Making the Bed...a Tell Tale Sign

How to Stay Productive in a Messy World (or just a messy apartment)

The Problem

In order to do good mathematics, I need a clean table in a relative clean room, a pen, and a stack of crisp paper, (a cup of tea or water doesn't hurt either). I need some semblance of solitude, not just from people but from things. In a messy room I get distracted by the things that are out of place. "I should clean that," I think. But I don't, because if I clean 'that' then I'll have to clean the other thing, and the next room, and before I know it I'll be scrubbing the toilet and doing the laundry. I have an all or none attitude, and it has really become a problem.

Every now and then I'll do exactly as I described, I'll clean everything, the whole apartment, and I'll clean it perfectly. What a great and motivating feeling I have when the cleaning is all done. It's like a fresh start, a completely new life. I wish I could keep this feeling forever. But I never can, because slowly the mess creeps back, and inevitably I become less and less motivated until finally things have gotten so bad that I must clean, and I clean everything.

So my life ungulates from a state of methodical organization to a state of hopeless disarray. I've tried to change this but no matter how hard I try the cycle,$\langle life\rangle,$ continues. In fact I gave up on this along time ago and accepted the fact my life will fluctuate between organized and messy, productive and unproductive, from now until the end of time, or least the end of me.

My Solution

Recently I realized that maybe things don't have to be this way. The problem is that I don't notice what happens in between clean and messy. I remember to keep things clean for a couple of days or even a couple of weeks, but then all of the sudden I forget and things get messy again. And I simply can't force myself to remember that cleaning is important. I justify not cleaning when I remember or I simply just forget. So I thought of a solution. I'll make my bed everyday (not something I'm used to doing, in fact I never make my bed). If I notice that one day my bed wasn't made then I'll remember:

1. I was supposed to make the bed but didn't
2. I am supposed to be keeping things clean in general

At this point I'll make a note of my reaction. Do I clean immediately or do I justify postponing the cleaning until later? Does cleaning seem awful and not worth it at that moment? How much sleep have I been getting lately? I'll try to keep track of all the factors that play into my attitude, energy levels, and willingness to clean. Hopefully I can pinpoint the moment where things shift from clean to messy and then figure out how to change that moment.

I'm very excited about this new idea. Maybe I will actually be able to make a significant life change with this method. If I gain even a few hours of productiveness every week that would be great. I'll keep you posted with how this turns out.

Let me know if you have any ideas for other ways to keep things clean and organized. And if you try this method or something similar let me know how it works out!