I learned that smooshing half a ripe avocado on toast and adding a little bit of salsa, shredded cheddar cheese, and sliced black olives is very tasty.

I also learned (still listening to the audiobook) that the number one thing that makes a house look messy is cluttered surfaces. A solution? Take a page from FlyLady and focus on tackling “hotspot” surfaces in 15 minute bursts. (See this article for additional tips)

I think 15 minute bursts would work better for me than what I’ve been doing, which is ignoring the problem and waiting for a mythical free day to do it all at once.

I’ve become an expert at tuning out the “mess” frequency, but I can usually trick myself into doing something for 10-15 minutes without overanalyzing the situation. (Note to self: consider applying this trick to writing.)

When I got home from work last night I performed the burst trick on the island counter in our kitchen. It’s not completely mess free, but you can see an improvement. Daily mail continues to be my Kryptonite. I especially hate thick envelopes from the credit card companies which contain nothing but ads or credit offers because I feel like I need to shred any identifying details, so it involves separating regular paper inserts from the pre-filled forms and taking the to-shred pile downstairs and stacking it another box… Ugh.

And then there’s the half-finished projects and stalled hobbies and fancy cookware I rarely use cluttering up the rest of the place…

Basically, I live in the house of good intentions. And that’s fine, as long as those good intentions get organized once in a while.