30 Days: 30 Surfaces
I've been reading Roy Baumeister and John Tierney's book Willpower, reading about how Baumeister's research showed that people who set a daily goal and worked to meet it had better overall self-control. That daily goal could even be something minor like trying to have better posture -- remembering that you're supposed to do that daily and sitting up straighter when you think about it.

Well, I've lived in the little house I rent for quite some time, and when you do, you begin to accumulate clutter and have messy spaces that you don't really look at. This is especially true of those of us with Tornado Brain (aka ADHD). So, I've put myself on a program. I've printed out blank calendar pages for January and February, pasted them onto a single page, and written on the sheet, "30 Days: 30 Surfaces."

I neatened up the first yesterday night...the bottom shelf of the green thingie in my bathroom. Today, I plan to hit the shelf with an antique teacup full of keys. (Hmmm...looks like it hasn't been dusted since 1940. In my defense, it's a little dimly lit in that area.) In 30 days, my house will be neater, without it feeling like a lot of work, and I will have bolstered my self-discipline.

Cool, huh?

Buy the book here: Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

I find I have better luck maintaining a clean home when I take a whole day (or two, or three, however long it takes) and make it immaculate. It's easier to maintain then. Because if you clean a little and don't make quite enough progress, it gets messed up again so quickly.

Also, I don't know your finances, but you might want to consider a one-time gift to yourself of a housecleaning service or a laundry folding service if that's something you're behind on.

NicoleK at January 22, 2012 10:18 AM

I'm going to try this as well. Before & after pics of your progress might make for some good blog material....

Brian at January 25, 2012 8:13 PM

Amy Alkon

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/01/22/30_days_30_surf.html#comment-2935002">comment from Brian

I think I'm too embarrassed to let people see the tornado but maybe I'll take some pix and see if I feel better about sharing them after I get through the 30 days.

Amy Alkon at January 25, 2012 8:18 PM

Perhaps relevant:

Remember, no matter what the self-help books say, the research suggests that willpower isn’t a skill. If it was, there would be some consistency from one task to the next. Instead, every time you exert control over the giant system that is you, that control gets weaker.

(Not sure I agree with this guy about anything, but the thought seemed interesting enough to save to disk.)

Crid [CridComment at gmail] at August 24, 2012 11:24 PM

Offtopic: At first I was all like 'Yeah, right', but then I was like 'whatever'....

Crid [CridComment at gmail] at August 24, 2012 11:26 PM

Leave a comment

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

People drive to work in cars or pirates? (required):