The old dog learns a new trick

I've talked about my paper problem before, but in the interests of not grossing anyone out, I neglected to mention that the 'problems' also extended to clothes and dishes. There was a point in my life, oh about two months ago, when I had clothes covering nearly every available surface, including and especially the bathroom floor, and dirty dishes on the kitchen counter top, in the sink, and the dishwasher could be a toss-up. Today, I'm happy to report, I have cured myself of all three problems. There are no clothes on the floor -- not counting the duffle from this morning's aborted attempt at a 'hot' yoga class -- and the only dishes in the sink are the bowl and spoon from my snack of just a few minutes ago.

I had read somewhere that it takes 21 days to break an old habit and begin a new one. I had twenty-nine years worth of habit to break here (though I have to say, the dishes are very recent). I also had to break the mindset that when you live alone, it's okay to let things slide. There were so many nights, for no good reason, when I'd just leave stuff out because there was no one here to care. If my shoes were cluttering up the hallway, then that was fine -- no one was going to trip over them except for me. So I started simply -- I made it a rule and wrote it down: YOU CANNOT GO TO BED UNLESS ALL THE DISHES ARE PUT AWAY, THE CLOTHES ARE FOLDED OR HUNG UP, AND THE PAPER EITHER FILED OR SHREDDED OR THROWN AWAY.

Amazingly, once I started thinking that way, things started to get put away. I also made a rule that I would start paying bills the day they came, not a few days before they were due. That way I could get rid of the paper quickly and not have it build up and I wouldn't be sitting there wondering if I'd paid a bill not or stressing over whether I was late. I also started throwing away the junk mail right at the mailbox; the complex provides a trash can right there so there was no reason for me to bring the grocery flyers etc., up to my apartment.

Once I got used to having a clean apartment -- let me tell you, it's a joy to not step over clothes everywhere or coming into a kitchen full of dirty dishes -- that just became a habit with me. Now it seems weird if there are more than a couple of dishes in the sink and my dining table is virtually free of everything except what should be on that table -- placements, candlesticks and centerpiece. Of course, now I have a new problem: I can never find anything to write on.