Are there certain things you hate to do, like cleaning the bathrooms? Laundry? Cooking? Mowing the Lawn? Washing Cars? Life is full of tasks you “have” to do that you hate to do. When I have to do something I really don’t want to do, I tend to obsess about it, get upset, stress and then do nothing!
If you have high anxiety or even a little OCD, you may find yourself frozen many times. Sometimes, it’s procrastination. I find that when there is one thing I have to do that I hate, I will obsess over how much I don’t want to do it and then not only do I not do that one thing, I do nothing at all! The same thing happens when I have a long “to do” list, but that’s a different post!
After I had my second child, cleaning the house became something I hated to do. I worked full time during the week, then I would spend a good portion of the weekend cleaning the house. Where was the down time? Where was the fun time with my family? A messy, dirty house, was also a huge source of anxiety for me. I could not leave the house messy and dirty and go have fun. I wouldn’t enjoy myself, thinking of the mess at home! Every weekend was the same struggle – how much time to spend cleaning? How much time with the kids?
I finally decided to re-budget a few things and hire a cleaning service at least once per month. It was life changing. The house was always clean because I could manage spot cleaning, until the cleaning crew came. My anxiety on the weekend was greatly reduced because I had a clean house and had a lot of time to spend with my kids.
My point? Delegate! You don’t have to do it all…
- My husband does 80% of the cooking and cleans up in the kitchen as well
- My kids help me clean the guinea pig cage – I hate it
- I do all of the laundry – I like it
Obviously, there is a lot more on the list, but you get the idea.
Some other suggestions:
- Grocery delivery services, if you don’t like going to the grocery store
- Shopping online if you don’t like going to the mall
- Ordering healthy, organic meals, if you don’t like to cook
- Hiring a lawn company if you don’t like mowing the lawn
If there is something you hate to do, that causes you a lot of anxiety, find a solution. I’m talking about every day tasks that you can easily change or delegate. Obviously, if you hate your job, it will require some more strategizing as you typically cannot just quit! That will be another post as well 🙂
I would also like to add, that this was before my anxiety became a “disorder”. Now that I have the Agoraphobia and panic under control, I really don’t care all that much about what the house looks like! I don’t know if it’s the medication, or lessons I’ve learned as I experienced life, but I LOVE that I don’t care as much.
What do you hate to do that you have to do? How can you get rid of that task? Have you delegated something that reduced your anxiety?
I would love to hear about it…
