wouldn’t there be more just by doing that- more contentment, more joy, more peace – bound to be.

I think sometime I’d like more house.

I live in a small house and there is always the temptation to think all my household woes would be solved by more space. Sheer square footage would be nice but I’d settle for more just in the way of storage space – cupboards and closets and just generally more places to shove things.

But more isn’t always more. More space can get filled up with stuff you don’t really need exactly the same way your existing space can and your no further ahead. A big space can be unfunctional and uncomfortable and unmanageable just the same as a small space can. Big or small, more or less – its all in what you do with it.

If I think about it what I’m really wanting at home is not so much more space – what I’m wanting is less chaos and less clutter and less crazy and for that maybe I don’t need more – maybe I need less.

I know from experience the one thing that makes the biggest difference in a small house is less stuff. That right there my friend is easier said than done and an ongoing process in this wee house. The pay off though of opening a cupboard door and not have things fall on me, the pleasure of an empty shelf and a clear line of sight and drawers you can open makes it worth the tough decisions and the ruthless and relentless decluttering.

I’ve such a long way to go with this , theres still stuff piled up around here and too many cupboards shoved full. But I’m heart set on making the most of what this little house has to offer, set on uncovering her beauties and on making more of what looks like less to the untrained eye. This idea of rescue and redemption and bringing back from the edge is one that runs fast through my veins and a challenge I can’t help but rise to.

What about you, what are you wanting more or less of?

You can read what other people have done with their five minutes here

Or you can join in with some story telling and heart sharing at #porchstories right here.

www.katemotaung.com

What I Found In September

October 12, 2016April 23, 2017 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 3 Comments

So time to take a little bit of a gander at what I’ve found in the month just past.

Wondering why I do that ?? Well this post will fill you in a bit but really its because like most of you I love a good find – whether its a good book, a good basket, a burst of colour in my garden, the gift of a few minutes to write or think straight or a post thats grabbed me. Anything that helps me do home or life better – well it might just get a mention here.

So lots of little finds for sweet September.

At The Shops

Bit of a storage and organisation theme happening when it came to op shop and store finds. Maybe its spring that’s got me tidying up and throwing out and getting things all put away and clutter free – who knows but it was a month all about throwing stuff in things and I must say the house looks all the better for it. These two pots and my kids dropping the most amazing array of items on the kitchen bench every day got me started.

www.waterintowine.com

Pens & pencils, toys, hair ties, loose change, batteries, Nintendo’s, sunglasses, lollies, lip gloss – I could easy go on. My solution was to throw “all the things” into these two pots sitting close by on the end of my desk. Bought them with every intention of putting plants in them but this was a more pressing need. Worked a treat. Everything easy to find when they want it and a clean kitchen bench in a jiffy.

Lets call it “casual” storage at its finest (and on a budget). Heres a rundown:

http://disorganized72.tumblr.com/post/149985912177

Cute as a button yellow and white pot $1.00 from Target good for loose change
Gold planter from the Reject Shop for $7 that as said I use as a hold all because it’s a really good handy size to throw odds and ends in.
Vintage yellow Tupperware in perfect condition at the kids school fete thrift stall for $2 each. Used for biscuits and Weetbix
Red basket tray /random paper file from the op shop for 50c .
White cane basket from Freedom Furniture that I’ve had for a while but only just found the right purpose and place for. Less sturdy than my usual basket finds but a whole lot pretty – its now corralling the towels in handy reach of the bathroom.
Wire basket from Kmart for $9 – a place for all the lounge cushions to go apart from the floor when not propping up someones head or back. I don’t get why they can’t stay on the lounge but they just never do.

Got any spring time/fall time organisation going on at your place?

So to other not so practical finds:

Found this little landscape at the school fete. I always seem to be on the look out for a pretty landscape – beautifully executed ones yes but I tend to like the ones that look a little bit “home done” too, a bit imperfect like someone was having a practice. Every now and then one will jump out and come home to live at my place for a bit. A way of me saying “I know your not a Rembrandt, not even close but your still lovely, your still inspiring, you still have something to say so just go ahead and be you”. I don’t say it out loud or directly to the painting so I think we’re OK there. So this is one of those – I like her soft colours and lines – sitting on my desk at the moment, giving me something peaceful to stare at while the words percolate.

In My Inbox

Some AWESOME posts

Why We Must Not Stop Grieving by Christie Purifoy

http://www.christiepurifoy.com/2016/08/30/why-we-must-not-stop-grieving/ — christiepurifoy.com

Loved this post which explains why I want to cry buckets when I look at my kids baby photos.

And this post from a woman who writes like no other

When You Fell a Bit Busted and Old: The Traumatic Disorder of Everyday Life by Ann Voskamp

http://disorganized72.tumblr.com/post/148704937347/studio-finch — http://disorganized72.tumblr.com/archive

This one hit every nerve and more than once. A great read.

On My iPad

Roots and Sky ~ A Journey Home in Four Seasons by Christie Purifoy – no words for how much I loved reading this book so I’ll use someone else’s.

” I have been terrified of hope. Because if hope disappoints, does that mean that God is also a disappointment? Christie reminds us that hope like dreams, is made of stronger stuff. She invites us into a year of her life lived in real time in an old Pennsylvanian farmhouse, choc full of hope and decay, promise and weeds, work and wonder” Lisa Jo Baker

Not too far in I found a paragraph that was a relief to read. Not so much inspirational words but real words that summed up entirely the frustration I felt for so long living in what felt like like a broken down, busted up house especially in the early years and no end in sight. The frustration too of feeling like everything – EVERYTHING – was working against me trying to make something lovely of this pile of bricks and mortar. A feeling that almost stopped me writing a blog about making home when my own home felt and still does at times like its limping, with too many frayed edges, with too much undone and worn out and a limited capacity to set it all to right. – – –

This was the paragraph.

We live so much of our lives with our hands tied behind our backs. With everything to do – more than we can possibly accomplish in one day – we are yet further hampered by illness, tiredness, a lack of money or time. This seems true even on good days. With twenty four hours in a day, how many must we devote to unproductive necessities like sleeping? Eating? Not to mention shopping for food or washing sheets or changing endless diapers. Some days we have more freedom than others but we are always, to some degree hemmed in by weakness, by need, by lack or by loss. We are hungry and needy as new born babies. we fool ourselves if we imagine anything else to be true. Roots and Sky Page 36

And then this:

This house is deteriorating. My body is dying. We are subject to the same terrible decay. But worth is not measured in such terms. Once upon a time, God called his creation good. And no curse of sin unwound those words. Gnarled maple trees. Plaster walls. An ordinary women’s ordinary body. All good. To care for these is to say to death, “You are not the end” Roots and Sky Page 54

Magic words. That’s right hope is made of stronger stuff. It remains, it flows relentless and regardless. It keeps me looking for the good and God breathed and lovely even on the grittiest most ordinary of days and even while the gutters hang rusty and with the back fence caving in.

On My Phone

Along similar lines – this Instagram feed @shannanwrites

Oh my, I love how this lady views life. Her photos are of such ordinary things – sidewalks and streetscapes and swing sets – the things she sees as she walks her kids to school. A fellow lover of derelict houses as well. If you feel like your life is a little left of centre too than you’ll find a kind companion in Shannan.

You can take a peek at her Instagram feed here and her blog here

Found out this too:

Screen Shots are my favourite

What I realised putting this post together is how much I love and use screen shots to capture info that I want to remember – things to read, podcasts to listen to, quotes I want to refer back to, recipes I want to try, rooms that I love. The reason it works for me – it’s incredibly simple – requires only a press of two fingers and its all nicely saved and stored. Anything more complicated and I’m a goner.

Heres a sample.

So thats my finds for September. Any finds your way? Would love to hear

Big love and blessings from my home to yours

Tracey xx

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A Theory On Getting Things Done (Twenty Minutes At A Time)

April 16, 2016May 19, 2017 ~ traceyatwaterintowine ~ 11 Comments

So something I haven’t readily confessed to you up to this point is that I get easily distracted.

Very easily.

I start a task with enthusiasm, often a houseworky type one but before long the whiff of something more interesting or creative and/or pressing has me wandering off and starting on something else before I’m finished the first thing. Anyone else?

It happens as well when I have so many things to do I’m not sure what to do first – so I start in on five things frantically and end up with a whole lot of things started but nothing finished – I’ll have the clothes washed but not hung out, a post half written, dishwasher half packed or unpacked, clothes maybe folded but not put away, everything pulled out of a cupboard but not put back in and the clean sheets on the bed but not the pillowslips or doona. In real time and real life it looks like one heck of a shamozzle and so not the end result I’m looking for in my day.

The other scenario is, I’ll get totally involved in something I love doing – (usually not a houseworky type one) – something crafty or creative, writing, gardening, taking photos, rearranging a room or a combination of all the above – and end up doing none of whatever else I need to do that day. Now that’s Ok if your husband and kids don’t care about eating dinner or wearing clean clothes and – if I was a totally bohemian free spirit who just enjoyed going where the mood led and who didn’t mind a mess – we’d be all good.

Here’s the problem though. I like things done. I like thing squared away and neat and clean far more than I do messy and thrown about. I like the counters cleaned down and the clothes where they should be – in the machine if their dirty, on the line if their wet and put away in drawers when their dry. I like the wide open spaces and peace of clean uncluttered rooms.

I just can’t always seem to manage it.

I get constantly caught somewhere in between the creative “lets rearrange the furniture and paint something” side of me and the “lets get everything neat and organised” side of me.

So thats where my 20 minute a day theory on getting things done comes in. You may have heard me mention it here on the blog a few times now – it’s a favourite.

A girl who’s easy distracted has gotta have some sort of secret weapon up her sleeve to keep her life a bit organised and this is the one that works for me.

I set the timer on my iphone and do ONE thing only for just twenty minutes. Clean the kitchen, fold clothes, read/return emails, write, garden, dust, clean the shower, tidy a room, clear out a drawer, change things around, make phone calls, etc etc

It keeps me calm, it keeps me focused, it stops me doing 65000 unnecessary laps of this house in one day, it’s how I get things done.

I don’t do it all day, all the time – usually 4 to 5 x 20 minutes stints a day, mostly in the morning, is enough to keep this home civilised and functioning the way I like it and keeps me making progress with the creative things I love to do.

The First Twenty Minutes

The photos below were taken maybe two years ago. It was the first time I really discovered the power of doing one thing full on for twenty minutes. This is the side of the house where no one ever goes and where I shove things I don’t want to look at. Mostly it gets forgotten about but there was no ignoring this sad state of affairs – even the dogs didn’t want to go around there. It was such a shocker I took a photo and had a joke with Ken that if I wasn’t out in twenty minutes, to come in after me. (Word of warning – wear gloves, covered footwear and protective glasses for jobs like these. I came across Red Back Spiders, Blue Tongue Lizards and a few other scary things). I set the timer, I think because I really didn’t want to do it and decided that 20 minutes was all I was up for and then it was Ken’s turn.

www.waterintowineblog.com

It only needed 20 minutes. I was totally amazed at what got done.

So the idea kind of took off.

One Thing Only

So if I’m giving 20 minutes to the kitchen – (usually my first 20 minute stint after I take the kids to school) – I am just getting it back to civilised. Cleaning off the counters (because my kitchen counter collects everything) clearing the sink, packing the dishwasher and sweeping the floor. In this time I won’t be cleaning out the fridge or cleaning the stove or reorganising the pantry or making a shopping list. When those kind of extras need to be done they need their own twenty minutes.

I’ve found it works really well when you need to have a quick tidy up around the house and it works really well when you’ve got an almighty mess like I had this morning – I’m blaming school holidays and Netflix on this one.

Not my finest moment. I try to avoid it getting like this but somedays this is just how it is.

After 20 minutes. The bare shelves because almost every cup,plate and bowl I owned was now in the dish washer. Vastly relieved. — After 20 minutes. The bare shelves are because almost every cup, plate and bowl I own is now in the dish washer but what a relief to have a clean clear counter.

Now I’m well aware that most people wouldn’t get themselves into this sort of mess in the first place and I’d much prefer to show you nicely styled after shots rather than everything all over the place but this is the reality of life some/most days and I’m hoping for any one a little like me – – – who struggles with staying focused and on task or who gets side lined by creative pursuits but then hates the mess your left in afterwards – that this might be a help.

So this is what I’ve found.

In 20 minutes.

You get soooo much more done than you think you will
It lasts longer than you think it will – I often check the timer because I’m sure the 20 minutes must be up and usually find I still have 2 or 3 minutes to go.
20 minutes can be squeezed in just about anywhere at any time.
You work faster and more focused than you would without the timer, so you get more done.
It gives you a reachable end point to your task – when you get to stop, look back at what you’ve accomplished and enjoy the result.
Getting one thing done in 20 minutes is so much more satisfying than getting 10 things half done in two hours.
Big jobs (that often get put off indefinitely because they seem undoable and overwhelming) get broken down into small manageable bite size pieces. More on that below.

Often we think we’ll need an hour at least to get a task done – the fridge, the stove top, a desk top!! – so we put off doing it because we don’t have that spare hour. But I have found that nine times out of ten you can get it over the line in 20. I’d rather get something done the best I can in 20 minutes than never getting it done waiting for that elusive hour to show up. And after 20 minutes if you have the time and really want to do a bit more – then set the timer again and do another twenty. I always stop at that because who wants to be cleaning and/or organising for more than forty minutes straight anyway. The whole idea is balance – you get something done and move on.

Don't ask me why I let it get to this stage or whats going on with the sticks. — Don’t ask me why I let my office get to this sad stage and don’t ask me whats going on with those sticks.

In my office area, in 20 minutes I was able to clean off and sort out papers on the desk top. I didn’t try to clean out the desk drawers or reinvent my filing system – even though I probably needed to do both.

I could have left it there, its a big improvement on what it was but because I had time, I did a second 20 minutes – I was able to finish cleaning and filing as well as do some rearranging and a bit of prettying up. I had time to swap out the chair for another one but not time to iron the new cloth I put under the key pad.

Two x 20 minutes and I think we can all agree the space is vastly improved.

Tackling Big Projects

As mentioned above its also a great way to make a big project more manageable and doable.

I’m with this guy.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks and then starting on the first. Mark Twain

Two things often happen when it comes to big jobs around the house – you either avoid getting started because you know it’s gonna take a great big chunk out of your day/week that your not sure you can spare OR you launch in, pull everything out or apart and two hours later your totally overwhelmed, sobbing into your tea or something stronger and it takes the best part of the next week to get it all back together again

For bigger cleaning jobs like the garage or a full room overhaul or even things like cleaning out the pantry or a linen cupboard – I would rather do 20 minutes each day for a week – say one shelf or one small area a day – rather than pull everything out, all over the place in one go and then having the unwieldy task of putting it all back together. I’ve been there and done that and it can be a nightmare.

For me small steps taken often get you so much further and with less collateral damage then huge dramatic leaps and bounds that are, in my book equivalent to lobbing in a hand grenade.

Creative/decorating projects can get the same treatment. Lets take for example, the gallery wall you’ve been meaning to get to for a couple of years. 20 minutes a day, one or two pictures hung each time and within a week or two you have the wall of memories and inspiration you have been wanting.

The garden is another great example of how you can chip away at a big job in small doses. As much as I love gardening it has a way of totally getting away on me if I leave it alone for any amount of time, which I pretty much did over the summer. It’s not something I ever seem to have a whole day to devote to on a regular basis. What I do have though is 20 minutes here and there and I’m always surprised at what can get done in that time. Heres how it went.

This is some of my garden a couple of weeks ago.

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Potted ficus totally covered by the vine – looks pretty but about to pull the rebar down and not really a place you want to sit.

Shocker I know – so I decided to start in the far back corner of the garden which I “romantically” call my secret garden. (Not so much at the moment but it has potential). It’s where I have a small fire pit, a hotch potch of seats, and a large potted ficus tree. I’ve used a large square of rebar (concrete reinforcing steel mesh) vertically in front of the back fence and planted a white blossoming potato vine to climb over it. It climbs wildly during the summer covering the fence and anything else nearby. It can be a pretty and cosy area when its looked after but as I said – it’s got away on me a bit.

So over the course of 5 days I spent 20 minutes each day on it – just one x 20 minutes per day because pulling out weeds is exhausting. I’ll warn you none of the photos are any too glamourous. They don’t show a finished beautiful product – they just show small progresses being achieved with 20 minutes a day focused attention.

Day 1

Day 2

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Day 3

Not pretty yet

Day 4 .

Day 5

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So altogether it only took an hour and forty minutes to bring my “secret garden” back from the brink. I still have the rest of the garden to contend with but now as the cooler weather comes we have this area to relax in and enjoy.

So thats my twenty minute a day theory on everything. Not deep, not complicated but it works. So why not give it a go, just set your timer and see what good things you get done. Would love to hear.

Thanks so much for reading. For a little weekly inspiration you can check out my latest Women Connect post here.

God Bless

Tracey xx