Rescue Me!

Back in October of 2011, I took up the 31 Days Challenge to blog about the same subject for 31 days.  My subject was 31 Days to a Clean House using the Flylady system.  Things looked pretty good at my house for a while.  And then, the busy Christmas season was upon me and with it came so many orders from my boutique that I literally had to time to clean.  At all.  Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to have so many orders, but it did mean that I fell so far behind in my daily and weekly routines that I didn't think I'd ever recover.  Right after Christmas, things finally got back to normal, but something was off with me.  I was really hormonal and just not feeling like myself which I attributed to "that time of the month" and stress from the holiday season.  Except it just kept getting worse.  I just couldn't bring myself to get back on track with the cleaning so I gave up.  Then, on January 11th, I took a pregnancy test just for peace of mind because I hadn't been feeling well lately, fully expecting it to be negative.  It was positive.  Then the morning sickness and fatigue kicked in.  Cleaning my house and getting back to my routines was out of the question.  Just taking care of the kids was hard enough most days.

I'm 12 weeks pregnant now and still not feeling the greatest, but it's slowly getting better.  Today, I looked around my pig sty of a house and decided it was time.  Using my own version of Flylady's Rescue Routines, I got to work.  On Monday, I'll be able to get back to my daily and weekly routines to get my house in good condition and keep it that way.

Here's an example of how the rescue routines work:
First, turn on some energetic music and light a candle (or switch out the wax in your Scentsy warmer :)
Set your timer for 15 minutes and get ready to go.
I started in the kitchen (which doubles as our entryway and coat closet, making it the messiest room in the house) and worked in there until the timer went off.  I was almost done loading the dishwasher when the timer dinged, so I finished that before resetting the timer and moving onto the living room.  I bulldozed through the toys for 15 minutes until the timer went off again.  Next, I set the timer for another 15 minutes and worked on the kids' room.
After 45 minutes of serious hard work, it was time for a break.  I set the timer for 15 minutes and sat down to relax.  When the timer went off, it was time to get back to work!
Setting the timer for 15 minutes, I worked on the master bedroom and then spent another 15 minutes in the bathroom.  Then it was time to head back to the kitchen for another 15 minutes.  Time for another 15 minute break!  Yay!

At this point, I stopped to make lunch and I plan on spending the rest of the day working on sewing.  But after doing my rescue routines, things look SO much better!

Here's the beauty of the rescue routines...no job is too overwhelming because you're just tackling 15 minutes at a time.  That's it.  You get breaks too to reenergize.  If you can just work on something for 15 minutes you'll get it done.

Here's a few tips for doing your own rescue routine:

• Don't get distracted!  Bring a garbage bag and a box with you to each area you're working on.  Throw garbage away as you come upon it.  When you find something that goes in a different room, toss it in the box.  
• If the timer goes off while you're in the middle of something, finish it up and then move on to the next 15 minute segment.
• Make the most of your breaks.  Don't sit there and think about everything you have left.