Recently I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about habits, because going forward they’re going to be important. The word ‘habit’ is defined as a usual way of behaving: something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way. Throughout the course of my project, I’ve tried sporadically to develop better housekeeping-related habits. And for the most part, I’ve been unsuccessful.

But I gained an unintended habit, and I’m wondering if that’s the key- that it’s easier when it’s something you’re not really thinking about. Earlier today I looked through the photos I’ve shared of all the items I’ve given away.

A few bags…

…and a few of the boxes I’ve gotten rid of this year.

And it’s occurred to me that I have made a habit out of donating unneeded things. Even though it’s not something I do on a set schedule, I feel like I’m constantly assessing everything we own and making a decision. There was a time when most of those items were in plain sight, and now they’re gone. I’m not done, but it’s gotten much easier to let things go. So even though it’s not something I really do on a schedule, I would say it’s a habit.

I’m of two minds about maintaining the house, and the habits I have and the habits I’ve tried to develop. On the one hand, regular routines are a good thing. I change the bedsheets every Sunday, knock out a few basic chores every morning, load and run the dishwasher and set up the coffeemaker every night. Bob does all the laundry each weekend and I eventually put it away (this is still a dreaded and unsuccessful part of my life). For the last several months I’ve devoted part of a day to meal planning for the coming month. Even though those are small things, they go a long way towards keeping things running smoothly.

On the other hand, I struggle to add more habits despite my grand aspirations. I try to dust and do a quick declutter on Friday afternoon, but it hasn’t really stuck. Having fewer things in the house makes a big difference as far as maintenance is concerned. Things are less likely to pile up on the assorted tables and counter tops, though I still need to keep a constant eye to make sure things stay neat. So I deal with those spaces- of which there are several- on more of an as-needed basis. And for now I think I’m going to stick with this as-needed approach for this part of the house. I want to make some kind of deep-cleaning checklist that I can tackle once a month or so, to address the things I often overlook.

Here are a few interesting articles on this topic:
Habit Stacking

More about habit stacking- from Be More with Less

If you’re interested in a longer work on the topic, I read this a couple years ago and it was very good: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.