82. How to Manage Household Chores as a Busy SLP

In this episode of the podcast, I’m sharing practical strategies to manage household responsibilities even when you're exhausted from back-to-back sessions and endless paperwork. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by chores or struggled to maintain a sense of order at home, this episode is for you.

We’ll talk about:

• Setting a realistic baseline for home organization so your space feels calm, not chaotic.
• How to weave household tasks into your daily routine instead of letting them pile up.
• Why you should ditch all-or-nothing thinking and embrace progress over perfection.

Most importantly, we’ll discuss how to separate your self-worth from the state of your home—because a clean house does not define your value.

Plus, don’t miss details about upcoming live Facebook sessions and a January webinar on using ChatGPT to boost productivity. Whether you're trying to create more balance at home, at work, or both, this episode will help you take the next step.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 - Welcome to the show
00:56 - Why your home environment matters
03:15 - The link between a calm space and a calm mind
06:12 - Setting your baseline for organization
13:17 - Simple tips to maintain your baseline
18:47 - Exciting events coming soon

Register for the upcoming free workshop on how to use ChatGPT to save you time!

To find out how I can help you create work-life balance, click here.

Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!

Follow me on Instagram! @theresamharp

Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.

Transcript

Welcome to Work-Life Balance for Speech Pathologists. I'm Theresa Harp, an SLP and productivity coach, and this podcast is all about how to build a successful career as an SLP and still have time for yourself and the people and things you love. So if you're ready to ditch stress and burnout for a more balanced and fulfilling life, then you are in the right place. Let's dive in. 

Hello SLPs, PTs, OTs. Welcome back to the show. I am your host, Teresa Harp. If you're new here, I'm an SLP and a certified productivity coach. And this podcast is all about managing all the things on your to do list at work and at home as a busy SLP so that you can feel successful in both areas of your life and really start to build your version of work life balance.

And in today's episode, I'm talking about A [00:01:00] little bit about a little bit of a different topic. I'm shifting the focus here from work related. life to home related life. More specifically, I'm going to be talking about how to prioritize the different tasks and jobs and chores and responsibilities that come along with running a household, keeping up with your home, when you are a busy person.

SLP or busy professional or even if you are in a season of life where you are home full time That is this is an episode that is still going to be helpful for you Okay Now the reason why I want I wanted to talk about this topic specifically right now as I'm recording this. It is the very beginning of 2025.

And I, this topic was top of mind because [00:02:00] this tends to be a time of year when a lot of people are focused on things like organizing and decluttering and, you know, purging and redesigning their home. I mean, Um, not actually redesigning your entire home, but sort of starting to make changes to different rooms in your house and what kind of stuff you have and how you keep track of it and all, all those things, right?

I know I love to start decluttering this time of year. I like to declutter any time of year, but especially this time of year because lots of other people are doing it too and I get so inspired by seeing people's posts and pictures of before and afters and all that stuff. Now that's sort of why this is relevant right now, but if you're listening to this episode at a different time of year.

Um, this is not your typical like, oh, here's how you purge everything in your home and become a minimalist [00:03:00] in the beginning of the year. This is more about how to keep up with those household responsibilities when maybe you feel like you're drowning at work or maybe you feel like you're drowning at home too.

I don't know about you, but when I am. Working hard and I, especially when I used to work outside of the home, when I would come home at the end of the day to a house that was calm, organized, it wasn't cluttered, that helped me feel so much better. I could sort of come back to this like safe space, this haven, where it was craziness all day and I was going, going, going.

You know, doing intervention in daycares, in homes, in my office, wherever. But when I would get home and the house was a wreck, and there were [00:04:00] dishes in the sink and laundry piled up, I never felt like I had the opportunity to relax and unwind. I just went from one stressful environment to a different stressful environment.

But what I noticed was the more that I invested the time and energy in keeping up with things at home, even when work felt really chaotic, the better it was for my mental health. I was less stressed, you know, less anxious. And what I'll also offer is that the more organized and, and sort of, I don't know, the more you can keep up with those day to day tasks at home, the more productive you can be.

The more productive you can be because I don't know about you, but when I'm in a controlled space where there is organization and clear spaces, I [00:05:00] can focus better. I'm less distracted. I'm less, um, I'm less fiddling. I'm not fiddling as much with my hands. I can just sort of dial in and focus on my work.

So regardless of your motivation, Whether it's to reduce your stress, whether it's to help you be more productive at home, whether it's to, you know, for a source of pride, whatever the motivation is, I think we can all agree that having certain things managed at home can be incredibly beneficial. So that's what this episode is about.

But I know, right, the problem, I know the problem is You're stressed. You work long hours, many of you. You have a lot of work that you probably take home with you. And so I know this isn't always easy to achieve. But I'm going to give you some tips and give you some food for thought that will hopefully help you start making progress in this area.

[00:06:00] Okay? All right. So let's dig into the how, okay? The actual meat and potatoes, as I would say. All right. I've got a couple of recommendations for you. The first thing that I would encourage you to do is to identify what I refer to as your baseline. That's what I call, call it my baseline, that's what I call it at home.

It's this certain level of organization and cleanliness in your home that you consider to sort of be your, your ground zero, your baseline. It's essentially the Minimum viable product. I don't know if you have a private practice or if you're in the business world, you probably are familiar with MVPs, not most valuable players, but the minimal viable product.

So the lowest level of clean, in this case, the lowest level of organized, in this case, [00:07:00] that it's just enough Just enough that helps you feel centered, helps you feel calm. It is critical that you identify what this is because it's going to be different for every person. Okay? For every person. And I'll also offer that It is impossible to keep a tidy, organized home 100 percent of the time without sacrificing your mental and physical well being, okay?

That's not the goal. That's not realistic. So if we're sort of Approaching this in the most realistic way possible, it can be very helpful for you to identify your baseline. Now, a couple of ways that you can do this, if you're struggling to do this, if you are struggling to think of what your baseline would consist of, okay?

Here are some suggestions for you. Number one, identify the areas. [00:08:00] around your house or the things around your house that when they are out of order, you get triggered. So it could be piles of laundry on the floor. It could be dishes in the sink. Uh, it might be crumbs on the floor. I'm thinking of that one because I was walking on the floor the other day and I could feel tiny, tiny crumbs that I was stepping on.

And that for me is like a sensory thing and it's just, it drives me nuts. So. It triggers me. I don't like it when the floors, when my floors are dirty. Right, you know, they're not spotless for sure. And trust me, they're not always clean. But, in general, you know, I got four kids. They're relatively young. We got a lot of crumbs on the floor.

It happens. But I don't like it when the floor is not vacuumed or it's not swept. Um, another one could be an unmade bed. And that got me thinking about all of you and wondering how many of you who are listening make your bed every day and how many of you don't. [00:09:00] No judgment at all. For some people they could care less.

I know for me I make my bed every day. That's just it feels good to me. I like to get in bed at night when the bed is made and it sets me on the On a I guess a good path. It's sort of like the start of my morning routine. So for me a made bed But I don't care if my kids make their beds Um, personally, um, most of the time I don't, it doesn't bother me.

Our mornings are crazy and I'm not going to invest the time or fight the battle of having them make their bed every morning. Will we get there at some point? I hope so. I would like them to form that habit, but it's not a priority right now. So, identify the things around your house that trigger you when they are out of order, okay?

Um, I know for some people, I know one person, it was blankets unfolded on the couch, like that drove them crazy, but when the blankets were folded and put in their place, they felt like their [00:10:00] house was in order. So this is what you have to think about, okay? When you start thinking of these things, I would select the top three to five, like the ones that really trigger the most visceral reaction for you, and those become your baseline.

Because, I don't know about you, I would love for my whole house to be in order, but that's just not realistic. So kind of come up with your initial brain dump list of your triggers and then select the top three to five. And once you have those, I want you to ask yourself this question, is this sustainable?

So are the things that you have selected as your baseline, are they realistic and sustainable? Meaning, can you realistically complete those tasks? At the frequency that you would like them to be completed without disrupting. [00:11:00] Your other areas of life and your sleep and your peace of mind and all of that, okay?

You really have to be realistic here. So ask yourself. Is this sustainable? An Alternative for you if this concept of your baseline doesn't work well for you and for your brain consider this you can think about a specific room or a specific area in your home That you prioritize in terms of cleaning and organization.

So maybe instead of a general level of baseline for your home, maybe it is, okay, I've identified that this room needs to be managed. Like this particular room needs to be tidy and organized and when it is I, I have that space to feel calm and to decompress and relax and I'm okay with just this space and the other rooms I [00:12:00] could care less.

So that's an option. I, I tend to stick with the baseline in general but when life is crazy. And I'm out of my normal routine or like there's extra things, extra demands on my schedule and I can't kind of keep up with baseline all the time, I switch to a sort of room. I'm like, okay, well this room is going to stay managed.

Okay? So you can do that in general all the time or you can kind of do that. Um, throughout, you know, as needed, um, during busy seasons of life. But either way, whether you do a specific room, like what I'll call a zone cleaning, or you have your baseline, I'm going to give you some tips that are going to support you with keeping up with it.

Okay? Because, yeah, you've got your baseline. You've got your, your triggers. You know that for you it is, let's say, dishes in the sink, clean counters in the kitchen, Clean. Okay, let's say those are three of your baselines. [00:13:00] So you've identified those, but we still have to talk about how do you actually keep up with those?

How do you manage those things when you're managing all the other things as a busy SLP, as a mom, as a spouse, as a human, whatever. Okay, so here are some tips for you. The first one being get out of all or nothing thinking. This is not all or nothing. This is not perfect or a disaster. So you need to stop thinking and falling into that trap of all or nothing.

Now, this is so common. Our brain does this often, just. Naturally, okay, you might not even realize it's happening, but this is a great concept that will be helpful for you in any context of your life, not just about cleaning. And if you want to learn more or hear more about all or nothing thinking, I've got an episode for you.

It's episode two, all the way back in the beginning, [00:14:00] break free from all or nothing thinking. That is a very popular episode. I would definitely go check it out. Okay, so all or nothing thinking. I had to stop to let the dog in, he was scratching at the door, but I am back. Another suggestion for you, similar to all or nothing thinking, is the concept of done is better than perfect.

Do your floors need to be absolutely immaculate? Do they have to be mopped down or can you just sort of pick things up off the floor or do a quick sweep or vacuum so that you've got crumbs taken care of, okay? Do you have to have all of the dishes done and the sink cleaned out and wiped down? Or can you just sort of commit to getting them into the dish, getting dishes into the dishwasher and doesn't have to be perfect, okay?

So done is better than perfect and don't get stuck in all or nothing thinking. [00:15:00] Third tip that I have for you. is think about how you can incorporate those specific, you know, your level of baseline, those specific key tasks into your current daily routines. What is the easiest way to incorporate those tasks into what you're already doing?

Because I have noticed That when I sort of piggyback those tasks onto things that I'm already doing, it's easier for me to keep up with them and get them done. So, here's an example for you. If one of your triggers or one of your priorities is dishes, Maybe you run your dishwasher every night if you have a dishwasher.

You put the dishes and you run it at night, every night. And then you do a [00:16:00] quick unload in the morning while your coffee is warming up. While you're making your coffee. So, dishwasher runs at night, you wake up, you start making your coffee, and while the coffee's being made, you quickly unload the dishwasher.

That's an example for you. Okay? So it's taking your trigger, which would be dishes in the sink, and factoring in how to manage that routine within something you're already doing. For, you know, instance, making your coffee, okay? So think about how you can sort of work these into the routines that you already have.

I'm trying to think of another example for you. I One thing that I, um, can't stand is when the bathroom countertop and the sink is dirty. Like my kids, I don't know what they do with their toothpaste. I think they paint with it. They take it and paint in the sink with their toothpaste and it drives me nuts.

And [00:17:00] no matter what, I've tried. In terms of, you know, teaching them how we use toothpaste like humans and not animals. It still winds up there. So one of the things that I will do is while I'm kind of nearby while my youngest is bathing, I will wipe down the sink while he's in there. And so it's just Already, it's a routine I'm already doing, which is bath time, and I'm wiping down the sink very quickly while he's doing that.

So it's working those routines into already existing routines. Hopefully that makes sense. And the last tip that I have for you on this topic is this. Please, please, please make sure that you are not confusing organization and cleanliness with your personal value and your self worth. How clean or how organized your home is It means absolutely nothing about your value as a person.[00:18:00] 

So if you are constantly trying to quote unquote keep up with everything at home because you think if you don't it means something about you, stop that because it Those two things are unrelated. They have nothing to do with one another. So, do not continue to put those unrealistic and unnecessary expectations on yourself.

It is not helping you in any way. We're only prioritizing organization or household tasks and household responsibilities. If they are helping you, Not if they are harming you. So don't use any of this against yourself. All right. Okay, quick recap, and then let me mention something that's coming up for you that you might want to take advantage of.

So, quick recap, when you are working to keep up with things at home, [00:19:00] the best way that you can do this, in my opinion, is to identify what your baseline is, or identify a zone of your home that you want to prioritize. And, um, Put those specific tasks or that specific area at the top of your list.

Everything else is just icing on the cake. And in your efforts to keep up with those areas, make sure that you're not getting stuck in all or nothing thinking. Make sure you're not confusing cleanliness and organization with your value and your self worth. And see how you can work those tasks into some of your daily routines that you're already doing.

If this is something that was helpful for you or if you want more of this, I have something for you if you're listening to this live. And if you're not, stay with me anyway because you can still benefit from this. On Wednesday, January 15th of 2025, I'm going live. And the SLP support group on Facebook at [00:20:00] 2 p.

m. Eastern. It was supposed to be noon Eastern, had to move it to 2 p. m. Eastern. And I'm going to be talking in more detail about productivity tips for your home. So some sort of hacks and tips to help you execute on the stuff that we talked about today. So if you want more of this or you're looking for more of specifically more tactical, tangible tips, make sure you either Catch that Facebook Live on the 15th of January at two o'clock.

Or just pop into the SLP support group and you can watch the replay because those lives are always in there. So join me live or catch the replay. The link for the SLP support group is always in the show notes. And one last thing. I don't know if I've mentioned this on the podcast yet, but either way, whether I have or haven't, make sure you are marking your calendar for Thursday, January 30th.

month [00:21:00] of this month, this year, Thursday, January 30th at 7 p. m. Eastern, I'm hosting a free workshop, a free webinar, all about how to use chat GPT to be more productive at work. And at home. So I would love for you to be able to join me for that. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be packed with useful tips.

So make sure that you register to save your spot for that. It's happening on Zoom. You do need to register so that way you get the link to attend and you get access to the replay for a limited time afterwards. So if you can't make it live on Thursday the 30th at 7 p. m. Eastern on Zoom. Then you can always catch, you can check, I'm sorry, you can catch the replay for a short amount of time.

It will be available for you. Um, but [00:22:00] really, truly, I hope you can join me. It's going to be really fun. It's going to have a lot of useful tips and I'm really looking forward to it. All right, that's it for today's episode. Hope to see you all in the SLP support group and on Zoom on January 30th and I will talk to you all then.