Cleaning up my 'Houses'

No, I don’t have more than one house – just one small house that I share with my husband and 3 boys, but I am referring to my one physical house and then my mental or philosophical houses. One of my new years resolutions was to really get a handle on things that I wasn’t keeping up with as well as I wanted to. These things included house cleaning, paperwork, time management, and a whole host of things. I really didn’t know where to start with most of it, but I did know how to start cleaning up my house, so I started there.

I spent most of the Christmas break cleaning, but then I found that about 2 weeks after the kids went back to school that things were starting to slip. NOT HAPPY! I spent way too much time and energy getting things put away for them to just go right back to chaos. So, I have ventured on a journey to take my house cleaning to another level.

I am writing this on my blog first to inspire me to keep on going, and second because I thought it might help someone else out there!

First things first, assess the situation – HONESTLY! What do I need to clean up, and where do I start.

I have said it in the past, and I will say it again – I am NOT a list maker! So, Instead of making a list of everything that needed cleaning up – which I already know – I decided to change my thinking. I am now thinking of all of the different aspects of my life as my “Houses” – in Sociology I was taught that they are “Roles”, but I have decided to think of them as “Houses” since I will be cleaning them up.

Here are my houses:

Business House – Includes all non-physical aspects of my business – ie all work that requires my brain and not my hands or physical items.
Family House – Includes my extended family – mother, father, siblings, cousins, etc.
Physical House – The place we live in
Financial House – Paperwork, bills, taxes
Friendship House – Includes all of my friends, and my children’s friends
Crafting House – The physical pieces of my business
Spouse House – The hubby and our relationship
Mommy House – The kids and our relationship
Spiritual House – My mental well being, and beliefs (I will not be discussing religion)

Right now I am tackling or have tackled my Business house, Physical House, Financial House, and Crafting House. Those were the places that needed my attention first, and I will let you know how I tackled one of them in my next post.

Perhaps you would like to go on this journey with me.