There is an ideal I have in mind when it comes to the cleanliness of my home. Whether I clean a lot or a little, I can feel frantic or guilty about living up to that ideal. When a crisis hits, though, like the need for an additional income, a child’s illness, or the death of someone close to us, that is the time I find out what I can let go of in my household.

It is good to know in the course of a regular week what can be let go. Oftentimes something comes up that should have a higher priority than any single cleaning task, like the opportunity to do some good for a neighbor, a friend’s need, or an intuition that husband or child could use a heartfelt conversation right now.

Priorities are the key. When I know that I am jumping into that perfectionistic mindset, I can stop and ask myself, “What is really important to do right now?”

First, remember my long-term goals and values.

Second, remember context. If I am pregnant or breastfeeding, it may be important to sit, eat a snack, and drink some water rather than sweeping the porch. If I am not either of those things and not ill, it may be important to go ahead and sweep that porch rather than let it bother me all day that I have not done it yet.

Third, ask, “What keeps my family healthy and safe?” Anything else can probably be let go at this moment. There will be other days to do the other things.

Fourth, I may need to give myself a good pep talk. If I’ve been beating myself up for bad practices or laziness, I’ve got to stop—because that takes up precious time!

There is one other key for me. Striving for simplicity is a way to empty my life of things that don’t much matter in order to make room for things that matter a whole lot. Many of the extras I acquire (tasks, things, information) become burdens instead of blessings. Letting go of them is good for mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.


In terms of homemaking, sometimes simplicity is best served by doing something well the first time. Sometimes it is best served by doing a necessary task poorly, or just well enough to get by, so that something else more important may take its place. And a home filled with the important things is a blessed place.


I hope this is helpful to someone other than myself. Some of the people who have been helpful to me in my homemaking journey are: the Flylady (www.flylady.net), Valerie Plowman (Chronicles of a Babywise Mom), Cheryl Mendelson (author of Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House), Little Jenny Wren, and articles from The Homemaking Cottage