Laundry: A Deplorable Chore
Laundry. I hate it. The entire process drives me bonkers. Well, not the whole process. I like sorting. Sorting is a calming thing, but putting it in, switching it to the dryer and folding are all for the birds. I let my laundry pile up until I was down to my last pair of skivvies. I put it off for so long because I simply did not have the time for the entire process. I had three loads to fold today. OMG!!!! Full loads. I decided to find a way to make laundry more enjoyable.
Focus on your Surroundings
To make it enjoyable this time around I focused on my surroundings. Nothing can make the heinous task enjoyable, but maybe you can trick your mind into having fun while you tediously fold the laundry.
I started with scent. I no longer use fabric softener, but instead dryer balls to beat my clothing into submission. Add some essential oils of your choice to the balls and the scent wafts off the clothes at you as you fold. My favorite right now is Ylang Ylang and Purification. Nice and crisp with the smell of stargazer lilies. Just divine.
I fold my laundry onto my bed so brought my Young Living diffuser into the bedroom. I loaded it up with some of my favorite scents, the base of which was lavender and rosemary. The lavender is so relaxing while the rosemary gives you a slight perk.
After I had taken a couple of deep breaths, I put my music on shuffle. I was greeted with music that had a great beat and oldies that I hadn’t sung along to in quite a while. When you do something boring adding a bit of randomness can move the time along. The small surprise of a favorite song coming on the shuffle motivates you to keep going. It gives you a bump and makes the dullness a little brighter.
Make a Game Out of It
I think making a game of folding laundry makes it more enjoyable too. Review the 3-second shirt fold and see if you can get all of you clothing until uniform piles. Try folding to the beat of the music you put on. My favorite is having sock ball fights. You can even get the kids involved. They will happily match socks if they get to throw them at you later.
Reward Yourself
Finally, reward yourself for a job well done. If you got all the laundry done in one session without having to redo a load due to letting it sit for too long give yourself an even bigger reward. Laundry sucks! Celebrate the small wins.
Do you love or hate laundry? Let us know in the comments below. Need help coming up with a calming laundry routine. Give me a call and we will figure out how to make laundry a less deplorable chore.
I remember a closet consultant talking with a client about her laundry space. They were talking about hanging art on the wall. The client felt this was silly, but the client consultant encouraged her to do it. “After all,” she said, “you spend a lot of time in here. It isn’t a waste to make this space appealing.” That has always stuck with me…
I don’t have an issue washing or drying clothes, I have an issue folding. I love the video! I will be trying the folding t-shirt video this week. Now, do they have a quick way to fold undergarments? They take forever. LOL.
I actually like doing laundry, i break it up into 2 days a week, the most on the weekend. I have a large folding space on top on my washer/dryer, and a system, baskets for everyone in the house, and my mp3 player. We also redid our laundry a couple of years ago and painted the walls a sunny yellow, it makes all the difference.
I’m like Jill…I like doing laundry. I find it very satisfying because there’s a distinct beginning, middle and end. However, I do understand how it can be overwhelming and unpleasant. Many of my clients feel overwhelmed with the volume of laundry generated in their household, the unpleasantness of the physical laundry room, or the fact that there’s not enough room to put away the clean, folded clothes. Working on those issues helps.
I’ve always enjoyed doing laundry! We do it at the same time every week, whether it’s one load or two. If we have more than two, we leave the rest for next time – we always catch up before we run out of anything.