Are you tired of always being behind on laundry? Do you beat yourself up for not being able to do such a simple task? Learn 3 tips for staying caught up on laundry.
Laundry can be seem like such a simple mundane task. But it is a great place to make progress on our emotional/mental health. It’s a place we can learn to trust ourselves, learn to be intentional, and appreciate ourself. It’s my belief that as stay at home moms, we can struggle with all of these skills. Nobody is checking up to see if we follow thru with our promises to ourselves. Then when we don’t do them we have lots of negative self talk. And then we don’t have the skills necessary to say thanks me for doing that even when nobody else notices. I love that about you!
So lets learn 3 tips to stay caught up on laundry that will also make us feel better about ourselves and our home.
1: Be Intentional
The first tip is to be intentional. Decide right now what it means to be caught up on laundry. You get to decide that for your family. Nobody else gets to do that. Maybe caught up means every piece of laundry is washed, folded, and put away every day. Perhaps it means you do all the laundry once a week. Or maybe that means everyone has a clean clothes for tomorrow in the dryer when you go to bed.
Take a moment to think about your life and what you want. Write out your definition and keep that in mind as we continue on to tip 2.
2: Plan and Stick to It
Tip two is make a plan on how that is going to logistically look. For example, my definition of caught up is doing some laundry everyday to avoid large piles. My plan for that is to wash at least one load every morning (more as needed), drying that laundry and sorting it into decorative baskets labeled for each person. I don’t fold it, I don’t put it away for everyone. In fact it may not get in the drawers everyday. But it is contained in a basket on a shelf sorted by person.
Now I stick to it. This one can be the challenging part. Notice I met myself where I could easily stick to it. I used to try and wash all the laundry everyday, fold it, and put it away. But I never got it all done. Plus I would make myself irritated when kids drawers weren’t perfectly organized anymore.
So I eliminated the piles of unfolded laundry by going to a no fold system. I created a plan I can even do on busy days. I can dump a load of laundry in five minutes every morning while my kids are getting ready for school. And then it only takes 5 minutes to empty the dryer into baskets.
I made a plan that was ridiculously easy, so that I can stick to it.
3: Have Grace with Yourself
That being said, we all aren’t perfect. I strive for 80/20. If I hit my goal at least 80 percent of the time, that is considered a win! Celebrate that win. Whether that means you got it 80 percent done today, or you do it 80 percent of the days.
On those days you don’t hit your laundry goal, be kind to yourself. Ask yourself lovingly what is going on? Where you busy? Do you not feel well? Are you overwhelmed? Is your goal unrealistic for this stage of life right now?
Never judge or bully yourself with negative talk over not accomplishing laundry. We are actually more motivated to try again if we are coming from a place of self love than trying to beat ourselves into submission. Plus it feels better along the way.
Schedule a Free Discovery Call if you want help with your laundry plan. I’d love to meet you and help you with this work.
Until Next Time
-Keira
