How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind

How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House’s Dirty Little Secrets by Dana K. White        Paperback Book:  223 pages         

I love this gal’s writing style.   She is so funny.   And she is so real.    She has invented several new words like deslobification clearing up all those piles and stacks of stuff you have sitting around so long you don’t see them anymore and procrasticlutter the process of putting off going through a pile of stuff until  later and later never comes until your mother-in-law is on her way over or  someone rings the doorbell.   She tells how she started hosting weekly meetings (book club, craft club etc.) so it would force her to clean her house knowing people were coming over and would see it.      She talks about her own trials and errors and how she finally learned you can’t do things once and expect them to stay that way forever.   You have to get in the habit of doing things every day.    She gets so many questions from fans of her blog: http:www.aslobcomesclean.com/manage

 asking how do I do this?   Is there a certain to keep your house clean and together at all times?   Do you have a daily plan that tells how to begin and what to do when?   So many people who feel overwhelmed with housework have asked her for help that she came up with a 28 day plan titled:  28 Days to Hope for your Home which is included in the book.    Warning:  there is no way out – we all have to clean and clear every day – if we don’t do it – it doesn’t happen.    She eases the reader through Day 1 – Do the dishes.    Even if it takes you all day to catch them up  because you have dirty dishes all over the house– do the dishes.  Nothing else, just the dishes.   She asks how strange does it feel to have all the dishes caught up?   She tells so many stories on herself it is hilarious.     She talks about when she ran out of clean dishes even with owning a dishwasher, she would go buy more instead of taking the time to wash some.     When judgement day came and she forced herself to do ALL of the dirty dishes she was amazed by how many dishes she had.    She ended up giving 6 boxes full of dishes away and started keeping up with the dishes the family tended to always use over and over.   She learned the value of keeping up with the dishes so  Day 2 Do the dishes again– she bets the family has dirtied up some more dishes since you finished washing every dish yesterday.  Spolier alert – you are never going to be free of doing the dishes it is listed every day for the 28 days.   She says we have to learn to accept that there is no day off from housework not even the weekend o.k. maybe while on vacation if you eat out – but if you are home, do the dishes every day.    By day 3 you are doing the dishes twice a day.   On day 8 she adds sweep the kitchen floor to washing the dishes.   Day 11 she slips in do the dishes, sweep the kitchen and before you go to bed wipe down the table and countertops.   Nothing too horrendous, but do you see the pattern here, she is teaching you in a very simple way to ingrain habits that will serve you.  By day 15, she adds clear the clutter from the bathroom.   Not clean the bathroom, just pick up any wet towels, clothes, shoes, toys etc. that may have been left in there.   Just pick up what doesn’t belong there and put it where it goes.    It becomes a routine eventually.   Put away the dishes you washed the night before.   Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher or sink throughout the day.  Sweep the kitchen floor.   Clear the clutter from the bathroom.   Wash the dishes before you go to bed and wipe the table and countertops off.   On Day 22 you begin adding do a 5 minute pick-up   Watch the clock or set a timer for 5 minutes.   Pick up stuff that you see that is either trash and can go straight to the trash can or pick up stuff that belongs in other rooms and take it to where it belongs.   Don’t go over your 5 minutes.   Stop.  You are done for the day.   Surprise!   Day 28!  Dana White says the hope doesn’t come from what your house looks like after 28 days,  the hope comes from knowing what it takes to keep it looking that way every day.    She says when she first started she honestly believed doing all these things was just temporary and that now her messy home would always be orderly.  She says  the bad part is she has realized there is no magic fix.   No end to the dishes orthe sweeping or the picking up but the GOOD NEWS is these are skills and skills can be learned and honed and practiced and developed and when they rusty from lack of use they can be relearned.   She says she still continues to struggle with keeping her house work done.    Some days that crusty marinara sauce spilled on the stove just gets to her and she has to walk away even if it is easier to clean it off while it is still wet.    She will share more about her day to day struggles on her blog and invites the reader to check it out and feel free to share your own housework and hoarding horror stories.   She was so happy and relieved to find out other people have the same problems she has it isn’t always possible to maintain everything day in day out.   She just always reminds herself no matter what – go do the dishes.   Fun book.   I love her sense of humor and her fearless sharing of her realities.   Great job, Dana White!  O.K. O. K.   I’ll go do the dishes.  J