I bought my first book on simple living (this one) shortly after I became a stay-at-home mom in 2006. I loved the idea of voluntary simplicity, of living within your means in an intentional home. I loved it so much I bought this book and then this book and many, many other books. And then I did nothing.
Sometimes it’s easier for me to do nothing than to do something and fail. And by failing, I mean not do it perfectly. Not be the best.
It took five years, several books, countless blogs, numerous videos, and the sudden, horrible deaths of Helena’s parents for me to finally take the steps necessary to make our home intentional–useful, beautiful, sometimes both.
And even after all that, I’m still not sure I would have accomplished as much as I have if it wasn’t for Nester’s 31 Day Project. I jumped in with less than 48 hours to consider what I was doing. I’m not one to quit something I’ve started (unless it’s a diet) so I put my head down and charged ahead blindly.
In plowing ahead I discovered the first rule of the William Morris Project. It takes longer to procrastinate than it does to act.
Every project took less time than I anticipated. Most of my projects take about an hour. Some take more time than others, but that’s because I’ve let things get out of hand or because I’m dealing with outside issues. I dread the project until I start. Sometimes I hate it while I’m doing it, but most of the time it isn’t as horrible as I anticipated. Then, I finish and wonder what I was all worked up about in the first place.
If you are alive you already know the second rule of the William Morris Project. Nothing stays clean forever.
Once I accepted I didn’t need to do it perfectly, I had to accept that my imperfect results will look even less perfect in two weeks, two days, or two hours. Lived in rooms reflect signs of life. There is no denying it or avoiding it, so I no longer let the irrefutable keep me from living in the home of my dreams. Most of the time.
Yes, I get annoyed and discouraged. Yes, I wonder why on earth the boys always put their baseball uniforms or practice gear in the hamper instead of the laundry room so that when they need it–just 48 hours later!–they have to upend their hampers to find their sliding shorts.
It’s always the sliding shorts! How they make it to the bottom of the hamper in 48 hours is a mystery.
If it doesn’t have to be perfect and nothing stays clean forever, then it’s only fair that rule number three of The William Morris Project offers a ray of sunshine. After you simplify, it’s easier to clean.
Before this project, I could never clean the house top to bottom in a single day. Impossible. Now, toys take minutes to pick up. The family room can look presentable in as quick as 15 minutes.
Everything gets messed up all over again, but you won’t ever again see me spending twelve hours over the course of three weeks to clean up toys. And if I do, punch me.
Of course, that’s when everything is smooth sailing. Sometimes, life gets a little crazy, and you have no choice but to use rule number four of The William Morris Project. Screw it.
Two weeks ago the Mister went out of town. No big deal, he does that often. Except I got sick. Really, really sick. And the boys had baseball practices. And choir practice. And school. And homework. And it was all too much. I crawled to Target, bought a pack of paper plates and plastic utensils, and fed them random bits of food from the pantry or fast food. It was all I could do to get out of bed. I couldn’t clean or organize or cook and that’s okay. I don’t feel guilty about it and, to be honest, the boys were in heaven. Fast food again?! Life is grand, mama!
That week of sloth left us with a house in shambles. And again, having learned nothing it seems, I dreaded cleaning the house and put it off until it started to affect my mood. I don’t do well when the house is a wreck. That doesn’t mean that I’m whistling Dixie and skipping off to scrub toilets. To be perfectly honest, if we had the budget I would have someone clean the house for me. Hah! So there you go.
We don’t have the budget for a cleaning service, so it’s up to me and my crew to keep the house clean. It’s not always fun, the projects take us away from what we would rather be doing, and we never seem to have the money to do things we really want, but the end result is worth the effort.
Try it and see if you don’t agree.
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It only took you four hours and ten minutes to clean the whole house. That’s fabulous! You are inspiring me: I wonder how long it would take for me to get the house presentable, too?
AND I burned 800 calories doing it! According to a calorie counter, at least. I’m not sure I believe those numbers, but even so, I will never look at washing the floors the same way.
Thanks for the great reminder! I have gotten so much better about not procrastinating lately…but it’s sometimes hard for me to fully get my husband into that mindset as well. ;)
I think that using the FlyLady method and just working on something totally focused for 15 minutes at a time can make a huge impact on a space, especially when it comes to declutter, tidying up and cleaning in general. And it keeps it from getting so monotonous.
Loving this link up! I’m constantly asking myself if things are beautiful or useful these days! ;)
Thanks, Tiffany! I’m sure everyone appreciates the visits, too! :) I think the 15 minute rule is awesome. Actually, that’s why I took the first couple of pictures. I wanted to show how far you could go in just 15 minutes. But, with each room I tackled I became more motivated until I forgot to take progress shots!
FlyLady helped me a little bit in the beginning (2007-2008) but I could never follow it completely. I was too organized! :D For me, the only thing that has worked is reducing the clutter so that everything has a home and nothing is superfluous. Still have a little ways to go, but I’m getting close!
I’m wishing I had pictures to document the toy purge I did yesterday. It took me one hour and probably added seven years to my life. Then when we had friends coming over for dinner, it took all of 5 minutes to make the house presentable and clean. What a great feeling…
Standing ovation. Love to hear that!
Truer words were never spoken – or written. It IS easier once we get organized, and it does NOT take as long as we think it will; but sometimes you do have to say screw it. You are doing great work here. Thank you!
Thanks, Courtney! I love your profile pick. I’ve been meaning to tell you that for some time!
Delightful post – possibly one of my favorites. That’s exactly what I’ve been learning – it’s so much easier to keep the office and laundry area clean (now that I’ve purged them) in a shorter amount of time, as long as I stay on top of the filing and laundry and clothing repairs. The living room is so simplified at this point that it takes minutes to dust and vacuum and the whole room looks presentable. I no longer fear someone popping by for a surprise visit, and that’s a GREAT feeling. :-) I’m even doing better with keeping the kitchen sink cleaned out, but that’s still one of my biggest struggles at this point. It’s been a C-R-A-Z-Y week at work for me, so no WM post for me this week, but I’m just happy I’ve been keeping up with the laundry and making my bed every day! ;-) Have a good one!
Have a great weekend, Carrie! I’m not at the point where I no longer fear company coming, but I do feel confident about the house more days than not. And, cleaning it is now so much easier. I can’t believe it!
Well, I haven’t actually come out and said it for some time now, so without further a do: LOVE it!
You know, I fear I ascribe to #4 a tad too often. I’m good at keeping tidy–mostly because clutter I can see makes me cantankerous. It’s that clutter I can’t see that bogs me down. Thankfully, with a little gumption–and inspiration from you–I just might get it done!
I feel victorious every time I clean out the hidden clutter. That’s the stuff that eats at you!
Perfect time for a reassessment of what you’re doing here. You’re a great coach. I know you might have a hard time receiving that, but the truth is, there are lots of great blogs that touch on this subject, but I found yours at the perfect time. Your honesty in starting this project drew me in and now I’m addicted. You have inspired me and given me the push I needed to finally tackle the stuff I’ve been rearranging for the last 17 years. Thank you for that.
As for this week, I plead the fourth. William Morris rule #4, that is.. This is my week to do taxes and when that week comes every year, it’s every man for himself. I’ll be back on the wagon next week!
You’re welcome, Pamelotta, and thanks for calling me a good coach. :) {blush}
Good luck with taxes! You can see what doing mine did to my dining room table….
Wow, I’m tired just reading this! Good job! I’m with Amy, clutter I can see makes me crazy. I’m constantly picking up behind everyone. I totally related to the part about failing. I’m too hard on myself, if not done perfectly, I’ve failed. And I hate failing. Right now I’m trying to gather decorating ideas and deciding on a color palet for my livingroom and bedroom. That scares me, but it WILL happen this year. The vegetable garden I’m going to attempt scares me too. It’s nice to be going through this change with you and your other readers!
Yes, it has been nice! I like the company. I don’t feel so much like I’m talking into wind and you all provide such motivation. :)
Gardening is on my list…and I haven’t done it. I’m too nervous to waste money/screw it up!
This is all so true!! I find this applies at work for me – I pick things up, decide what pile they should be in, maybe even get a file folder to make a nice “temporary” working file. Then it sits and gets moved around – when I finally get to it, turns out it took me less time – and energy – to do than it took to make that pretty little file and find the right stack.
My 14yo daughter has been inspired, I think, by my efforts to get rid of things. She was home from school the other day (a threatened school shooting that turned out to be a hoax!) and went through her closet and all her drawers. She got rid of 6 bags of clothes! So proud – and so happy she’s gotten to the point where she can and will do this for herself.
Thank you as always for all the gerat inspiration!
I’m so glad the shooting was a hoax! O_o
What you described about work was me to a T! I did that all the time. I had lovely piles of stuff that could have taken me minutes to complete. Were I to return to outside employment, I hope I would do things differently this time around.
That’s great that your daughter purged her own clothing! I never did that at her age.
great post! I really needed to read this today. Guess what I’m doing right now? If you guessed procrastinating, you’d be right!
I’m going to go set a timer for 15 minutes and see what I can accomplish!
Did you accomplish anything, Karen? I hope so!
p.s. I love your profile pic, too. I have such pretty readers! Good thing you all can’t see when I blog without makeup. :)
Just the motivation I need on this very rainy day… as a Mom to four chaos creeps up quite quickly so I need to be motivated…thank-you!!! First time on your blog and look forward to reading more.
Thanks, Danielle! I just visited your blog, and your pictures are so lovely and light filled! Always intimidating when a photographer reads the blog…
Great post. I have really been wrestling with concept #1 and I see progress! Yeah. It really does help to look at the actual time a joy really takes.
Concept #4 made my day!
Concept #4 made my week two weeks ago. :)
Wow. Your comment about procrastination taking longer is so true! I, too, procrastinate because I am afraid that the results won’t be the perfect image that is in my head. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Susan up above really nailed it when she described a similar technique she uses to procrastinate at work. I did that all the time!!! I didn’t feel like doing it perfectly, so I futzed around and created busy work.
I think I might have to have a cross stitch made of your four rules. Or at least a nice note by my desk…. Maybe a tattoo. Seriously ~ Those are things that I need to remember every day. {Plus, if I had a dollar for every book that I got, read, and did nothing about, I would have at least a down payment on said tattoo!}
Hahaha. :) I should print it up and hang it on my broom closet. The broom closet that needs to be organized…
I never tire of seeing the after, it’s the ‘ahhh’ moment. I have to say your dining room is looking quite lovely. the table, the light, the batten board. I love it all!
Thanks! I just need a rug!! I can’t decide between something traditional (persian/oriental in style) or something more southwest / CA desert.
I love, love, love that William Morris quote so I am so happy to discovered this blog and your project. Wonderful work!
Thank you, Julie! And thank you for promoting it on your blog, too. :)
Miss Jules, I hope you won’t find it terribly inappropriate when I say you are really the fire under my booty! These posts inspire me like nothing else!
I’m honored, Julia! :)
I’ve been thinking more and more about ditching our cleaning service. She only comes once every 2 weeks and for $75 gets the house clean, and it lasts for about 2 days. We’ve had one for so long (ever since Art and I got married and were working too much to clean) that I’ve gotten used to having the whole house clean at one time. I’m starting to realize though that it doesn’t all have to be done at once, in parts like you did here, because like you said, it doesn’t all stay clean for long anyhow. With another baby coming there are so many other things we could save that money for, like college for said baby #3. Good post Jules
It’s your call, but if I was you I would keep her. Maybe because we used to have such an awesome cleaning service? Man, I loved her. She did an excellent job and had severe allergies, so she always took special care of Mikey’s room since she knew how it was for him.
p.s. Thanks for mentioning me on Twitter. :)
Great post. Many things that I know and yet always, always forget when it comes to procrastination. Thanks Jules.
I was also sick and out for the count for several days this weekend. Astounding how quickly the crap piles up — and my husband was home and did a good job of keeping the kitchen/family room picked up. The rest of the house is still in recovery mode, though!
Isn’t it crazy? I still don’t really understand how it became such a disaster. On the positive, it’s proof that I actually am doing something during the day. Sometimes you feel like you don’t do a thing. When you are down and sick, being out of commission shows.
Thank you! This is the most inspiring thing I’ve read in some time. Thank you for including your genuine “befores” when the entire blogosphere seems to consist soley of shiny, polished “afters.” I am saving this post and pulling it out anytime I need a reminder that it doesn’t take much and it is so, so worth it to just get my procrastinating butt in gear!
You’re so right, putting things off always takes up more time and mental energy than actually dealing with them.
Embracing “good enough” is a huge goal for me. I like to think I’ve improved tremendously over the last few years. Mostly inspired by my poor mom, who you will find frantically cleaning baseboards an hour before a party, when the food has yet to be made. It’s so easy to get lost in the details if you’re type A, and forget the big picture.
I’m glad you’re feeling better now!
Oh, and we paid to have our apartment cleaned right before our wedding and it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had, after I got over the enormous guilt and shame of letting another person clean my place. If we had the money, I think I would live with the shame and shell out for that treatment every week.
Not sure why it is so shocking, but it is so much easier to get things away when they have a ‘spot’ and when there isn’t so much of everything. You’re a wise woman Jules (the fact that you’re still willing to learn, makes you all the more wise in my eyes).
I really need to go through and simplify. I’m at the overwhelmed stage. Too many toys. Too much stuff. The house needs some work but starting is difficult.
Thank you so much for sharing these photos (which I’m sure were probably a pain to remember to take!). They’re such a powerful reminder of what a simple 30 minutes can do! Too often I find myself sitting on the couch, crippled at the thought that it might take me HOURS to clean my entire house, when in reality, I could probably be finished — or at least notice a big, big difference, with just 15 to 30 minutes per room. My mom used to call this “blitzing” the house, and my brother and I would dread it: those 20 or so minutes the entire family was called forth to conquer the house. Looking back, though, it was genius! By coming together to clean each room — and at warp speed! — we were able to spend most our Saturdays out of doors instead of stuck inside with the Lysol. Anyway, thank you so much for the time and effort you put into these William Morris posts. Their practicality and doability don’t go unnoticed!
I am loving this series and soaking it all up, so thank you. We are due to move house in 6 weeks so as I start packing I am going to try to pack just the things I REALLY want to take and filter when I unpack as well. That’s the plan anyway…