Traction

Traction
Nony over at "A Slob Comes Clean" posted about Traction, and it really struck a chord with me today.

A few months ago, I purchased her e-book, 28 days to Hope for Your Home. If you have ever looked around your home more than once and said "how did it get this way??" you need to read it, it's awesome.

With moving, we didn't have time to implement any new habits in our old place. But upon moving in, we started Day 1 right away. Here's a little hint for the contents of day 1: Do the dishes. That's it.

I didn't follow her advice to the letter, I didn't end up following it day by day, but I did reference back to the book a couple times. The biggest message I took away from her book is that to get control of a household that has imploded, you don't have to start with a clean slate and THEN make new habits. You can just "new habits" your way to a better home. LIGHTBULB!

The dishes get done every night before bed. We may have skipped a day here or there, but it hasn't been TWO days. Mr. Moon and I are assuming, for sanity's sake, that we are the only ones doing dishes. But Mum has helped tremendously to keep up with them, and if she hadn't then we would have failed. That's OK though! Everyone can pitch in!

Mr. Moon implemented a rule that he scoops the litter box every morning. He's actually been really good about it, and I'm proud of him.

But those are the only two daily habits we had to start, and they've been a fantastic start. Carpets have been vacuumed as needed and not sat too long. Bathroom has been scrubbed regularly and not gotten too cluttered for more than a day, even as we had to move a box around every time we went in there. (That box ended up back in the garage after a week of frustration.)

I think the breaking point was last week when we finally got the kitchen totally under control for the first time. It felt AMAZING to look at the great expanse of counter and know it was clean. It's also STAYED remarkably clean!

Hi, I'm Heather Jean and I'm a slob. Nony helped me start to turn that around, and I think of her often when I'm marveling over a clean countertop or a toilet bowl that hasn't been visibly dirty in at least two weeks. Sometimes it makes me want to give her a hug. Instead, I will recommend her site to you in hopes that if you need her help, her journey will change your world. One sink of dirty dishes at a time.

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