It does not take Einstein to figure out that maybe one or two things need to change in my life. Sadly several of the things causing the most amount of stress are beyond my control, and not able to be changed. Living with a child with Aspergers, for example.
But, a lot of things can change, and I can also arrange things so that stressors have less of an impact. Calm Cait reacts so much better than frazzled Cait to a no-holds-barred tantrum.
My house slips out of control on a regular basis. The clutter creep is endlessly persistent, and it only takes a few days before a clean surface is chest high in dumped stuff. I'm inside these four walls all day, every day, and the environment being so messy irritates me constantly. It makes me feel overwhelmed, and it takes three times as long to find anything, which is exhausting and frustrating.
The first part of the journey from Chaos to Control is getting the house in order. This is going to be no small task. Especially as we are enduring foul foul weather so everyone is inside and messing it up the moment you get it tidy.
I begin with making the place smell better. It really helps.
1. Smells
- Tea
- When tackling a job of epic proportions the first thing I do is make a cup of tea - true, today I couldn't actually get the kettle under the tap due to the pile in the sink, but I persisted and got a brew on.
- Tea will keep you hydrated, and give you a chance to stop and contemplate how far you've come.
- I recommend you don't put your nice hot cup next to an old half-full cup. Just sayin.
- Open the doors and windows
- Stride around the house flinging open doors and windows. Air the place out, banish the stale mustiness. Banish it, I say.
- Deodorise
- I use essential oils - get the burner out and get some good oils wafting around
- Lavender
- Tea Tree
- Eucalyptus
- Any citrus based oil (orange, lemon, grapefruit)
- My fave combination is Lime, Frankincense and Lavender
- Incense
- Yes it makes the place smell like you've been smoking pot, but it keeps away flies and mozzies
- Glen 20
- I am not one for spraying chemicals about, BUT, we have a dog and we let him sit on the furniture - well, we forget to kick him off it.
- Glen 20 is awesome for getting rid of dog/cat/kid smells that may have seeped into your furnishings. Its also a disinfectant.
- Air fresheners
- I don't use them, but there's heaps to choose from in the supermarket.
- You can make some beautiful chemical free ones to squirt about - I occasionally do (emphasis on the occasionally). I'll do a post on them next week.
- Scented candles
- Brew some coffee
- Stick the bread-maker on
Time taken: around 10 minutes.
So, it may seem like a weird way to start getting your house under control. Its always worked for me. Cup of tea and freshen the place up. Then you can get stuck into the rest of it.
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SO TRUE! I feel infinitely better lighting some candles or getting the oil burner going. The clutter and I are in a constant state of war over here. It does my head in. I'm off to light my oil burner now, just to feel my shoulders drop a little.
I feel the same way sometimes. I saw in another blog (posie patchwork) that she lights a candle on her workspace (which I think happens to be her kitchen bench) when doing paperwork. It's the small things. We have to remind ourselves we are special even during the humdrum of life.
My kids can't stand the smell of our dog so our house constantly smells like a Buddhist temple - preferable to old, wet dog I suppose.
Another nice smelly thing to do is to put a few drops of essential oil on your bedding if it goes in the drier, it makes the laundry smell good and you bedroom too.
This was a really nice read. I agree on so many levels. Calm Tanya copes way better with everything! I also hear you on the daily battle with clutter. It is the main contributor to the feeling of going insane. It is everywhere I look, and the family are so reluctant to get rid of any of it :-S I also LOVE being able to open up the whole house, particularly in Spring. I have issues using any pretty smelling products because they irritate my sensitive hubby, so I need to rely on baking, and airing.....my hips don't totally like this option though haha
Yep, I always put the oil burner on before a big clean up.
These are my tips for feeling in control:
1. Wash everything with 5 drops of lavender per load.
2. Burn frankincense. or at least spray it around the room. 3-4 drops of.frankincense pure oil mixed with bush flower essence purify is nice.
I tackled one thing per day and threw out 21 bags of clothes. books etc over the.space of a week. and that's a single person in one room!
I feel so much better now I've dejunked.
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