Resolutions, Smesolutions

I am usually not good at making New Year’s resolutions, and I am worse at keeping them if I make them at all.  So I really surprised myself last week when I decided to do something for the New Year.  I’m not sure if I should call it a resolution (sounds too formal, fixed, and final!) or a goal (sounds more positive, and forgiving if I fall off the wagon a few times) or just a responsibility that I haven’t been very good at maintaining.

So here it is – I’m going to wash my dishes right after I use them.  My usual habit of letting them pile up because I don’t want to take the time to wash them at that moment only comes back to bite me, when washing the dishes turns into a 40 minute chore that I don’t have time for either.

January 1st worked out well.  January 2nd was ok, and January 3rd was alright I guess.  January 4th I was ready to quit.  January 5th I felt the same way but decided to give it another few days.  Today is January 12th and it’s still not enjoyable but I realize it’s a good idea.  According to the theory that it takes 21 days for something to be a habit, I have 9 more days to go until it’s ingrained in my brain… something tells me I will need 21 weeks for this one to sink in.

However, the positive thing is that my decision to keep my dishes clean and in order has spilled over into other areas as well.  I try to put things away instead of leaving them out to be put away later (which invariably doesn’t happen nearly as soon as I think it will… if ever).  The way I talk about this may sound like my house is an utter pig sty.  I assure you it isn’t.  It’s just not as neat and tidy as something you’d see in the “After” version of a home makeover show (which of course is always “After” the wonderful work and not “After” it has been lived in for any length of time).

So I’m hoping this decision (ah yes, better than resolution, goal, or perhaps even responsibility) will continue to change my lazy habits of putting off the putting away of dishes and other things.  Now maybe the next decision will be to clean my floors more often.  If there’s one chore I dislike just about more than any other chore, it’s cleaning floors (vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, anything counts as long as it entails cleaning a floor).  Give me some time with this one first, though.