Maintenance is one of the most feared words in the human vocabulary.
The majority of my clients (and my family and friends) find organizing/cleaning tedious, annoying and a waste of time, and while I see our sessions as playdates, most of them would be rather doing something else. I get it, organizing and cleaning are time consuming and can be frustrating if your space and time are limited, if you don’t know where to start, if you don’t have the right tools or maybe even not have the funds to get them! It becomes very hard to see the light in the end of the tunnel…
Keeping up with a perfect household with all the laundry done and the dishes washed, meals planned, everything in place and clean is a longing dream that clients share with me constantly. But how? Is there a magic solution? Sadly no.
The harsh truth is that there’s no bypassing on maintenance; as much as ads try to sell the easiest, fastest product/service that will magically fix your life, you (or someone that you pay to do it) will have to take the time to do the job and then do it again and again… forever.
Or like a dear Brasilian auntie of mine likes to say:
WHILE THERE’S LIFE, THERE WILL BE DISHES.
In my 15 years in business, I found that the key for maintenance is that it has to be attractive to the person who lives in that space and it has to be simple enough, almost fluid.
That is why I encourage everyone to pay attention to their natural inclinations, instead of adopting or creating a brand-new system to be learned. Few examples: look where piles form in your house and create systems that work with these piles instead of fighting them. Choose a day and time of the week to tackle them. Don’t like to fold clothes? Find a way to store them that is acceptable and makes sense to you.
The paradox of maintenance is that it is perceived as negative part of life, but at the same time maintenance is indispensable for a happy life.
But how incorporate organizing systems into our lives without the succumbing to boredom?
The answer is simple, but not so easy to adopt: reframing of the mindset and using coping tools.
Being happy while maintaining their spaces, is one of my personal goals for my clients, but reframing the mentality that maintenance is a negative part of life, into neutral territory is the first step. I do that by encouraging people to find ways to do their daily chores less cumbersome, by not fighting their instincts and using aids to help them to go through them as painless as possible; I share the tools that I use in my daily and encourage them to try it or to come up with their own ideas. I use music, audiobooks, incenses, and take breaks, as aids in my daily routine. If the job requires movement, a dancing ballad is on the radio, if the work is mindless, an audiobook is the perfect solution. Incense and candles also help me to be present and enjoy my space while it becomes tidy. One of my clients likes to have the TV on the background while he is organizing. Great. If helps you to cope, use it! If you like to work in silence, honor your need.
In conclusion, maintenance is a necessary part of life, but it doesn’t have to be a negative chore. Find ways to make it more enjoyable and less burdensome. Pay attention to your natural inclinations and create systems that work with them, rather than against them. Additionally, reframe your mindset around maintenance and use tools can make the process more pleasant for you. It will make the experience more enjoyable and help you to be present in the moment. Ultimately, the goal is to find a balance between maintaining your space and finding happiness in the process.