What's Not Working Series

I think it was the missing $400 train pass that sent me over the edge. C and I looked for hours, trying to find the little orange card that gets me to and from work everyday. We finally gave up around midnight, and I admitted it was gone. As I crawled into bed, I prayed to St. Anthony, and something caught my eye... my pile of magazines. It was a long shot, but at this point, what did I have to lose? And there it was - between the pages of a Pottery Barn catalog. I woke C up and literally did a little jig in the bedroom.. he was not amused.

Every house has  them... the spots where mail piles up, or laundry goes for days not being put away. The time suckers. Simple chores that are taking too long because there’s no good way to do them.

I’ve become a big fan of Emily Ley lately (I know, I’m late to the game). If you read her blog or follow her on Instagram, she always talks about “what matters most” - focusing on the big, important things in our lives. Emily’s business is founded on this that entire concept...  in order to focus on our families, or our work, or ourselves, we need systems, plans & organization in place. Things need to work well, so you can spend less time DOING and more time PLAYING.

The train pass was my wake-up call.... and so, I set out on a mission to find the things that aren’t working for us. Identifying them, and coming up with a solution is the first step in solving the never-ending to-do list. Everything needs a place, or a system, to work well. If everything is well organized, cleaning will be easier. I won’t have to actually put stuff away in order to clean. That means less time doing chores... and more time to do the stuff I love.

Introducing, the "What's Not Working" Series - my quest to make our lives a little bit simpler.

Disclaimer: I’ll be sharing pictures I never thought I’d share on this blog. But in the interest of always being honest, these are  places where I hide all the stuff when I take the pretty pictures. The closet I need to purge every few months so that a falling binder doesn’t kill me when I open the door; or the top of the washer & dryer were I quickly stash stuff before guests arrive. My dream, as unrealistic as it may sound, is that I’m never fearful of someone stopping by because my house is a mess. I’m not looking for my house to be perfect - just good enough. Good enough for an impromptu BBQ, or good enough that I can sit on the couch and watch a movie on a Friday night and not feel that I have so much to do. Things need to work better, so I don’t have to work as hard.

Every other week (or so), I’ll be posting about how I’m fixing each of these problems, and maybe my suggestions can help or inspire you, too. They aren’t going to be expensive fixes, just everyday things we can all do to make our lives a little easier.  So that we have more time for what matters most.

Check back tomorrow for the very first post in the series!