Most of my household chores are done on schedule, or close to it. The exceptions: dusting my bedroom and living room. I've been trying to figure out why this is so.
It's because, try as I might, those two rooms are still cluttered, with too many things that get dusty.
I hate doing a bad job dusting, but I must; I can't dust all those #$%@#$%$@# books every week. I run a duster over the top of the books, wipe down what shows of the shelves, and do a mammoth bookshelf cleaning perhaps twice a year. Things don't get too bad, but I look at the shelves and know that they're not as clean as they could be.
There are the boxes and drawers of sewing notions/supplies/projects. The three sewing machines (one newer one, broken; one 45-year-old one, functioning but limited; one serger, old and so ornery I hate to use it).
The trunk and boxes in which my dissertation research materials are stored.
The clutter of cords and office stuff on my desk.
It hurts to dust all those things because they're TASKS. I need to scan and OCR the books and buy glass-fronted bookshelves for the ones that don't get turned into e-books; I need to type up my old research notes; I need to sew up all the projects and use up my fabric stash; I need a new desk, with more space, more drawers, and better cord storage.
But I don't have enough money to do the things that could be done with money (new desk, new bookshelves, two new sewing machines and get rid of the old ones) and not enough time to do all the sewing and scanning and typing to clear out the kipple.
So, in addition to the despair of not being able to do a good job of dusting, because there are too many things and nooks and crannies, there's the despair of touching things and knowing that they represent work to be done, work that's going to take YEARS to finish.
Yes, I'm making progress. At the moment, sewing up old projects, sewing down the stash. But it's so #@$%@#$% slow!
BTW, don't imagine that those two rooms look like something out of Hoarders. I've done several rounds of decluttering. Most people think my house is exquisitely clean and organized. But by my standards, it's not MINIMAL and easy to dust. Gloom and despair.
