Y’all I hate many of the chores that I bear responsibility for.

Primarily the dishes. I just don’t love doing them. I love a clean sink and live for a tidy house. But, like most, as the dishwasher is running, dirty dishes pile up. The dishwasher sings complete and low and behold, I do not empty. I let more and more dishes pile up and next thing you know our sink is full of dirties while our dishwasher is sitting clean and ready for an empty.

I also hate tidying after a play day. When the Doodle was home from school this past President’s Day I let her creative freak flag fly. Barbie bins, American Girl bedrooms, craft after craft supplies were taken out of their “spot” and played with. Generally, I have a rule of thumb that  one cannot come out until the other is put away. But, sometimes rules fly out the window and fun is the name of the game. I also gave her a hall pass in cleaning and I knew the week’s homework would be a doozy, so I choose to tidy the chaos myself.

Most pressing are the piles I create. Again, I am a tidy person by nature and my house was “Marie Kondo’d” before Marie Kondo was a craze. Everything has a place and everything is organized beyond most normal standards. But, I make piles. Between using and putting things away, I make loads of piles around our house that drive my people crazy. Items to go into the office, things that need to head down the kids hall, books I am about to read – piles.

All of these tasks drive me bananas. These are the tasks that generally get avoided. Primarily so that I don’t have to spend time I’d rather use elsewhere on lame ass chores. But, as with all things, these chores must get done at some point and I’ve created a trick to make my heart happy, make the task at hand seem reasonable and use my time efficiently.

Introducing Timer Tasks!

Timer Tasks could be used for everything and anything. Meal prep, a task at work you’ve been avoiding, blitz cleaning the bathroom, organizing a closet, grocery shopping or any of the above banes of my existence.

The bottom line. Set a time goal, set your timer and get to work! It’s really that simple. In fact, just before I started this post, I timed myself to accomplish the dishes. I set my timer for 20 minutes (because today’s task felt like a doozy) and told myself ready, set, go… I completed the task with 3 minutes to spare.

There is a joy in working against a clock. Maybe joy is extreme for some, but a challenge none the less for sure, for all. And beating the clock always feels good.

Turn those tasks you hate into Timer Tasks. Motivation won’t be nearly as difficult to strum up, avoidance will be less apparent and you can get back to the joy of living life when the tasks are complete. Happy tidying!