How to Actually Enjoy Folding Laundry… or any other chore you dread!

by Gwen Oct 4

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Have I piqued your interest?

Are you dressed in your orange robes, ready for a life-altering, mind-blowing, out-of-body experience?

Here’s some Strawberry flavored Kool-Aid. Get ready to gulp it down in one giant swallow.

{the room goes deafeningly silent as anticipation builds to a heart-stoppingly new level}

First, think of your least favorite, most un-loved chore that you absolutely have to do or life as you know it will cease to exist.. or your family will revolt and send you off to Siberia on a sled of not-so-gentle, ravenous, smelly werewolves.

Got it? {mine is folding laundry… or vacuuming with our thirty year old garage sale canister vac that bangs my ankles every time I pull it around the corner}

First grab your Netflix.

And some refreshments…

Now, let’s get a bit woo-woo.

Take three deep breaths. As in fill your lungs to the ultimate capacity and slowly exhale.

Imagine yourself doing that task. Like, actually sitting there on your bed {or in your awesome laundry room with counters and junk, if that is your situation}. See yourself folding all of that laundry or vacuuming that pet-hair blanketed floor… or scrubbing that toilet in the boys bathroom.

But here’s the real secret.

Imagine yourself doing it with great PLEASURE. LIke, feel yourself enjoying it. Feel yourself moving through it with ease. Feel yourself finishing it and how amazing it is to have that chore done.

Now, go do it and see if you feel better about it. See if the resistance fades away.

You might have to spend a little more time with it and practice it often before you feel all the resistance vanish.

I do this pretty much every day when I run across something that seems unpleasant or just resistant to.

But, gosh-golly… it words EVERY TIME. I find that I can actually enjoy folding laundry. Who knew???

{What will work better, though, is when I can pull out some cold-hard cash and just pay someone to do it for me. That will require no need for visualization, yo.}

What’s your least favorite task you have to do each day? Are you going to test this out?

What the BOLD ones say:

Kirsten says

Oct 15 at 2:24 pm

I was just talking to my 12 year old daughter last night about chores, and she kept saying how much she dislikes certain ones. I told her that I used to feel that way about laundry, scrubbing toilets, etc. until I changed my perspective.

I do what I do because I love my family. I love giving them a clean home, and clean clothes, and seeing them happy makes me happy. It’s out of love, not necessity. Rather than schlep through the chores, I now have a more positive attitude and it’s a joy! 🙂 It really is all about the attitude, just like you said. Go into it with a more positive outlook and positive things come out of it!
- Carole says
  
  Jul 30 at 12:30 am
  
  I love this. You are absolutely right.
  
  Plus it feels good when the job is done.
Jessica says

Oct 20 at 6:01 pm

Oh I love this!! I often put on my netflix, find something to sippage and fold away!!! For the items that require my movement I put on the beats and dance about even make up tunes “SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB WITH DAT BRUSH, whose got a clean toilet I do I do! ”
I don’t always get that groove on but this is a healthy reminder that it’s all about your mind space!
Sarah says

Nov 9 at 7:32 pm

You’re cute. I have to tell you with all due respect though that it is “piqued your interest,” not “peaked.” Great read though.
- Gwen Whitfield says
  
  Nov 10 at 8:12 am
  
  Thanks, Sarah! I always appreciate grammatical corrections! {I hate making those mistakes, but alas, it happens!}
Susan Townsend says

Nov 10 at 11:59 am

Laundry, especially the putting it away part! I’m a big believer in audio books — mindless cleaning chores (not to mention exercising) offer the perfect excuse to listen to “just one more chapter.” Now, I’m going to throw in a little positive visualizing, and away we go. Thanks.
- Leanne says
  
  May 8 at 6:41 pm
  
  I absolutely despise putting away laundry. So much that I live out of laundry baskets. And when I’m rushed, the basket gets scrambled through and everything ends up in an unfolded heap…back at square one. Or worse yet, all over my bedroom floor. I’ll take every laundry tip or trick I can get. 🙁
  - Susan Townsend says
    
    May 8 at 6:52 pm
    
    Leanne, when my children were little and I was working full time, we had two big plastic trash cans in the laundry area. One was for dirty clothes, the other was for clean towels, underwear, pajamas, and anything else that didn’t have to be folded or hung up to avoid wrinkles. Everyone was trained to go get what you needed out of the clean can before bath time, and to drop off all the dirty stuff afterwards. Today, I’m very particular about how all these things are folded — but I’m retired and have time for that.!
Ana Rosa Torres says

Jun 8 at 8:30 am

Thanks for sharing your knowlege
- Gwen says
  
  Jun 9 at 9:32 am
  
  Absolutely! Thanks for stopping by, Ana!
Sharon says

Jun 19 at 1:13 pm

I read somewhere recently (probably on Pinterest!), that instead of saying, “I have to …”, maybe we should start saying, “I get to …. ” There are people who only have the clothes they have on their back, no school to drive their kids to, no house to clean, etc.

It has helped me 🙂
- Gwen says
  
  Jun 19 at 2:34 pm
  
  That’s a great idea, Sharon! I agree, we are so blessed!
  
  Gwen
- Anna says
  
  Mar 28 at 5:49 pm
  
  I quit smoking for the fourth and final time with statements about “I get to …” It really worked well for me. Made me full of gratitude.
  - Gwen says
    
    May 11 at 7:49 pm
    
    That is awesome, Anna! I’m doing visualizations for getting in shape and dropping the excess pounds for ever. I’m ready to make permanent changes in my life, and changing my mind is really helping.
    
    xoxo
    
    Gwen

How to Actually Enjoy Folding Laundry… or any other chore you dread!

Now, let’s get a bit woo-woo.

But here’s the real secret.

What the BOLD ones say:

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