With the Sun in Virgo as well as the Asteroid Vesta in Virgo, I have noticed a lot of people feeling motivated to clean and organize their living spaces. I'm not the most organized person in the world, and my home will never look like a picture from a magazine, but I have discovered some tricks and tips over the years that helped me feel less overwhelmed by the task of housekeeping. The tips that I have found most useful along the way are the ones that recognize some level of neurodivergence, disability, and that life is complicated and overwhelming. One such tip is about Prioritizing your home care tasks.
By prioritizing your home care tasks, you can reduce feelings of being overwhelmed as it provides a clear starting point. Health and Safety tasks are of utmost importance as they form the foundation for maintaining a healthy and safe living environment for yourself and others in the household. Tasks beyond these foundational ones are considered less critical, so during times of fatigue, overwork, illness, or while managing disabilities, it is acceptable to concentrate solely on the essentials.
I made this Pyramid graphic to help demonstrate the way to begin prioritizing your home care tasks. #1 Top Priorities are at the bottom - these are the foundational tasks for Survival and basic Functioning. These are the tasks that should be prioritized because they impact the health and safety of the living environment.
Here are some examples of tasks that can be considered foundational and placed at the bottom of the Pyramid. These tasks may require daily, every other day, or weekly attention to ensure the safety and health of your home. It's important to note that not every corner of a room needs to be spotless and organized. For instance, while the entire kitchen doesn't have to be perfectly tidy, it should provide a hygienic space for food preparation and clean dishes for dining. I may not wash dishes daily, but I do ensure that dirty dishes are confined to one area of the kitchen, without hindering my ability to cook or maintain hygiene.
To start your own Priority list, focus on one room at a time and consider health and safety first. Identify the essential Health and Safety tasks that must be completed in your living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Forget about arranging, beautifying, or adhering to your grandmother's cleanliness standards - view each room as if you were a safety inspector. A pile of laundry in the corner is not an issue if it doesn't pose a tripping hazard or isn't located near the fireplace, candles, or electrical outlets.
Once you have identified the main health and safety priorities related to essential tasks, you can move on to creating a list of secondary priorities. These tasks focus on enhancing comfort and functionality within your home. For instance, that heap of laundry on the chair in the corner could be one such task to consider, as finding a more suitable place for it could allow you to enjoy reading a book comfortably in that chair. These are the tasks that can be postponed if you are feeling exhausted, unwell, or just in need of a break. They contribute to increasing your comfort and convenience at home - completing them simply makes you feel better! While not necessarily posing a health risk if left undone, these tasks do contribute to your overall sense of well-being when completed!
Now you can continue making your priority list, focusing on one room at a time and adding these Level 2 priorities to the list for each room. Now you are beginning to get a clear list of what needs to be done first in each room, and what can be done next if you have the energy and time to continue.
At the pinnacle of the Pyramid, similar to the cherry on top of a cake, are the lowest priority elements. These are added once all essential aspects have been addressed, allowing for the inclusion of elements that bring enjoyment or enhance beauty. This category encompasses activities such as space decoration, art installation, detailed cleaning, and more. While this stage is the most pleasurable, attempting to incorporate aesthetic elements into a cluttered or hazardous environment may lead to dissatisfaction. Consider these elements as a reward for achieving tidiness and safety - now you have a suitable space to showcase your artwork or elegant goddess figurines, ensuring they are both noticed and appreciated.
Here is an example of a prioritized cleaning list for my bedroom:
High Priority: Safety and Health
Daily - pick up items off the floor (no tripping hazards since I sometimes need to walk through this room in the dark)
Daily - remove any empty cups or dishes (if I ate any food in my room, remove the dishes)
Weekly - empty the trash bin
Weekly - wash a load of my personal laundry (having clean underwear is a Health need)
Level 2 Priority: Comfort and Ease
Daily - make my bed
Daily - tidy up my desk
Weekly - Put away my clean laundry
Weekly - dust or polish flat surfaces
Weekly - straighten up my altars
Monthly - Declutter and Organize paperwork or items inside desk drawers, declutter the closet, get rid of unwanted items
Monthly - vaccuum the carpet
Level 3 Priority: Fun and Joy
decorating
refreshing and redecorating my altars
organizing my books and tarot decks
Another way I can look at this list is by Color-Coding the Priority Items. #1 Priorities listed in Red, # 2 Priorities are in Yellow, and #3 Priorities are listed in Green. This way if I am low on energy and time, I can just start with the items in red. If I have time and energy remaining, I can work on the items in yellow. and I can tend to the items in green as a reward, or the "finishing touches" if I have energy and time.
My Bedroom tasks:
DAILY
Pick up items off floor
Remove dishes and cups
make my bed
tidy up my desk
WEEKLY (Every Monday)
Empty the trash Bin
Wash a load of Laundry
put away clean laundry
dust and polish flat surfaces
straighten altars
MONTHLY
Organize Paperwork
Declutter Desk Drawer
Declutter the closet
Decorating
Organizing books and tarot decks
refreshing and redecorating my altars
Eventually you may want to make prioritized lists like the examples above for each room. But remember not to overwhelm yourself or be too much of a perfectionist with these lists. These might not work for everyone - if they work for you and help you feel less overwhelmed, then feel free to follow these tips. If they don't work for you, it does not mean that anything is wrong with you, it just means this isn't a method that works for you!
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