The purpose of housework is to clean away dirt, but if I clean with a bad attitude, I believe that will leave behind unseen negative energy and bad vibes which counteracts the purpose of cleaning.
I don’t want a home that just looks clean, I want my home to have positive energy in it, which is why I believe having a good attitude when I clean will create positive energy that will pass through me into my work.
I used to grumble and think negative thoughts a lot while doing housework, either because my mind wasn’t focused on the task at hand, or I didn’t think it was important, or I just didn’t want to do it, especially when I was a working woman who put in 40+ hours a week (not including commute time) to only put in more hours at home.
Once I became a housewife it took time to adjust my perspective about the importance of housework and having a good attitude about it; and I doubt that I am the only housewife who has ever struggled with having a good attitude when doing housework.
In the hope of helping other housewives who are disenchanted with housework, here are 10 tips that helped me mentally, physically, and spiritually, when it comes to having a good attitude when doing housework:
1. Being comfortable while cleaning: I wear comfy clothes that I don’t mind getting dirty, and I make sure the temperature in the house isn’t too warm since I have no problem working up a sweat when doing certain housework tasks.
- I’ve learned that an overly warm house makes me more uncomfortable than I care to be, and it can put me in a bad mood; and clothes that restrict my movement frustrate me, so I make it a goal to be comfy and cool while doing housework which keeps me in a good mood.
2. Staying calm and relaxed while cleaning: Being comfortable helps me stay calm and relaxed, but so does listening to something that doesn’t overexcite me. I’ve learned that listening to certain music doesn’t help me because it gets me more pumped up than I need to be and it makes me focus on the music more than the work I’m doing; the same goes for listening to the news or anything that doesn’t make me feel good or make me laugh.
- I’ve found that putting on favorite movies and the Starz Encore western channel work well when doing housework; the movies don’t distract me since I’ve seen them before, so I don’t have to sit and watch them, and the western shows have a lot of enjoyable writing that makes me chuckle. Silence is nice too at times, especially when my mind is loud with thoughts.
3. Being patient with housework and myself: It took me a little while to readjust my mindset but I eventually realized that, as a housewife without a job to go to, there was no reason for me to rush through housework since taking care of my home is all I have to do; once I figured that out, it removed a lot of pressure that I put on myself and I stopped rushing, and not rushing puts me in a better mood while cleaning.
- I also had to learn to be patient with myself and my skills; life happens one day at a time, and by taking it one day at a time my home has improved as well as my perspective on housework.
4. Caring about my housework: Putting care into the work I do is an act of love, and I want my husband to feel that love when he looks around the house and sees how well it is cared for.
- I also want my home to feel that it is loved and cared for; I know it is a building, but I believe the positive energy I put into cleaning creates a positive impact that the house can feel; and I believe my home will serve me better as well as look better when I take care of it and care about the work I do.
5. Not using the 'C' word: Language is a powerful tool and I’ve learned that by not calling housework a ‘chore’ it helps me to view housework for what it really is -- work. It’s funny that as a woman I’ve been taught to view going to work as work but not as a chore, and only housework is viewed as a chore, which is defined on Google as ‘an unpleasant but necessary task’. If I think that what I do is unpleasant, then that becomes a mental block that stops me from embracing what I do with a good attitude.
- Along with calling housework ‘work’ I view my tasks as goals, and reaching my goals every day feels better, and sounds better, than just doing ‘chores’.
6. Knowing that housework matters: Not only is housework work, it’s important work that keeps my home functioning like a well-oiled machine. Would anyone want to go to a restaurant or an office or a retail shop, or a hospital, that wasn’t cleaned on a regular basis? All places of business need to be cleaned and it’s a valuable life lesson when one enters the workforce to learn that cleaning isn’t something that is only done in a household.
- Cleaning matters in a business and housework matters in a home; knowing that what I do matters makes me feel good about what I do and helps to give me a good attitude when doing housework.
7. Creating a housework schedule: When I was new to being a housewife, I felt overwhelmed by all the tasks and making sure I got everything done on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; feeling overwhelmed didn’t help my state of mind either. It took time, but I eventually developed my own schedule, and over time the schedule has grown to include more tasks than I ever thought I would be able to keep straight.
- Knowing what to get done and when to get it done gives me a sense of purpose and takes away that overwhelming feeling of not knowing if I’m getting everything done; and to see in writing what I need to do each day takes a lot of weight off my mind so I can focus on doing my housework in a better state of mind.
8. Keeping a housework diary: After working at my housework schedule for a couple years, I started keeping a housework diary and it has helped me immensely. Every day I write down what I get done in a Word document; I also start the next day’s list the night before so I can see what to plan for the next day; every day I do different weekly tasks so that at the end of the week the entire house has been cleaned, and at the end of the month all the monthly tasks have been done.
- Housework isn’t doing ‘nothing’ all day, which is why it helps to keep a housework diary because it shows me in writing everything I do every day, and it isn’t nothing. Every task I do is an accomplishment and seeing those accomplishments, not just in my home but also in writing, gives me a better perspective on housework and its importance; it also helps keep my momentum going day after day.
9. Finding positive housework influences: This one is a challenge because it’s easier to find anti-housework influences than positive ones, so I learned that staying away from negative influences that put down housework, and housewives, helps my mindset a lot. It also helps me to make my own positive housework memes and writings to fill the void, and it is a mighty big void to fill.
- Even though I’m not stuck in the 1950s, I do appreciate the positive attitudes portrayed by housewife characters once upon a time on old TV shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and The Donna Reed Show. Harriet and Donna were proud housewives who had their housework under control and good attitudes to go with it, both of which are rare to see on a TV show these days.
10. Being thankful for housework: I’ve learned that having an attitude of gratitude is essential to having a good attitude when doing housework. Being grateful gives me a better perspective and more appreciation for what I have rather than being focused on what I don't have.
- Having dishes to wash means I have food to eat; having a litter box to clean means I have a cat; having a toilet to clean means I have indoor plumbing; having laundry to do means I have a husband who needs clean clothes for work; having housework to do means I have a house; and I’m thankful for all that I have.
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