So every day I think of new lists, and creative ways to organize and clean.  Let me tell you something.  Each and every single one has merit.  And each and every single one is pure crap. Growing up, my room was always neat and tidy.  This is because I had a mother who wouldn't let me go hang out with my friends, until it was neat and tidy.  If that meant I didn't go to the mall with my friends, it meant I didn't go to the mall with my friends.  It wasn't a "grounding" or a punishment of any kind.  It is just how life was.  And if there were other chores that needed doing, they were done before going off to find my friends as well. The other thing that was different about back than - and we're talking over 30 years ago - is that when I finished cleaning my room, or doing my chores, I could jump on my bike and ride to meet up with my friends wherever they were - as long as they weren't at the movies or the mall.  And it was always easy.  Because we did things like pickup games of softball or soccer.  We played games like tag, or kick the can.  Or we went to hang out at the pizza parlor (yes, I called it a pizza parlor where I grew up, what's it to ya?)  and then shop at the sticker store, or the candy store. Today, I am so busy getting my kids to dance, gymnastics, soccer, and school, not to mention being involved in parent organizations related to these activities - plus not being able to say "no" to organizations the kids are no longer active in, that when I come home, the last thing I want to do is clean and tidy my home.  It certainly doesn't mean I don't want to have a clean and tidy home, it just means I am really, really tired.  And in the mornings, while I'd love to have the kids "do their chores" before going anywhere, they are so scheduled that it is impossible to enforce.  I'm driving one to an activity while the other is home.  I get home and I have to take the other some place.  There really is no rest for the weary.   But I am determined.  I live in a small house...under 1100 square feet.  I have a husband, an almost 15-year old, a 13-year old and a 9-year old.  Those three are all girls.  We have a 13 -year old cat, and a 6-year old dog.  She is part husky, part golden, so she's pretty big.  Oh, and did I mention, we have ONE bathroom? So I have been reading "the life-changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing" by Marie Kondo.  This book was originally recommended by my mother, who would have purchased it for me, but didn't want to offend me.  I ended up buying it myself.  I'm still reading it. The way I know that I have it in my to be clean and tidied and yes, organized, is that I was.  Years ago.  It's like gaining and losing weight.  Neither happens overnight, so the reverse cannot possibly happen overnight.  The same is true for being oranized and tidy.  It won't happen overnight.  It is a process.  And everything you do is related. Time.  Space.  Work. Life. You hear a lot about work-life balance.  I am in the process of finding and keeping it.  Right now, for me, work is making my home liveable; learning to manage my time and space.  I started with a planner.  About a year ago.  I'll write more about that tomorrow.