Ha! This is one of our family’s most frequent movie quotes. Do you recognize it?

It was hissed at the clock maker, Hiram Flaversham, by the evil Professor Ratigan. Do you remember that part of The Great Mouse Detective?

Many years ago, I had a conversation with my husband about feeling like I couldn’t keep up with all the work there was to do at home. I listed the myriad of maintenance items that needed to be done daily and weekly and I asked for his input. He quietly suggested that maybe I could focus on finishing the tasks I start.

As I looked back, I could see that I was running from job to job, with a dozen interruptions or chores in between; making a meal or helping a child or changing a diaper or whatever need was highest on the list at that given hour, and consequently, I seldom really finished anything!

This is the time that I did my best to shift my focus from just diving in and getting whatever I could done and leaving the rest for the next day, to starting only what I felt I could start and finish in the time I had.

So instead of ending the day with three loads of laundry in a pile needing to be folded the next day, (and we all know that laundry that is unfolded is at risk of never being put away and may even end up on someone’s bedroom floor and may end up getting washed and dried again, just because it has merged with the other clothes in the room!), I might end up with only two loads of laundry done, but they were washed, dried, folded and put away.

This inspired idea has helped me so much!

Instead of seeing unfinished everywhere I looked, I could see peace beginning to emerge because I wasn’t trying to swallow every chore in the house in one bite!

Not long thereafter, I started time-blocking and we started dividing up the household chores with the kids, and that meant bite-sized pieces of work for everyone. Hurrah!

Today, when I do a load of laundry, I take it from the dryer, pour it onto our bed, fold it and put it away immediately. No waiting in the basket. No sitting around in piles. No unfolded laundry lurking anywhere!

Finish it Flaversham! It’s a recipe for peace when we start what we can finish and finish what we start.

I hope you are taking good care of yourself!

Love,

I just had to add this picture, ha!…this guy came up when I was searching for a picture of “folded laundry.”