I’ve spent the weekend post-employment thusly: playing Sims.

Well, that’s not quite true, I took out the garbage, did the laundry, cooked a few meals, did the dishes… they were not things I had on my todo list. On that list I had bigger things like 1. One hour of writing 2. Refine resume… etc. Well, except none of that happened.And I’m a little disgusted with myself that I didn’t get those things done.

And thinking about it, I realized I’d forgotten my first key to happiness.

Key To Happiness Number One: Never clean the house.

Have you ever done that? Put something too large on your todo list? Clean the house. Big or small, “clean the house” is a lot of work and can be daunting when you look at it. And the longer you look at that todo on your list, the more impossible it seems. Clean the house… where do I start??

So instead of ever putting “clean the house” on my list, I put, “Take out the trash”. Yeah. I can do that. And when I get that done, I realize I’ve started. One small piece of the whole thing, but I’ve now got a sense of accomplishment!

I did this! This!

And so I build on the trash with making the bed. And straightening my night table, and putting my breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.

You see? Instead of bemoaning the fact that The Big Task is too BIG to get done, I get all the little things that make up the big thing.

So, my advice to you?

Never clean the house.