Do you know you need some help maybe it’s delegating tasks in your personal life to your spouse or kids so you can focus on work during your work hours?
Whatever it is if you’re a bit of a control freak like me it might be a bit easier said at first than done.
Breath
This can turn out to be one of those tricky situations where you need help but you don’t really want help. You think you want the help but you don’t want to put down those reigns.
It’s okay, you can give yourself permission to hand over the reins to tasks that are lower on the list of things you want to handle.
Sometimes you hold on so tightly to even the simplest household tasks that you hate because for some crazy reason you get it stuck in your head that if YOU don’t do it then it won’t get done or it won’t get done right.
You know what I’m talking about.
Something I’ve learned over the past couple of years is if you have someone in your house who is willing to help take household tasks off your hands so you don’t have to think and see the chores all day while you work from home, welcome it with open arms even if they are only half-open arms, to begin with.
Here’s what I mean, if someone in your house will sweep the floors so you don’t have to then let them. Even if there is still dirt in the corners when they’re done. Practice showing up from a place of gratitude instead of judgment.
Be thankful that the floor is cleaner than it was before they cleaned. It doesn’t have to be as thorough as you would do it. If they are trying to be helpful, practice showing thanks to them instead of criticism. It’s just a floor and you didn’t have to clean it.
Or if you get to pass off the dishes some days to another household member but they didn’t wash the dirty glasses on the table, try and show up from a place of gratitude that you only have 3 dirty cups by the sink instead of a whole sink full of dishes leering at you while you work.
It never hurts to ask them if they would mind sweeping the corners next time or checking the table for dirty dishes but if it doesn’t happen try to remember it’s truly not the end of the world.
Some household chores got done and you didn’t have to do them.
I promise the world will not come to a screeching halt if the chores aren’t done to your specific standards, you’re okay.
Think about how much less defensive you get when someone tells you
“Hey, thanks for doing that it means a lot that you got it done so I didn’t have to. Next time if you think about it would you mind getting in the corners too or checking the table for dirty dishes if you think about it”
vs.
“Why didn’t you do it this way or how come you couldn’t check the table first?”
You react totally differently to each of those questions, don’t you? One remark makes people feel like they are helpful and useful with room for improvement and the other makes people feel like no matter what they do it won’t be good enough.
Next time someone helps you lighten the workload try remembering to be grateful for the help even if it’s not the way you would have done it.
Gratitude helps us in our lives and it helps us show more appreciation to others and we all want to be appreciated.
Keep it simple
alex@simplesignificance.com
https://simplesignificance.com