July 9, 2011
Procrastination
Anyone else procrastinate when it comes to daily/weekly tasks around the house? I’m a laundry procrastinator. I wash/dry at least a load a day, but clothes can sit in baskets a couple days before being folded and put away. So I put them on the bed – that way they have to get folded before anyone goes to bed.
So, what’s your best chore anti-procrastination tip?
Caitlin Says
lol well I can put the clothes on my bed all day long, but a lot of the time they get thrown back in the baskets so I can go to bed lol. i put the PRO in procrastinate.
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Suzanne Says
I can stay on top of the laundry but it’s much harder for me to keep the floors clean. I use so much energy to avoid the floors that I’m always surprised how easy they are once I do them. So for me, the problem is mental. I need a method to shift my thinking about the job rather than an actual technique.
Anonymous Says
I am SO much worse. I have 4 kids (oldest 4yrs, youngest 10mo) and I am smothering in laundry…SMOTHERING. I wash all day but never have time to fold and put away w/o the kids attacking. I have been searching for a solution. Alas, I think that I shall exist in a sea of clothes until the kiddies are old enough to do their own! (sigh) Such is life 🙂
Gwenn Says
My kids have to put away their own laundry as I fold it. Their drawers are always a disaster but it’s not that big a deal.
Steph @ Crafting in the Rain Says
I don’t have a tip specific to laundry, but I try to tell myself that it’s never easier to do something later than to just so it right now. It helps sometimes 🙂
KP Says
I use this tip as well, only I put in on the bed so the HUBBY has to do it before he can go to bed. 🙂
joyfullyjulie Says
Woman after my own heart, I am currently forcing myself to stay in the kitchen and purposefully listen for the dryer to go off so I can fold the clothes before they are a wrinkled mess. It occurs to me if I make myself do this each time I do a load or three that the task might not seem like it takes so long and my husband and son would not constantly be asking me for underwear and socks.
Amy Says
We have baskets (sterlite from Walmart) for each of us (5) + 1 for towels and sheets – dried laundry gets folded and placed into the proper baskets as we are taking the laundry out of the dryer. When a basket is full one of us (or the kids) puts it away. I don’t sort socks – each kiddo has a different kind of sock and I just throw them into the drawer – same with underwear. Hubs or I does at least one load a day…
Mrs. Jones' Soapbox Says
I changed the way I do laundry a couple of years back and it’s made the whole process much easier, in my opinion. Since I use cold water and a laundry soap that prevents colors from bleeding, instead of sorting by color I sort by clothing type. So all shirts get washed together, all shorts/pants together and then towels, undies & socks together. It makes folding and putting away much, much faster. The shirts are hung on hangers as soon as they come out the dryer. I just hang them on the door frame as I take them out and then quickly distribute when I’m done. Shorts/pants are easy to fold so that takes just a minute. And for the towel load, I pull those out first and fold them so then it’s easy to separate the undies and socks. It really has made everything easier. The only time I separate by color is if any of the whites look a little dingy. Then I do one load of all whites and dump a 1/4 cup of oxygen bleach in. Easy peasy!
Clean Mama Says
Love the comments – at least I’m not the only laundry/chore procrastinator out there! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Anonymous Says
HA HA!! What happen next with this idea ( yep, I tried it ) is we are exhausted after 3 kids,dinner,bedtime, yada yada and they are shoved to the floor for moi to start the process all over! Sometimes hubby- since 1st to bed- will at least place them on the dresser- IN SAME STATE – LOL 😉
tiffany sexton
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CAS Says
Good post because it affects most people. I’m pretty OCD about laundry. I hate to iron, so I always take clothing items out immediately & place on hangers. I also prefer to fold warm clothes/linens, so undies, socks, towels, etc. get folded right away. I started a new laundry sorting system about a year ago & it has worked very well for us. We are on a 9pm – 9am cheap electric rate plan, so I try to get a load of laundry washed and dried before 9am every day. I wash all lights/whites on Tues., darks on Thurs., & towels in between (usually M, W, & F). Sometimes the towels have to dry during the middle of the night, but that’s okay. I just run the dryer for about 5 min. to fluff them and then fold them – really, folding warm towels is much more pleasant than folding them cold.
junescott Says
That’s hilarious, Becky! Because that’s what I do too! I procrastinate about cleaning in general… list making helps, if it’s in front of me as a “to do” it’s harder to ignore 🙂 Your blog is helpful in so many ways! Thanks!
Sarah Says
Excellent! We have a 7 month old who LOVES to crawl/half walk everywhere and we’ve discovered that the BEST barricades are full baskets of laundry. While the offspring is happily playing behind the full baskets, one of us parents sits and folds the clean clothes and then that is where they stay until they’re worn and tossed into one of the “used” baskets. Not the most productive or attractive way of doing things but at least we have the motivation to keep things clean… no one wants their dirty unders displayed in the family room when the out-laws come calling!
Hind Says
how about folding laundry while watching your favorite shows? If I get to watch a Modern Family or Sex in the City or Parenthood episode, it makes folding laundry much more pleasant!
Sierra Says
I agree with you Hind. My hubby and I seperated house duties which includes him cooking and me cleaning. I love it! While he cooks dinenr I get to do my laundry that I started before work and I put on a 20 min wrinkle release as soon as I get home. When the timer goes off I get my glass of wine and either my news or an episode of a tivo’d show. I use commercials to put clothes away and bring new load out of dryer! I can continue this all evening if we decide to watch some of our favorite shows together.
Danielle Says
We only have 2 laundry baskets for the entire house (ok, 3 but the sock basket never leaves the laundry room). I do this intentionally, who has room for all kinds of baskets?! If you have no where to put the dirty clothes, you have to wash them, right? That’s my thinking anyway…lol. One basket is upstairs collecting dirty clothes and the other is in the laundry room with clean clothes to be put away. I do laundry everyday. When I get home from work, I take the clean clothes upstairs (that were washed the night before) and put them away, leaving the empty basket upstairs to be refilled. I, then, take the basket with dirty clothes down to the laundry room and begin my load or two. I hang or fold laundry right out of the dryer and leave it in the room until the next day. Sometimes, there may be a load sitting in the dryer that I have to tend to first but laundry in an on going process in our house. I find it much easier to do a little everyday, a little pain hurts less than a bigger one.
Momarabbit Says
In a house of two adults and 3 children (9, 3, 10 months) I find the laundry is never ending. I swear the clothes never make it to the drawers before the girls have worn them. I tried throwing them on our bed but they end up back in the basket at bed time when I am too tired to care. Laundry washing is easy it’s the folding/putting away that gets in my way. I think I will give some of the commenter’s tips a try! Thanks everyone 🙂
Michelle Says
I just found your blog. Been having fun going back and reading it. I have a stacking metal basket system that goes in the laundry room closet. Baskets are big. There are four of them… whites, darks, towels and colors. Covers the basics. When I strip beds, sheets go in the washer right away. I have hubby and daughter put away their own clothes. I put away mine and my 4 yr. old’s. The thing I really hate is folding whites. But, in regards to procrastination… I have been procrastinating in cleaning alot lately. Just not in the mood. It all eventually gets done. Just don’t like to lately.