Hoosiers Ate My Brain

Cleaning Off My Desk

Doing a little Sunday a.m. quiet work time filing and getting rid of scraps of paper. (What is the rule of time management class and clean desk theory? I think they say when you touch a piece of paper, ask should I file this, put it in the "action folder," or throw it away. The only catch is that these days, my entire desk is one giant action folder.)

For some reason I've been on a huge cleaning jag this week. I think working at home only shows me on a day-to-day basis how filthy some things are around here. I've become obsessed with clean. (Plus, I came home from my last trip to a little fruit fly problem in my kitchen. After obsessively cleaning everything, there is now not a fruit fly to be found in the kitchen but they're making me crazy in the study and the living room.)

Friday, I actually cleaned the oven. For you guys out there who've never cleaned an oven, let's just say it's no fun. It's the girl equivalent of a really messy oil change. You have to commit the time to it, nasty chemicals are involved, and your hands will be black with greasy, nasty gunk. At some point, you think you'll never get it all clean, but then, voila, it's done. So rewarding!

It's instant gratification, really. When so many other big projects are happening and you feel like you're not accomplishing anything -- even though in reality, you are, you just can't see it yet-- I think these little household projects become equal to accomplishment. They give you some control. They let you affect the world directly. Oh, who knows what the pop psychology reason is. It could just be that my dirty oven finally just grossed me out. Now that I think of it, that's probably the much more realistic answer.

Either way, I think I'll tackle the refrigerator next. (More like the girl equivalent of, say, cleaning out the garage.) Or, before I go on another trip this week, maybe suss out the source of fruit fly happiness in the living room. Then, maybe the upstairs closet next, and touching up paint in the hallway or organizing the guest room/storage locker. If this keeps up, I'll be working in the cleanest house in town. And, so, to the fruits of a few scraps of paper on my desk. I have to blog these next few entries so I can throw them away!

posted by braingirl @ 10:30 AM