12. WHAT THE FLUFF?!

I need to get this out there right from the start.  My incredibly tall, kind, and handsome husband does laundry.  Often.  As in, several loads a week. I KNOW!  He was sent straight from the heavenly laundry room in the sky like a cherub nestled in a freshly washed and folded basket of towels.

[Picture me with the back of my hand resting along my brow, swooning.]

But also…

My husband washes three king sized sheet sets in one load.  My washer can take it but my poor dryer is exhausted. It’s stuffed to the brim and needs to be restarted four times to get the job done.  It’s so packed the sheets don’t have room to tumble.  The cotton can’t breathe and nothing dries.

So, as I’m untangling the latest mess of knotted, half-dry linens and thinking, “what the FLUFF has he done?!” Then it hits me.  My husband believes in the dryer like I used to believe in myself. 

Stay with me.

For the longest time, I believed I could cram more into my schedule.  I was sure I could fit 11 meetings in before 5:00 PM.  No problem!  To get it done, I’d forgo all meals and bathroom breaks; but it was totally doable.  I was certain I could shoulder multiple massive projects, meet with donors, teach classes, foster leadership development, problem solve, deliver outstanding parenting, writing, speaking, homework help, nutritious meal planning, yoga, and meditation.  (Can’t you?) 

And maybe I could do all of those things well…but not in one cycle.

I think we have a choice to make, friends.  We can pack the dryer full and run it MANY times over, or we can choose fewer things to do well, then reload.

Listen, I still work really hard and I still cram my day full; but I recognize I can only do so much well at one time.  Multi-tasking is a myth—there’s lots of research to prove it. Spend your mental energy deciding what goes in each cycle (ie. prioritize), then let ‘er spin. It feels great to do things to the best of our ability and it leaves us feeling energized rather than depleted.

Remarkable insights from folding laundry, right?  I’m telling you, I can find the advantage in ANYTHING.

Oh, one more thing. You know what I say to my husband when he does the laundry this way? I say, “thank you.”

And I mean it.