The Challenge of Home Office and House Cleaning
The Struggle of Working From Home and Keeping a Clean House
When Your Job and Household Chores Share the Same Space
Secret Sufferingof Working at Home
Telecommuting has been the ultimate upgrade, for me. There are no ifs: no commute, comfort, working on schedule. It did feel kinda like living out a dream at first. Sleepy mornings and coffee, working with an easy desk, and now the thrill of juggling days any which way: that's how it went on in my head. Something which didn't quite come with the promises, however, was the silent fault: keeping the house spotlessly clean with telecommuting.
I didn't do very much of anything at first. How hard can it be? I would've been there anyhow, so I can do a bit of housework now and again. Work on the job was the opposite. Instead of recreation time for householdness, there was household work at every turn. The house did not become the haven from which one withdrew at the conclusion of working time. It was the omnipresent background of existence, every spot and pile of clothes glaring at me with accusatory eyes as I sat at the desk working.
Before, if I daily went from home to the office on working days, clothes never stayed left and plates never caught a glance of their final resting place at the bottom of the sink come night time. Today, every inch and every comer of the house reminds of uncompleted housework. My family and job are not two separate worlds any longer, and commuting between them without ever leaving home has its price.
Emotional Impact of Cluttered Space
I also learned from experience that it has as much to do with mood as with productivity working at cleaning up from messiness. The issue is with the balancing act: work quickly without getting overwhelmed with work.
Once the office is no longer your home, there also arrives working life and separation from family. There exists no line of separation for the home office. One evening, I was a worker, entrepreneur, janitor, cook, and organizer all at the same time.
My daily schedule would be the following: I get myself a cup of coffee, put it on the desk and start working. Then on top of the cup appears a plate. Then simultaneously as when entering the kitchen, the sink also gets filled. Coming back, there is dust on the table. The entire room complains: “You have not cleaned me yet.”
This daily routine of muss for itself makes its own intrinsic stress. One split between two selves, one turbulent deadline and the other hostile dust bunnies. Either of them looks, neither quite seems merry. When I attend working entirely to myself, the house runs haywire. When I attend neatiness entirely to myself, working chores gets the short end of the stick. That seesaw puts an irritated tug on vitality, and jabs of fault at not holding one's end on either side suffocates.
It doesn't weigh the pounds, but the stress scales on the mind. A cluttered room isn't only an organizational mess it also appears to be a failure. At times during video calls, I found myself second-guessing others' thoughts before them instead of the matter at hand. That extra level of self-consciousness creates an extra level of stress never present before.
How Clutter Negatively Affects
Extreme, maybe, but for me, clutter at the same time equals losing focus. Pencil- and paper- and cup- and cable-covered desk equals mental clutter. Psychology tells us why our minds put clutter as “work left unfinished,” and that’s precisely what it does: anything that doesn’t belong to its place forms an implicit but clear sign that there’s work left unfinished.
In short, the end result? Struggling to concentrate, building anxieties, and at times flat-out frustration.
While if space as it currently exists has structure and order, spirits will lift without hesitation. A well-ordered space provides calm, focus on the task at hand, and energy at higher levels. Not everything at all times need always be so neater, of course, but infinitesimally miniscule pieces do matter. As low-maintenance as straightening sheets on my bed before getting comfortable for the rest of the morning does get everything else off on the right foot. Techniques That Assist Me in Balancing Work and Household Tasks at Home I have tried every trick for remaining sane between chores and zooms. Some didn't work and others stuck and made daily chores less of a problem. A very best of all has been constructing micro-routines before work. Allowing time for ten or so minutes of sorting oneself out before one gets settled at one's desk gets the morning on the right foot. That sorting of sorts gets the room and the brain sorted out. It has been the custom of keeping everything sorted. Picking glass for washing as soon as it comes into one's hands or closing books as soon as done keeps the mess from piling up. It doesn't feel much, but those minute habits keep chaos from gaining speed.
Another technique which has best served myself personally has been sectionally cleaning. Rather than do the entire house at once, I have days of the week for particular rooms: Mondays are for the kitchen, Tuesdays are for the bathroom, Wednesdays are for the living room, etc. That way, I never actually clean so much at once, yet always have the gratification of at least doing so somewhat for the week. I also re-learnt making use of my breaks. Rather than use those nine minutes of surfing on my cell, I get to iron an outfit or wipe down the counter. Little tasks make all the differences at the end of the day. The third of the three-lessons, and perhaps the most practical of them all, has been from the letting-go of perfectionism. My house doesn't have to look as if it has to grace the cover of the magazine. Aesthetically, it has low priority compared to function, and learning that has made everything less intimidating. Even now and again, it can also double as physical exercise. Vacuuming, sweeping, or carrying clothes up and down the stairs gets the body active again from sitting for hours. Housework has also a double bonus: with a healthier body and with a neater house.
Tools and Alliances for Easier Living
In recent years, a few plain appliances have made it easy for me to labor in a mess. Baskets and organizers give space and time and congestion to everything. Reusable cloth and home made detergents, i.e., vinegar and lemon solution have eliminated paper towels from our kitchen. It has made cleanliness easy as well as prevented wastage at the same time. Phone apps and reminders are also very efficient. A monthly routine of washing clothes or the refrigerator helps ease the pressure of remembering everything. Through those reminders, I do not have to count on plain mental reminders which get lost as part of routine and rush of working week. My minimalist plan has also been a lifesaver. The more I have, the more there will be on which dust will settle and which will have stains of unwanted additions. Shedding of unwanted junk has been one of the best methods of simplifying life. Yes, a minimalist mindset isn't just a body only, there’s mental clarity as well. A clutter-free house means the same clutter-free mind and that will have energy needed for professional and personal battles. Seeking Help and Breaking Shame Walls Sh Coc Another very much needed thing which now also stands clear for me is that I do not have to do everything myself. When there will be a person with me who will gladly lift the burden, it will all make such huge differences. Small tasks, for instance, someone else doing washing of the dishes and taking out garbage, will ease the burden so much. Liberation from shame feelings has also been equally beneficial. My house will never always keep sparkling clean, and that will be okay. Work and living from the same geographical location, household chores will never end. Focusing on that reality has liberated me from remorse feelings and instead focused on balancing. Reflection: Balance Over Perfection I have also learned from working from home for environment and productivity. Neat house fosters concentration and health, messy seeking perfectionism only fosters stress. The ultimate aim isn’t perfect rooms but balancing designing environments for facilitating health and working. Work and disorder are bottomless and rituals and functional routine and functional expectation keep them from spinning out of control. Home office isn’t so much of home and office as of learning not to let two of them devour one another. Working from home, I have learned that I have been able to grow, learn, and re-invent daily rituals. Keep the house immaculate? Not always easy, of course, but housecleaning now doesn’t feel like a job of foe; self-care. It has nothing to do with sparkling floors or blank bookshelves. It has everything to do with taking care of myself and enhancing my mood and juggling work and life better. At the end of day, perfectionism isn't an issue. It has everything to do with crafting space that works for who I am as a person and professional.