Conquering Your Inner Slob

I've never been much of a house keeper. It's not that I like living in clutter, but it's such an overwhelming task that instead of tackling it and getting it done, I'd prefer to sit down on the sofa and watch TV.

I've got two large retrievers, and 4 indoor/outdoor cats, so the "fur factor" of my dwelling is off the charts. As if that wasn't bad enough, the dogs love to swim in the pool, then roll around in the dirt, so if left unattended, my living room floors would quickly resemble a beach due to the cubic tons of sand that they track in. As a side note, I purchased a Roomba awhile back, but the poor thing didn't stand a chance.... it now sits quietly in the "guest room", living a lonely, unproductive life of solitude.

Speaking of my guest room, I only call it that, because referring it to the "Dungeon of Clutter" tends to scare people. True, if pressed, I could move the items that are currently stacked on the bed onto the floor, but while this would leave space for actual sleeping, I'm not sure there would be an available path from the door to the bed, so it seems rather pointless.

Back to the point of my story. A month or so ago I reached my breaking point. I'm not sure what triggered it.. .possibly the fact that I tore the house inside out looking for my iPod, only to find it a day or so later, sneakily hiding under a sheet of paper on the desk in my home office. I just couldn't continue to live in such a disorganized way.

I recalled seeing something in one of those Quality Paperback Book Club catalogs that had sparked my interest. It was a book on how to get your house clean, and stay on top of the chores. I did a book search at Amazon.com, and several "get organized" books popped up, but after reading the reviews, I felt that the one that fit me best was "The Side-Tracked Home Executive". It was written by people and for people who do not possess the organization gene.

I won't go into details about their system, but I can tell you that I implemented it and it has made a huge difference. I have a friend that comes and dog-sits whenever I go out of town, and last time she came over, she asked me if I had hired a cleaning service, because everything was so clean and in its place. I was thrilled that somebody took notice of my efforts, and I can now relax in my house, as opposed to sitting on the sofa feeling anxious because of the mess, but too demoralized to do anything about it.

If you have the same organizational issues, I highly recommend that you check out "Sidetracked Home Executives", by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. If you end up implementing their system, please come back to this post and leave a comment.