Today’s project: Finally finding and putting a light bulb into this adorable (and very affordable!) lamp. (The lampshade itself is only $15!)
For the last few years, I’ve been doing something I call “One (Small) Home Project Every Day.” It’s a ridiculously simple concept: Pick something that’s been annoying you, and get ‘er done.
Now listen: This home project doesn’t need to be something involved. In fact, that’s the opposite of what “One Home Project Every Day” is about. We’re not renovating bathrooms here. We are, however, grabbing a screwdriver and perhaps tightening a loose screw on the bathroom toilet paper holder thingy, which has been annoying you for the past three years.
No project is too small, and you simply take on what you can actually take on—whether physically or mentally. If it’s taking on a three-minute job like tightening that loose screw, YAY. You improved something in your home! If it’s spending an hour sifting through your children’s closets and deciding what to donate and/or keep for hand-me-down purposes, that’s great, too.
The idea is that over time, these little projects add up, for lack of a better phrase, and make your home start to function in the way you likely want it to. No, it won’t happen overnight, like the promises of those tempting “get rich schemes.” But over time, you will feel their impact. And you will feel less overwhelmed by—at more at peace in—your home.
My best advice is to not make a “to-do” list. I know. It’s tempting! I love a good list. But I also hate a good list. Honestly, lists suck. (For me.) They remind me of how many things I haven’t accomplished. Sure, I’ve written down tasks I’ve already done and crossed them off for the endorphin surge… like most have. But I finally realized a couple of years ago that lists make me feel like crap. So be gone, lists!
Instead—and I do this every day, I swear—I’m just on high alert for stuff that annoys the heck out of me in our home. For example, today I realized that Lucy can’t reach her pants in her closet. Over the summer, I kept the hanging in the top part of her closet, as she didn’t need to access them. But now, with temps dipping into the 60s, she wants to wear them.
So I swapped the her summer dresses with the pants, and viola! Four minutes of “work” results in no more frantic “MOMMY! I CAN’T REACH MY PANTS!” screams. Best four minutes of work I’ve done in a long time. ;)
I’m always extremely wary of challenges, as they typically leave me feeling downright awful about myself when I can’t follow through. (The “pescatarian challenge”? What the heck was I thinking?! I’m freakin’ landlocked in Chicago! Do people eat the fish they catch in the lake? I sure hope not…)
But this challenge has proven to be different. It’s attainable; achievable; easy. You’re basically just looking for stuff you dislike. Who can’t do that?!
Oh, and the only rule is that you’re not allowed to feel like a lesser person when you skip a day. I say “when” because you will skip a day. It’s why we’re taking on this challenge to begin with! You simply reassure yourself that you are a human, not a robot, with obligations and feelings and a need for physical and mental downtime. You can also justify it by counting some boring task you’re forced to do regularly—like taking out the trash, loading the dishwasher, doing the laundry… whatever.
But if you binge-watched Gilmore Girls last night was all you could muster, that’s totes fine. Today is a new day. Besides, Lorelei’s house was a mess. So you’re already winning. 😉
Just keep going.
