Literary Lessons

I am reading "Little Women" for the first time and not only am I really enjoying it, I feel like I am being given little lessons to help me along and motivate me.
The part where the girls took a break from housekeeping for a week really struck a chord with me. You see, my office and our spare room have become a sort of "dumping ground" since November. It was easy to just shut the door on the matter (literally) and not think of it.

When the girls learned the lesson of doing a little work each day so the work would not get out of hand, I sort of had an "a-ha" moment. You see, I do laundry once a week, on Monday night when I get home from work. Even though there are just two of us, we go through a ton of clothes in a week. By the time I get home from work and get everything washed and folded, I am exhausted. Half the time, I leave the last load in the dryer or in the basket in front of the dryer. Or, I may just stack folded clothes on the table with good intentions of putting them up...

The next thing you know, its the next week and some of last week's things still haven't been put away. The same goes with all the other chores. It seems the dishes are either in the sink or in the drainer. When they get washed, they go in the drainer but never get put away...so, there are always dishes out.

So, I have decided instead of trying to all of the chores at once and getting overwhelmed and exhausted by it, I will make sure that I pick up and put up every single day of the week. I will no longer designate a "clean up day' but clean up a bit every day.

I know that sounds like a "no brainer" to most of you but I have always had a designated day for each chore. Over the weekend, I stayed home and cleaned and cleaned but not without a little reward. I have found that if I immediately reward myself for finishing a task, it makes the work much easier. This weekend, I rewarded myself with getting to read. Another time, I may reward myself with Pinterest or television. For every 45 minutes of housework I completed, I got to sit in my cozy chair and read for 45 minutes. I did this on and off all day Saturday. My house is looking much better -- the spare room, office, kitchen, living room, and dining room are spic and span. The laundry is not only all washed, dried, and folded, it has all been put away as well. All of that -- just because I wanted to finish a book but would not allow myself to do it unless it was in the form of a reward. Who knew part of the reward would be a nice, clean house?

Who knew a book written in the 1800s could still teach a 30-something lessons about life in the 2000s?

Have you ever read Little Women? If not, I highly recommend it. I only wish I read it 20 years ago!