Everydayness

It has been awhile since I've felt I had anything worthwhile to add to the list at Works For Me Wednesday. However, recently I have been meditating on and trying to put into practice the concept of everydayness and I thought I would share it with you.


What's everydayness? Well for me it is doing some of the basic things we all must do every day. They are things that don't necessarily have to be done every day but are a lot less daunting if they are done every day. If you are any sort of procrastinator you will likely understand what I'm talking about. Or if you have ever, in your entire life, put off doing something, you will understand what I'm talking about. It's that moment when you are wading through the MOUNTAIN of laundry when you realize that if you had only done a little everyday it wouldn't be taking you ALL day to do it.


As a habitual procrastinator this is a big concept for me to get my head wrapped around and lately I've been heard to go around mumbling, "Everydayness, just do a little everyday." as a way to remind myself that it's a lot easier that way.


The following are a few areas I am currently or planning in the near future to implement the concept of everydayness:


Laundry: I know that when you are the Duggars doing laundry everyday is a given. But when you only have a family of four it's usually not as urgent a task. Especially in our day when we have multiple outfits of clothes. However, telling a procrastinator that she doesn't have to do laundry everyday is not a good idea because I'm she's likely to put it off until the last pair of underwear have been worn. So I have been making every effort to do at least one load of laundry every day. Sometimes, if I am really caught up, I will take everything that is in every hamper in the house and do it all together but recently I've just been doing everyone's laundry in rotation. At most, all anyone will have out of their closet and needing to be washed will be three outfits because on the fourth day they will get their laundry done. And then one day a week I do a load of towels and sheets. Do things this way also alleviates a pile up in my rather miniscule laundry area.


Dishes: "Well of course," you say. "dishes get done every day!" But I ask you dishwasher owners out there...do you run it even if it isn't full? I'm not talking about if there is only one plate and a couple of glasses, of course don't run it then...but what if there are four plates, a dozen glasses and mugs, some bowls and silverware and maybe one pan? Wait or wash? I wash. Why? Because it takes a lot less time to unload a dishwasher like that than one that is fully packed. Thus allowing me more time to drink my coffee and blog in the morning.

Receipts: I don't keep a paper check registry anymore. In fact I haven't for years. Not since we purchased Quicken. And since I'm using less and less checks the debit receipts really pile up sometimes, because it doesn't seem worth my time to sit down and enter just one receipt. However, like laundry, telling a procrastinator she doesn't have to do something right away is like...like...well like the underwear analogy before. It gets put off. SO, if there have been ANY purchases at all on a particular day I have been trying to enter them. I also miss a lot less and keep better track of our spending this way. I haven't quite mastered this yet as I don't go out and spend money every day (not an everydayness I plan on taking up).

School Records: I don't talk a lot about our homeschooling but it is happening and I'm terrible about keeping up with grading and recording. It gets done...eventually, but it's usually one of the laundry pile moments (notice how everything relates back to the laundry?). Currently I'm working on wrapping up grading for this school year, but as I do so I'm trying to implement some new strategies for keeping up with this next school year. Among those is the concept of everydayness. Do it every day...grade that math, every day.

Devotions: This is an indispensible everydayness for me. It is when I can pour out my heart and renew my strength in my Lord. My time with Him allows for change in my attitude and in my heart. This in turn makes me a much nicer Mommy because I'm not relying solely on myself for patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (to name just a few). They are fruits that come from His Holy Spirit.

These are just the areas where I am currently applying the everydayness concept in my life and in our home. They happen to be where it is currently most needed. I'm sure as time goes on and these things truly become every day habits I will see that there are other places where it can be applied. Everydayness works for me, maybe it will work for you too. (Especially with that laundry thing.)

For more great tips and ideas head over to Rocks In My Dryer.