Expert advice from the clueless-but-curious

Little Miss Maintenance

I

don’t think I’ve been bored once in the last six weeks — working from home, a few extra professional projects, more homemade meals, and spending time with family on puzzles, walks, and cooking contests has definitely kept me busy. But I still feel like I’m underachieving; I view this forced quarantine as an opportunity that will likely never happen again, and I want to make the most of it before the world flings its doors back open and life resumes its new normal.

Part of what I want to do is give our home some long-overdue attention. In saying that, several weeks ago when I created a daily regimen for myself, I included 30 to 45 minutes of heavy cleaning or organizing each day. Sounds simple enough, right?

I confess — I didn’t check off a single cleaning or organizing box during the first two weeks. And I’m not a slacker; the rest of my tasks were checked off consistently. As a relatively neat and organized person, meeting my goals shouldn’t have been so difficult. But I just didn’t know where to start — the small tasks added up to a huge unscalable mountain, and it was so much easier to move onto the next than to start climbing this one.

The timing of compiling these ideas into an article was just the motivation I needed to look at the problem, break it down, and find solutions that are doable — not just for me, but for the rest of you not-bored overachievers out there. Here’s how I tackled my mountain; I hope you can find something helpful as we journey together to the top.