Taming the Laundry Tiger
I have a love/hate relationship with laundry. On one hand, I like doing laundry because it gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I’m finished. On the other hand, laundry is never really finished because more dirty laundry will be in the basket as soon as we get ready for bed.
For 15+ years, I devoted two days a week to laundry. My theory was to get it all done each of those two days because I didn’t want to have to deal with laundry all the time. Unfortunately though it never all got done. There were very few laundry days where everything was washed, dried, folded, and put away by the end of the day. I usually had clothes left to fold or put away because I got busy doing other things.
So, a few months ago, I decided I needed to learn how to tame the laundry tiger once and for all. It was wasting too much of my time and making me feel unproductive.
I adopted a laundry strategy that I had heard about many times but didn’t want to do because, as I said above, I didn’t want to have to deal with laundry every day.
I now do at least one load of laundry every day. But, there is a catch. I wash, dry, fold, and put away each load before I start another one. Yes, that means I have to think about laundry every day. Adding it in to my daily routine has helped me to see it as just one item on my to-do list.
Most days I do more than one load. However, I don’t start another load until I’ve completed the full cycle of washing, drying, folding, and putting away the first load.
Surprisingly, changing the way I do laundry has really freed up some time for me. Before, when I was trying to do all the laundry in one day, I was constantly interrupted to change out the laundry when I was trying to do other things like writing or working on my blog.
Now I get a load started when I get up and only have to worry about that one load. If I have time to do more, great! But if not, I know I’ve at least kept up with my laundry by doing the one load that day.
I know this may seem like a simple concept that you’ve been practicing for a while, but for me it has been a game changer.
If you’re struggling with laundry, I’d challenge you to give this strategy a try.
What is your laundry routine like? Comment below and share your favorite laundry tip.
