Every single person on this planet has the same number of nanoseconds in their day as every single other human being on this planet.

So how come some are always complaining about not having enough time, and others just get on with it?

We cannot “manage” time – we can only manage how we use our time, how we think and how we feel about time. In my book, it’s all about juggling the hours, minutes and seconds of our life in the way that best fits who we are and what we want.

How long does it take…?

You remember we renovated our kitchen earlier in the year? It’s now so much better in terms of useability, functionality, storage space and pure gorgeousness.

And somehow I had been telling myself that the chaos we had been living in previously and during the renovation would diminish and the kitchen sink and benches would somehow miraculously stay clear and clean. I know, dreamland…

Recently, we had a very busy day and my dishwasher-emptier (youngest son) had been out at before and after-school sports, and I had been ferrying him around in between all the rest of those things I do as a working Mum… come dinner time, the dishwasher was still full of clean dishes from the night before. Woe is me. After dinner, the busy family dumped their dishes on any clear surface in the kitchen and went off to their evening activities. Usually they do put them in the dishwasher…

After dealing with the rest of my evening routine I passed through the kitchen on my way to bed and felt the mess like a blow to the gut. Y.U.K. I contemplated leaving it for the morning, but reminded myself that there is nothing I hate more than waking up to a dirty kitchen – especially in the morning get-kids-out-of-bed-and-to-the-bus-on-time routine.

So, heaving a big, martyred sigh, I proceeded to empty the dishwasher and restack it full again. As I pressed Start and wiped down the now clear sink and benchtop I glanced at the clock.

Exactly eight minutes had passed. Surely the clock had stopped?

Nope – still going.

That really was all it took!

Eight whole minutes to go from energy-sapping mess to uplifting gorgeousness.

Eight minutes to go from “I don’t have time…” to “oooh, nice…”.

Eight minutes to go from slovenly martyr to domestic goddess.

Eight minutes to go from getting up to a mess in the morning to getting up to a fresh, clean kitchen.

I need to remind myself of this every time I think I don’t have time to do something as simple as clean up the kitchen.

I get a huge energy boost from that clean sink every time I walk through the kitchen. And as a work-at-home mum, I go into or through that room more times in each day than I can count. The added spring in my step is worth well more than 8 minutes!

A Clearing Space Moment

How does mess make YOU feel? Are you putting it off because in your mind you’ve made it this huge task, needy of hours of your time and energy?

Can you stop the drain by simply getting in there and doing it? Clear that space for more important things. Tick it off your to do list. Feel how great that is.

Next time you’re doing some dreaded chore, pop the timer on and see how long it really takes you. You may be pleasantly surprised (and if it does take longer than you thought, at least next time you’ll know how long to set aside).

Best of all, with the additional energy surge you get from having things like a clean sink – you’ll find you accomplish much more in the time you have left. No more horrid chore hanging over your head, draining your energy and whispering its dirge in your ear as you try to concentrate.

Today begin looking at everything in your life in a new way. “Do I really love it? Do I really need it? Would I be better off without it?” Instead of buying and spending, save that money. Let your money work for you for a change. This is the beginning of laying new groundwork for your life. You must make room for the good that’s just waiting for you. Begin now. Fill your mind with new positive thinking.

Affirm today: The past is over and done. I release it with love, blessing every person, place and experience. I welcome the new!

Louise Hay – Hay House Newsletter July 2007

Wise words. We’ve all heard this before, but somehow it always comes back at just the right time. Certainly did for me this morning, as I tackle the excess ‘stuff’ I refuse to put back in my nice, renovated kitchen.

Having things cluttering up our lives, stuff we bought because we thought we needed it, or because it was a bargain, drains our energy reserves significantly. Imagine the money overflowing your bank account, instead of stuff overflowing your cupboards and drawers…

I know I need to, but I just cannot get to it…

Have you ever experienced that feeling of ‘I have to get to that’, ‘I MUST clean up my desk’, ‘I know I have to sort that linen closet out, but I just cannot seem to find the time’??

All that must, should, and need weigh us down and drain our energy even further… leaving us less and less likely to start the clear out and more and more likely to be overwhelmed by the stuff and clutter.

What can we do about it?

To put a stop to the vicious cycle and start rebuilding your energy levels while you clear the clutter from your life:

Some resources and websites I have found very helpful in my quest for a tidy, calm, clutter-free home:

I find it hard to get inspired when I’ve had a busy day… cooking dinner becomes a chore, not a pleasure. And watching Nigella Feasts last night I was struck again by how sensual she makes the preparation of luscious food.

My husband thinks Nigella is gorgeous (what male doesn’t?). He’s more than happy for me to watch her… I think in the hope that I will start to emulate her, creating wonderful, decadent food from my (half-finished) new kitchen.

He upgraded our choice of oven during the purchase process – as he put it "for when you get inspired"…

And I guess that is what I lack, more than anything else, in the kitchen. Inspiration and motivation.

When you prepare meals every single day, and are the one who primarily makes the decisions regarding the family food, it is hard to stay inspired. Especially when food doesn’t seem that interesting.

Enter Nigella. She uses amazing words to describe food. Luscious has to be one of her favourites. Last night she made cupcakes, and it was a ‘cloud’ of icing sugar and a couple of egg whites (separated in her open hand) to make the royal icing. And the delicious ‘peachiness’ of the peaches she was poaching for peach melba.

Gorgeous Girl and I were chortling “peachiness…. luscious peachiness…”

I’m not sure when the last time I ate for the simple pleasure of eating was… but I know it is a very rare occasion.

Actually, I do remember. I was so excited, I made my very first batch of scones in my new oven at Easter. And they were amazing! I have never made scones before, in my life. But always wanted to… somehow… So Easter Monday I literally flung together a batch and anxiously watched as they rose in the oven. I was like a kid with a new toy when they came out big, soft, fluffy and absolutely gorgeous (even if I do say so myself).

Nigella makes me want to jump up and whip up something scrumdidlyumptious… something totally sexy and sensual and yummy.

I want to be able to quiet that voice in my head that watches Nigella raid the fridge at the end of the show in her dressing gown in the dark of night, brazenly biting into a cupcake, then dipping it in left-over raspberry sauce… the voice that tells me that I would be the size of a house if I ate like that… and simply say "I want what she’s got!"

For what Nigella does is show us food as sensual, sexy, amazing. Totally opposite to all the emphasis on low fat, low carb, bad-for-you messages that bombard us incessantly.

When was the last time you thought of food as orgasmic?

My new mantra.

Half the kitchen was ripped out today. No oven, no microwave, no hotplates… dinner tonight is going to challenge my creativity!

3-minute noodles, anyone?

Actually, have sandwich press – can do toasted sandwiches!

I have never renovated a house I was living in before. And never renovated a kitchen before. We’ve been here for 13 years, the house is older than that, the original kitchen was looking a bit sad. I promised Chris I’d take before and after photos. Only, I didn’t remember until the oven, microwave and half the cupboards had been ripped out this morning that I wanted to take photos.

I’ll post the ‘during’ and the ‘after’ photos together once the reno is complete.

I promise that this won’t turn into a ‘renovators delight’ blog… honest!

But what it brings up for me is my reaction to all this. People keep saying to me – you must be so excited!

I’m NOT. There is too much work, too much disruption for me to get excited. I’ll be excited, or deliriously pleased at least, once all the work is done, once the last workman leaves the house, once the boxes and bags are all emptied and everything has been assigned a place and is residing therein.

But as we are doing the kitchen, then the laundry, then the floors of the entire house, then a little bit of painting (can you hear the big sigh??) it’s not going to be over in a week. Not even in a month!

I’d love to have it all done by Easter but I really don’t like my chances.

So, no, I am not excited.

BUT. I’m calm. And that, my friends, is the key ingredient today. Being calm, not getting flustered. Coping well. If my attitude is calm, then those of my family won’t get to fever pitch during the upheaval (I hope!).

And I am begging you – any tips at all from those of you that have lived through a renovation and survived to tell the tale can give me – please, please leave a comment or email me?

Last week, the machine was making a rather nasty noise when spinning… and the next day after a load finished, there was a ‘smell’ in the laundry.  When I opened the machine, I found a pair of knickers firmly melted to a t-shirt.  And a big burn mark in the neck of the shirt.  Lucky the washing was wet, or we may have had a serious fire on our hands!!

Needless to say, I phoned the repair people (after joyfully discovering that this machine, which I have had for over three years has a five year warranty!!) on Friday.  He arrived this morning, spent sometime in my little laundry.  And now he has gone away to order a part, and hopefully should be back in 3 days or so.

Oh, and he said it was just as well I stopped using the machine and rang him, otherwise it could have totally self-destructed.  Something about a bearing.

He obviously saw the look on my face when he gave me the good news, because he said that if it was going to take any longer he would bring me a machine to use in the meantime.

He’s gone, I have a huge pile of washing in the laundry – including a load of wet towels he used to test the machine… sigh… and I am feeling bereft.

I really rely on my machines.  The washing machine.  The dryer.  The dishwasher.  They keep my house running smoothly.  Often I will hop into bed at night, and hear all three of them sloshing, gurgling and turning away… and all is right in my world.  Because I know that in the morning, there will be clean dishes, dried uniforms and another load of clean wash to hang on the line.

And when one of them fails me, it is really very difficult for me to NOT take it personally!  It’s like my best friend suddenly decided to become a teetotaller.  Total devastation.

What is it with that?  Am I alone??

And I felt an additional discussion on this subject was warranted.

That of ‘womans work’, delegation, family chore sharing et al.

In my home, I do the washing.  Strict divisions of labour.  I wash, hang, and mostly it’s me that folds.  Everyone puts away their own clothes once folded – with whoever is around being asked to deposit towels in the bathroom and sheets into the linen cupboard. 

Quite often that last one is accomplished by a quick response to a simple statement by one of my children.  eg "just going to have a quick shower, Mum" – gets a lightning quick "here, take these towels with you dear, and pop them in the basket…".

You see, I have discovered another trick.  A large cane basket on a shelf takes the pile of towels without a single cupboard needing to be opened or closed.  Much easier for the teenage mind to cope with.

I digress.  I do the washing, as I was saying, because I cannot reach the lightbulbs in our 9′ ceilings, I hate removing spiders, I am no good clearing out gutters or remembering to water the pot plants, hopeless at even remembering that filters need cleaning occasionally and I work at home so am here and able to dash out and grab the clothes off the line if it looks like rain.

And call me weird, but I find pegging clothes on the line therapeutic.

Families have different views on the division of labour.  And I know plenty of people who divide the labour differently. 

One couple – he does a load whenever he can (he’s on shiftwork), but never folds the clean stuff.  That’s her responsibility.  Another couple, she washes most of the time, but only irons for herself and the kids.  He has to do his own ironing.  In each case, it’s been a case of negotiation (or was that simple ‘laying down the rules’ to get to the point where the system works.  Another family I know always put everything on hangers straight off the line and put away in the wardrobes, and only iron if it still looks crushed when they need to wear it.

It may not be strictly "women’s work" any more, but however it is delegated or shared between the whole family, if it’s a problem – then it’s everyone’s problem.  And if you are the head female in the house, then that definitely includes you.  Be part of the solution – brainstorm with the family – work out the best way for it to happen so there is no longer a pothole.