So, I had a plan all worked out for getting organized again this summer. I was going to get all caught up on my laundry again and get it completely conquered. That way, next week when motivation strikes, I can tackle the top of my dresser without having to move all of the baskets and piles of clothing blocking it. In two weeks, or sooner if the urge strikes, I was going to go toe to toe with the bookshelf on my nightstand. Followed up in a week by reclaiming my desk area. Honestly, I suck at keeping things clean for any period of time. I don't think that my problem is that I have too much stuff. It isn't even that I'm overly lazy.
I think there are three basic problems.
1. I spend so much of my day either working or commuting that the last thing I want to do when I get home is clean (7-8 hours at work + 4-5 hours commuting 4 days a week, while babysitting 8.5-9 hours + 45 minutes of commute on the 5th day of my work week; I also mow yards when it's warm and do odd jobs when they are available). In the summer, I go from being gone 11-13 hours a day to being home for days at a time. A lot of stuff gets pushed off until summer.
2. As a homeschool teacher, I constantly have curricula that I am developing, revising, updating, or storing. This takes up a lot of what could be my personal desk space at home. And since I live with my husband and in-laws, we have shared office space. My personal stuff is pretty much confined to half of a normal kid-sized bedroom. (Yes, I keep a few items in other rooms, but not like the last two places I've lived.) (When I moved in, I did about a 90% downsize. I may still be a little resentful of this.)
3. Miscommunication/ misunderstanding. While my family sees me sitting at the computer for hours on end, I'm not endlessly playing Facebook games or streaming Netflix. I'm focused on building classes for the following school year. What they seem to see is me sitting at home, choosing to not look at the mess in front of me, I see as trying to stay focused while working at home. I *could* make the trek to the school every day to work on classes, but that would be hours of my life wasted when I could work at home and actually spend the travel time with my husband instead.
One of the things that I think makes this a more complicated situation is that my mother-in-law homeschooled her kids. While she was busy doing that, she also kept the house clean AND worked a part time job when the kids got older. So she remembers what she was able to accomplish while developing the classes for the following year. We definitely have different perspectives on what I need to do with my summer. She also has made a habit of reminding me that I won't be able to keep my half of the bedroom the way I do now when I have kids. (Don't think I'm trying to make her sound evil - I've got an absolutely fabulous MIL. I'm just kind of cranky right now.)
I also struggle with ADD. While I can hyperfocus and plow through something to get the work done, it isn't always practical. Because I can focus on one thing like that, I can get several worksheets for a lesson hammered out relatively quickly. But it also means that I tune out things like the end of the cycle on the washing machine, my husband walking into the room, and the cup of coffee I made. I've legitimately forgotten that I had put a load of clothes into the washer for two days - and forgotten to press start! Just staying functionally organized is frustrating to me... I have piles of things that don't make sense to anyone else, but I can normally find something as quickly as someone who is traditionally organized and neat.
The hardest part for me this summer has been getting the time to actually be productive. We had school all the way up to June 8th, and graduation was June 18th. That time was spent dealing with doctor's appointments, getting all of the grading done and the classroom shut up for the summer. On the 24th, we began our trek to Audiofeed, with a stop in Kewanee, IL, to load up a trailer and to crash while attending the Sex, Porn, and Freedom Conference in Peoria, IL. We got home late (early?) from Audiofeed just hours into July 5th. We have had a house guest here ever since and I'm not sure when he is going to leave. He has been staying on the couch in the office, so I've had to temporarily move my workspace upstairs onto the kitchen table in order to give him any sense of privacy. While my husband seems to be enjoying having him stay with us, I'm ready to have the house to ourselves (all who normally reside here) without extra people for a while.
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