Lately I have been thinking about the idea that sometimes good enough is good enough. I tend to have pretty high standards for myself and for me that can lead to burnout. For some people that can lead to giving up completely. I feel like I share about balance a lot on these Thoughtful Thursday posts and I guess it’s because I struggle with that, so I’m thinking about it a lot!

I have always kept a schedule to keep my house clean. Each day I have one or two weekly chores that I do. I also choose one room per week to deep clean and declutter. This has helped me to stay on track with keeping my whole house clean, but as a homemaker it has also given me structure, something that I crave. But the downside to this is that I can be very strict with myself and clean things even if it doesn’t make sense just because it’s “time to do it.” I feel like generally I’m not always efficient at what I am doing because I am too focused on doing it the “right” way. Whatever that means! It is some arbitrary, self-imposed way of doing things.

My friend Jessica, one of my YouTube friends who I went to Vegas with, is an inspiration to me in this area. We had a conversation about taking photos and videos while on a vacation or while doing something fun and I mentioned sometimes I’m really bad at taking photos and videos. She said she just snaps a bunch and usually some come out good. It got me thinking about how maybe even subconsciously I’m concerned about taking the “right” or “perfect” photo or video to share on social media and it prevents me from taking them.

Another conversation that recently happened that had me evaluating my behavior was with my husband. The other day I took a shower late in the day after my workout, and I put on athletic shorts primarily to be comfortable. When evening rolled around and I was getting ready for bed, I told him maybe I should just sleep in these athletic shorts because I was going to do a workout first thing in the morning anyway. I know this might seem SO silly to some people, but it just made me realize how I can be inefficient because of my arbitrary rules for myself like, “thou shalt wear pajamas to bed.” I just wondered how much time I wasted in my life doing stuff like that. Now, I get that it would not take long to change into pajamas that evening and then back into workout clothes the next morning, but it was just the principle of it that got me thinking.

This week my deep clean and declutter space was my kitchen nook, which is basically my office space. I have noticed ever since I painted the wainscoting, that area has not been as dusty as it once was. It used to be necessary for me to dust the wood paneling every few months. But I noticed this time that it really didn’t need it. SO, I decided I am just not going to do it! A while back in a video where I was washing down the walls in my game room, which is also wood paneling, I got a comment from one of my regular viewers, Jenny, suggesting that I just use a dry mop to get the dust off the walls instead of washing it down with soapy water. Her reasoning made sense – we are not smokers and we don’t have young children touching the walls. I had never thought to clean differently because this was always the way I cleaned these walls. But, good enough is good enough!

In a recent post, I shared how I have been tired of cleaning this house, or at least this large of house. And how I am ready to downsize so I have less to take care of. But I am realizing that I need to be more realistic about what actually needs to be cleaned and how often. Maybe I don’t need to keep the same schedule I kept when I had three young kids and two dogs running around my house! Maybe I am wasting some of my time with these arbitrary routines I set up for myself. I think routines can be helpful, especially for someone who likes structure, but it is good to revisit it from time to time.