mindless repetitive chores...

So much mindlessness. I can become obsessed at the mindless repetitive tasks that are done almost daily. A reason why? I mean the dog needs water, to be fed, as well as the plants, dishes, wiping off kitchen counters, cleaning toilets, trash all the time, dusting, cleaning out my truck, washing my truck, yard work….. on and on….. everyday.

Where does this come from. It consumes too much of my time, yet I find each a necessary part of my life, daily life. I want to have a clean toilet to piss in, and clean sheets to sleep in. I want to walk outside and enjoy the living plants. I want to have a clean kitchen. Is all this too much to ask? Apparently not, because I do it everyday, all the time. But it seems very mindless and suspended. It prevents me from doing other more productive things, or does it?

I am reminded of all the stories I’ve heard as a kid, movies I watched as a teen, and wisdom taught to me in my young adult days. From what I’ve figured out myself when I was younger, to picking up books and articles that reaffirm the things I figured out when I was young. Things don’t come easy, they aren’t free, and that most of my life is spent on a plateau with only relatively small gains happening at one time. Unlike I and most everyone else is conditioned into thinking, there is very little if any at all instant gratifications in life that are worth while lessons in the path of mastering this life, and determining what I want to find myself having the available knowledge at my disposal, a doctor, a biologist, a scientist, an artist. Whatever it may be I have to take the required steps to master one or more of those in this life. But in all I’ve found out that any path I might want to take, am taking, or have taken all require me to sit on a plateu and what feels/seems/is perceived as mindlessness repetitive tasks.

I feel like I’m tripping through life. One little mission after the other, all having me at the same place I started when I finish, a perfect circle if you will.

I sometimes think that if I didn’t do all this stuff I could easily have 5hrs+ in a day, but then I think about all the other people out there and wonder how other people do it. Where do they find the time? I mean I don’t even have a 9-5 and I have enough difficulty completing my daily tasks and hopefully still have some energy to go out at night, sometimes.

So I spend all this energy going in circles at home and never feel satisfied that I am accomplishing anything, because I feel like I am not, I am just doing chores, mindless repetitive chores.


Ok well I need to fill my dogs water bowl and do laundry….. round and round I go.

reply to post by nuffsaid420


I've felt the same way at times in my life. But these are the responsibilities we assume to maintain a "modern" lifestyle. If they bother you, simplify. Eliminate what is unnecessary and shorten the list of responsibilities.

Or

I now feel that many things can be overcome by a simple change in perspective. Physical activity doesn't preclude mental activities. You don't need to "be there" to wash dishes or clean the toilet. You can "be" wherever your mind wishes, and perhaps that will help you feel the time is better spent.

In the end, a negative attitude drains energy. When rudimentary tasks are viewed as negative the energy they consume increases disproportionate to the actual energy needed. A negative attitude also increases the feelings you describe, going in circles. But I think it's overall counterproductive to assume one needs to be somewhere one isn't. Every step is a step, no matter how large or small we view it. And often these steps seem much smaller, in my experience, until we are able to accept the greater impact and implications of our day to day actions.

"The Joy of Cooking" is a fabulous cookbook, it is interesting and it gives details on ingredient backgrounds. Now, I never have read "The Joy of Housekeeping" and have no idea if it's in the same league as far as being interesting. You might want to check for it at a library and give it a try.

I hate soap operas; but, one kind I do myself is:

Fork jumps into the sink of sudsy water, "Weeeee-ee-e" S-P-L-A-S-H
Fork #2 jumps into the sink of sudsy water, "Hey there! Wanna fork around?"
Spoon belly-dives into the sink of sudsy water. "Get away from my fork or I'll get KILLER after you!"
In jumps Killer - the butcher knife ...

I think you get my drift ... a bit of imagination and a pair of talking forks can add a bit of spark to an otherwise tedious chore.

Pssst! Don't ask me about toilet bowl cleaning musings! This site is rated. *smirk*

I hate chores too :/
Dog water/feeding; Try feeding it once a day; make it a big meal. Buy bigger bowls for once a day.
Plants; Buy some desert plants ? Don't need watering, get some long pots.
Kitchen counters; block off all but 1, use that 1 alone. (I also hate these!)
Toilets; Buy lots of those blue things you stick in the toilet cistern.
Trash; buy just 1 big trash bin? get rid of all others?
Dusting; remove carpets/curtains/fabrics/clothes/all materials/open windows/remove all sources of dust = no dust?
Truck; No idea! Try using big sheets, then shake them out.

Random ideas! I'm sure if you put ur mind to it u can reduce your workload, +* "Travellerinthedark"

"Eliminate what is unnecessary"

All creatures do routine tasks of cleaning/grooming/home building, its called dignity. You can't live smelling, for animals it wouldn’t be so bad, but they don't choose to go dirty, they clean themselves. I don't think there that mindless, we do these things so we can reach further potential, you couldn’t do more productive stuff for long without living in a clean and safe environment right? If you didn't wash you wouldn't have any social class and nobody would take you serious about anything...that’s why we choose to do these things


Why do I check every plug socket appliance and window before I leave the house? To reassure myself everything is safe, thus producing my days productivity by reducing worry and anxiety. It’s all good really.

I feel your pain.

After I spend 8+ hours a day at work, I have to spend my time off making my house clean and beautiful and comforting. Even when I'm done cleaning there are still projects that need to be done - furniture refinishing, painting the trim, etc.

Then when I'm done improving my home I get to spend what time I have left improving myself - manicure, pedicure, waxing, threading, coiffing - all the things that make a woman lovely to see and feel.

When that's all done it's time to go to bed so I can get up for work and afford to constantly improve my home and myself.

I'm usually too tired or strapped for time to do the things I enjoy like hiking or taking pictures so I settle for a little ATS as my 'me time'. I love ATS but I wish I had the energy and time to do things that require a little more of me.

Well OP, what you feel, what you perceive, are the edges of the cage.
You are correct, that is all there is right now.

Imagine, if you take away your household services, all you are left with is a box. A maybe even a comfortable one.
If you take away the water and the electricity you lose.
If you dont pay you lose.
You work so you can continue to pay for the blood of our material existences.

Working is how they take away your time, and get you into the robotic mode, that is how we live our lives, that how we have been conditioned.
But the rational mind being exposed to ideas and beliefs, sometimes completely different from ours, we get our kicks from the Internet, and from ATS.
We should now consider ourselves lucky, we are the homo sapiens mediaticus!
We can use the age of the super information devices to inform ourselves.

You can see the CAGE!
You can see the FNORDS!

There is knowledge to be found now, you can let it consume you, and jade you, or you can use it a a reason to change what we are and what be believe is real...

We are more than what we have been led to believe...!



en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 26-10-2008 by TheOneEyedProphet]

I pay someone to do it.

Sometimes I clean up for the person who comes to do it though

Listening to music or audio-books is another way I handle it.

Using it as a meditation is another option.

Contrary to you, I have a real, real, real difficult time with mindless repetitive tasks....*sigh*

When I was about 13 or so, I became very depressed

because I'd calculated how much 'time' actually was 'mine'

Time how long it takes to brush your teeth
time spent on the toilet
time spent bathing
time spent eating
time spent getting to and from school, work, etc
time spent sleeping
time spent dressing
time spent applying make up
time spent removing it
time spent ironing
time spent at work, standard 8hour day
grocery shopping, cooking, washing up etc.

multiply by how many days you figure you'll live

it adds up

Deduct all the above and more from ...


... the average life. 3 score years and ten ? Four score years and ten ?


Then perhaps deduct at least ten years from the end. Unless you're very fortunate that final decade or so won't be worth knowing about from an 'active, doing' point of view (in general, ok .. don't really want to know about your 102 year old granny who's scaling Everest right now)

If you like, deduct some from the front .. most people don't remember the first four or five years of their life, apparently (again, for the purpose of this exercise, don't really need to hear how some remember even before their own conception)

When you deduct what you basically have to do in order to attend work, have a rudimentary place to sleep, bathe, etc. -- there's not much left in which to devote to doing, learning about, seeing and visiting all the places and things you used to dream of .. even if you try to cram it in via books. It's claimed that if someone spent their entire life reading at a national library, they'd only be able to get through a fraction of the books in their lifetime.

Want to learn to play music and then learn to play several instruments ?
Want to learn to speak several different languages ?
Want to visit every place on earth ?
Want to become expert in sewing, knitting, beadwork, painting, sculpture, cookery, gardening, Bach flower remedies, psychology, writing, movie-producing, aircraft, seamanship, the natural world, hit songs of the 30s, art nouveau, art deco, the pre-Raphaelites, poetry, ancient greek history, ancient any history, ornithology, archaeology, architecture ... etc. ?

Then leaves scant time for internet forums

Death and the Matron

As decreed by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, entropy, the degree of randomness and disorder in a mechanical system, tends to increase over time. Life itself is nothing but an endless battle against entropy. On an individual level, the struggle is always futile, yet life, so far, appears to be winning the war...

A household is, of course, a mechanical system. As such it is prey to the laws of thermodynamics. Who shall sustain and protect it against the unsleeping, implacable gnawing of entropy, the creeping death of disorder and exhaustion?

Step forward, please, lady with the vacuum-cleaner...

So I'm not alone after all. I spend at least an hour on here every morning trying to avoid the dishes, the hoovering, the dusting and blah blah blah. Then another hour reading the news, then ebay, then I'll surf for another hour or so, avoiding the inevitable.

It's making me crazy.

I mumble swear words as I clean my greasy plates, and I continue till it's all done. But it's never over is it? I mop the floors so folk can come home and walk their mess all over it, and if I didn't mop the floor they'd come home and say "why haven't you mopped the floor?" Other times I amuse myself through it all by playing tunes in my head. I've done this so many times I have a jukebox on auto repeat in my brain, playing full time, and I've lost the off switch. HELP!

Maybe I should buy a copy of The Joys of Housework, but then I might end up like my mother-in-law who LOVES to clean, but who is also this gossiping monster who judges folk by the marks on their skirting boards. It doesn't matter if the lady next door gave her whole christmas to charity, "but have you seen the state of her windows, they're DIS-GUS-TING?"

I often envision myself giving it all up and heading off into the blue yonder to join up with some pygmy tribe in the wilds somewhere. Them folk who have nothing to clean or wash up. A plate is a leaf off a tree kinda thing. But I'll miss a blow-dry and a glance in the mirror to ask "how am I looking now?" Then I'd probably start using the jungle post to write back to civilisation for someone to send me a nice little piece of gingham to hang in my mud hut windows, and a few brillo pads to get the stubborn marks off our cooking pots.

I've made my bed

No problems with mindless jobs because if it consumes so little of your thoughts you can think about more important things while doing the dishes or use it to create your 'zen'. It's just like your pc running seti software. It uses your idle power to process other data. Same with me. It's not unusual to see me with a kind of blank stare while choring, start laughing or have a idea on something totally unrelated. Even with my job wich is not really mentally envigorating suits me because i can think of things that interest or at least amuses me.

Originally posted by stringue

"Eliminate what is unnecessary"

Ya, too many things to do...only 24 hrs a day.
You can reduce the time spent on such 'unnecessary' things to a big extent, if you simplify your life. The important question is - what do you want to do with the extra time ?

If its productive, well & good, although 'productive' word is very subjective.
Anyway, there are ways to smartly steal minutes from the day. Some tips :

1- Get rid of dogs & pets, you dont need them to be alive.
2- Get rid of fancy plants that need so much care, let natural stuff grow.
3- If you are alone, one bed, one bathroom and a living room are more then enough. Lock down all other rooms, no need to clean.
4- Use house cleaning robots and dust precipitators, keep most windows closed , less dust means you can clean weekly instead of daily.
5- Reduce the number of clothes to a few dresses, if you are not in a public job.
6- Put trash directly in the bin, whenever you create some, no need to collect everything again.
7- Reduce sleep time to 6 hrs or less, possible with practice.
8- Eat while u check mails or forums.
9- Whenever possible travel by bus, train or in a carpool, any means where you dont need to drive/ride, use this time to check mails, forums, read and talk on phone etc. If you are rich, keep a driver.
10- Eat whatever can be bought ready to eat and doesnt need much cooking, only warming, change the eating habits. Eat only once in a day (main meal), rest you can chew while doing your own thing.
11- Brush your teeth while taking a shower.
12- The potty business is a tuff job, its not in our control mostly, but you can train yourself to finish it in a few minutes. Double flush, so that it remains clean for a week at least.
13- Get rid of time wasters, neighbors, relatives etc etc, keep in touch with people whom you really need or who really need you.
14- Avoid babies, if you dont have one, no need to have one.
15- Get your bank to directly deduct your bills from your account or use net to pay bills.
16- Use cell phone for reminders and memos.
17- Get rid of TV and newspapers, use net. See and read want to wish to, not what they impose on you.
18- Get a job , which leaves you more time, even if it pays less. If you wish to earn more, do it for the 'productive' thing you are engaged in. If you wish to earn more just to shift to a bigger house or to get a bigger car or to eat more and more, its a waste. These things are worth only if you can manage to get them in the same time.
19- Do some long term planning, like keep the next 5 years for earning and stabilizing and later 5 years to rest and do your 'own stuff'. Don't plan too long into the future, nothing is fixed.
20- Speak less, eat less and sleep less, live like a traveler in a foreign land, attached to nothing, just self.

Wow so many energizing thoughts so quickly. This was a moment in time that I found myself in and understood it to be as such. It makes you "feel" a certain way doing all this "necessary" stuff. I am continually evolving my habits and behaviors.

Believe me when I say this. I understand these are not mindless activities. My mind is dancing with thoughts/theories/ideas outside of what most are consumed with. I can confidently say I have been outside the box.

Originally posted by TravelerintheDark
reply to post by nuffsaid420

 

I've felt the same way at times in my life. But these are the responsibilities we assume to maintain a "modern" lifestyle. If they bother you, simplify. Eliminate what is unnecessary and shorten the list of responsibilities.

Yes, and like me wanting to have a nice garden, I will go out side and water and tend to the plants. It is all a sort of meditation. I know this was a negative feeling, but all in all I like to carry the positive attitude and thoughts/meditations while I do all these activities. I have been trying to figure out what I find as "necessary" though.

Thank you for your thoughts.

Originally posted by TheOneEyedProphet
Well OP, what you feel, what you perceive, are the edges of the cage.
You are correct, that is all there is right now.

Imagine, if you take away your household services, all you are left with is a box. A maybe even a comfortable one.
If you take away the water and the electricity you lose.
If you dont pay you lose.
You work so you can continue to pay for the blood of our material existences.

Working is how they take away your time, and get you into the robotic mode, that is how we live our lives, that how we have been conditioned.
But the rational mind being exposed to ideas and beliefs, sometimes completely different from ours, we get our kicks from the Internet, and from ATS.
We should now consider ourselves lucky, we are the homo sapiens mediaticus!
We can use the age of the super information devices to inform ourselves.

You can see the CAGE!
You can see the FNORDS!

There is knowledge to be found now, you can let it consume you, and jade you, or you can use it a a reason to change what we are and what be believe is real...

We are more than what we have been led to believe...!

en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 26-10-2008 by TheOneEyedProphet]

Perfect! I love you(r point of view) It is at these moments that what "they" try to build around me starts crashing down. It can be depressing if you are not read for it. I was/am ready, properly prepared for all that has come my way so far. I think a big part of this is all preparation. What is it I seek in these mindless activities?... the mental preparation necessary to get out of that sleep, that hold something else had on me. It's kinda like "wax on wax off" ya know?

Originally posted by wigit
So I'm not alone after all. I spend at least an hour on here every morning trying to avoid the dishes, the hoovering, the dusting and blah blah blah. Then another hour reading the news, then ebay, then I'll surf for another hour or so, avoiding the inevitable.

It's making me crazy.

No your not alone. There are many, but many of them are not properly prepared. My morning is similar to that of yours "right now" - within the past 2months. I have to be in a routine right now that gives me just enough time to get on the internet in the morning during breakfast, otherwise my day unwinds. You know people and time! Stupid scheduling and such! J/k

I mumble swear words as I clean my greasy plates, and I continue till it's all done. But it's never over is it? I mop the floors so folk can come home and walk their mess all over it, and if I didn't mop the floor they'd come home and say "why haven't you mopped the floor?" Other times I amuse myself through it all by playing tunes in my head. I've done this so many times I have a jukebox on auto repeat in my brain, playing full time, and I've lost the off switch. HELP!

I like to scream at the top of my lungs cuss words sometimes, good release of stress. And I don't mop the floor because people are coming over, I mop because I've now lived in this house 8 months and the floors could probably be cleaned.. like you said why clean the floors when people are going to just get them dirty again? Reminds me of when I was in college, the only time we would ever clean the house was right before a big party... which would totaly trash the house! Funny to say the least.

Maybe I should buy a copy of The Joys of Housework, but then I might end up like my mother-in-law who LOVES to clean, but who is also this gossiping monster who judges folk by the marks on their skirting boards. It doesn't matter if the lady next door gave her whole christmas to charity, "but have you seen the state of her windows, they're DIS-GUS-TING?"

Yea, don't be her. I don't like people who judge other people on superfical things like clothes and the flashing of wealth. You know some of the wealthiest people I've met look like they don't have more than $100 in their pockets? And BTW I don't like nosy neighbors. But that is a whole different topic I will not get into.

I often envision myself giving it all up and heading off into the blue yonder to join up with some pygmy tribe in the wilds somewhere. Them folk who have nothing to clean or wash up. A plate is a leaf off a tree kinda thing. But I'll miss a blow-dry and a glance in the mirror to ask "how am I looking now?" Then I'd probably start using the jungle post to write back to civilisation for someone to send me a nice little piece of gingham to hang in my mud hut windows, and a few brillo pads to get the stubborn marks off our cooking pots.

I've made my bed

Yea, but you really have to commit to it, and it's not very easy. It is actually pretty hard to live out in the wilderness. I've fantasized too, but then I realize I have no one to gain more knowledge and experience from, so I had to come back off the mountain.

i really do feel like ranting, but i just had a long day at work (tomorrow's gonna be longer.. ) and now i've got to clean up the house and shave...

god i hate shaving...

reply to post by nuffsaid420


I do believe you. You sound rather stressed, but also like you have a rather firm grasp on why these things needn't bother you. That your mind is working towards sorting these things out. Finding what is necessary or not isn't difficult. Simply ask yourself first why you are doing whatever it is you are doing. Is it needed or just expected? Are you fulfilling yourself, or someone/something else? And most importantly, is what you get from it equal to what you put into it?

I found myself investing emotionally in activities and objects that simply didn't have any way of returning that investment. I had developed a sense of obligation for things that I didn't need to be obliged to. So, I stopped doing the things I found draining, and rid myself of excesses I had accumulated. Afterward I began to feel much less taxed and was able to assume things again with the thought in mind that the only reward is the one I give myself.

To me, it sounds as if you are working towards balance, and much like trying to stand in the center of a teeter-totter, adjustments are necessary until we get the hang of it. When things feel overwhelming, stop and breath. Remember, there are few things we do that can't wait until we are ready to do them. If you are doing something you feel you don't have to, stop doing it. If you feel guilty about not doing it, this is usually your emotional "stomach" growling its hunger. And it doesn't care what you feed it, as long as it's full. Which is to say, it attaches itself to things simply because of the emotional charge received, good or bad. Tell yourself why you aren't doing whatever it is, and don't do it until you can accept that it isn't getting done; until you realize it doesn't bother you anymore. At this point, you will have potentially freed yourself from the emotional attachment and should be able to carry on the activity without feeling emotionally depleted.

It's a bumpy road, but one that can be well worth traveling because the end result is getting back what you never needed to get rid of to begin with.

I think you should feel thankful that you can do these chores,try being in a horrible accident and being limited to menial tasks,you'll long for the time you could perform all these tasks and still be able to do what you want,besides like one said it's a matter of dignity,yes some live in squalor if you does these tasks then neither do you,so try looking at them as an exercise in personal dignity