Complex Numbers

Hoardly Working

I ran into this article a while back, and I figured I'd probably have some things to say about it.

7 Bad Housekeeping Habits You Need to Quit Right Now  

I'm guessing one of them isn't "Don't follow random advice from the internet?"

Clutter is just a fact of life. Stuff piles up, messes are made, and dealing with it all becomes one of many things on your to-do list.

There's a difference between mess and clutter. Either way, though, it is true that it is often far easier to acquire something than it is to dispose of it.

Easy enough to manage when life is calm and work is steady, but when things get hectic, it’s more and more tempting to let things slide and deal with them later.

I've been saving stuff for later for decades. I think there are unopened boxes from when I first moved here. I moved here in the nineties.

And eventually, all that procrastinating can turn into what feels like an impossible cleaning challenge.

Or you just decide you can live with the mess. Or the clutter.

And, the best way to regain control is by focusing on and changing your behavior, one bad habit at a time.

I don't have bad habits. I have habits, and if you don't like them, don't visit.

So, read on, and for any behaviors that you know you are guilty of, make an early resolution to start breaking them now — you’ll be surprised how quickly your space will turn around.

I don't do resolutions. And I'm not guilty.

Tossing random items in a “junk drawer”

Drawer? Amateur. I have an entire room for that.

Not cleaning up while you’re cooking

Oh, sure, I'll just wipe that spill off the hot stove burner.

Not treating stains and spots right away

I don't do carpet, either.

Not sorting your mail as it comes in

Oh, come on; doesn't everyone have a stack of mail they'll get to sorting eventually? Sometimes I have to re-stack it if a cat finds it.

Hoarding stacks of magazines you never read

People still read magazines?

Okay, granted, I have subscriptions to exactly two print publications: one for craft beer, which admittedly I rarely read (look, it came with an online subscription thing that I do use); and one for cigars, which I also rarely read, but they like to put glamour photos of hot chicks on the cover. It's just so blatant that I have to admire that publisher.

And yes, I collect the latter. That's different from hoarding.

Putting off laundry until your last pair of socks

I don't wear socks. Laundry gets done when I'm down to my last pair of underwear. That's when I don't say fuck it and order another pack of Calvins from Amazon.

Throwing clothes and accessories on a chair

Oh, bite me. I sit on exactly one chair. The others' sole purpose is to hold my jackets and such. And cats.

...well, okay. That article wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Usually this sort of article is all about "throw away everything you haven't used in the past week" so that when you do need it you end up buying it again, preferably from one of the publisher's advertisers.

So maybe this will help someone. Me, I'm at the point where changing my habits is more painful than occasionally digging through the junk room for something I just know is in there somewhere.