A.D.D. Art: I swear, A.D.D.is contagious!

A no plans weekend meant that it was my turn to work on a project for Brass Hammer Designs. It has been hard to find my creative momentum in Brass Hammer Designs, and I feel this is mainly because our house is a wreck. It's not terrible and it definitely is livable, but it's starting to take away from my life.... my creativity, my passion, my chi. I want to run away from it and do many other things, but procrastinating won't make it go away. I know this, but I'm still in denial about it.

Okay, so what is causing all this clutter? Two things in my opinion - our busyness and Josh's A.D.D.Have I mentioned that I think A.D.D. is contagious? You think I'm kidding? I lived with my mom and step-dad for 10-11 years and I believe my step-dad had a touch of A.D.D. Every single flat surface of the house was covered with paperwork. That is EXACTLY the same way our house is today. Did I inherit that from my step-dad who is not a blood relative or was it caught like a contagious virus? And now I'm in my 13th year of living with Josh, who is diagnosed and medicated for A.D.D. His A.D.D rears its head more in projects throughout the house. Everywhere in our house, there are projects that are started and not finished. (And by everywhere, I mean floors, tables, desks, sinks, closets.... EVERYWHERE). Most of them are Josh's projects, but there are several that are mine too. So, all I can do is conclude that A.D.D. is contagious because if it weren't, I'd be able to keep my project areas clean, right? And for the life of me, I cannot find a system that works - I've tried various forms of inboxes for mail and throwing away junk mail right away, going through coupons right away, putting things away as soon as we're done with them, etc. You notice the theme? Everything has to be done in the moment. A.D.D. is in the moment, but it's a flutter of distractions within that moment and you may never get back to things that you have not finished completely.

So, because we've been so busy, our house has gotten beyond a point that I can manage.Mind you, we were already relaxed on chores like sweeping, vacuuming and dusting. Our main focuses are laundry, groceries, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, mowing and making sure there are clean sheets and towels available. Josh helps with these items as well. But throughout the house, there are areas that I call "Josh bombs". It's where he's started a project and got distracted mid-stream and left the remains of the project there. Most of the time, I just walk past these projects because I know that eventually he'll get back to it, but right now, he's not been able to prioritize them either. And it doesn't help our situation at all that I have been stacking papers everywhere like I was so kindly trained to do. So, the busy factor is wearing on us and our house is showing it. We're barely keeping up with the list I mentioned before, so I need to come up with a plan. I'm seriously considering hiring a maid and a lawn care person, but I worry we don't have enough money to cover these on a regular basis. My friend Carrie told me that when she decides to clean, she tackles one room at a time and takes anything that doesn't belong in that room to the room it does belong to, but goes back immediately to the room she was working in. Seems simple enough. I mentioned it to Josh and he is willing to try, so this week, we're going to try to tackle one room in this manner. Just one.

I'll keep you posted with our progress.

Until next time.....

Jen Crandall

Wife/Manager, Brass Hammer Designs (Follow our Facebook, our etsy store and follow me on Twitter!)

P.S. RAW LIFE at the Crandalls: a picture of every living space in our house and what we're starting with today, right now....