With me, the annoyance factor has to build up to intolerable levels . . . or company needs to be coming.

This week the annoyance project was replacing my bedroom door lock which has not worked since I moved into this house over three years ago. If I wanted the door to stay closed, I had to push something against it. A $45 purchase of a lock from eBay and now I have a door that latches and even locks.

A few months ago it was a couple troublesome bifold doors that I cursed under my breath each time I used them. $100 in good bifold door hardware and all is well.

Now I have moved on to getting a light kit for the ceiling fan fixture. I could make a list of a hundred such projects. I find that letting them bubble to the top of the annoyance list is the best way to sort them out.

"Just Do It"

Great idea and your post was very inspirational thanks I'll try it tomorrow lol

Thank you for this inspiration. The net around our trampoline ripped a month ago. I bought some black nylon cord to fix it the next day. A month later, it's still sitting on the counter and I still look out the window at that hole in the net every day. I'm going to JUST DO IT and fix it right now!

Mustangs, you've outlined a great method for accomplishing many household tasks. I use it with my dryer... since we remodeled it lives inside (formerly in the garage). So I hear it chime. I challenge myself to get to it before it rings a second time. AND make myself put things away immediately so I have space to fold the next load. This mentality rubs off on other little jobs... try it, you'll like it!

Yes! How many times have I had that same broken door lock/bifold door kind of situation where I lived with something annoying for years waiting for the problem to solve itself or for the "perfect" solution to emerge, and then got it resolved virtually instantly once I just decided to get it done?

Right now, we've been in this house 3 years and one of DD's bedrooms has no light switch. THREE YEARS. I believe I have had the replacement switch for two years, sitting on the shelf.

I did tackle and get accomplished two rather large projects this month: sanding and repainting an exterior door and painting my interior stair railings. They look so much better I am kicking myself that I didn't do them, oh, three years ago!

I have a small backyard garden which I've been watering faithfully a couple times a week. The problem is my garden hose connection leaked at 2 spots-including at the outdoor spigot where I turn the water on and off. I was always getting myself and my shoes soaked whenever I turned the handle. Yesterday I went to Home depot and bought some rubber washers for $1.19. Fixed perfectly! I wish I'd done this in March! I put up with a lot more than $1.19 in aggravation!

Well, you all are using the Just Do It mantra better than I am! It is working for me with minor projects; the larger ones are still nagging at me. I still have a major incoming paper project, wallpaper removal, take stuff to consignment shop, etc.

But I do feel better with my minor Just Do It projects.

I sometimes say, "if not now, than when?"
There's a Melanie song (I think) that has this as one of the lyrics, and it plays in my head.

And then there is "Perfect is the enemy of good." I have been saying that to myself as I scrape old paint off my porch. I try not to be obsessive about areas that no one will ever see unless they are standing on a ladder and bending sideways.

I'm making a list of those nagging little chores I keep putting off. Like today I'm going to finally clean the sink in my basement. It's an old iron "stationary tub" that was put in when the house was built circa 1957. It's nasty. I've used it occasionally for cleaning garden tools and other messy jobs. As a result, there's a caked-on layer of mud and rust in the bottom. I'm going to scrape it, dump the stuff out then give the sink a good swish and swipe cleaning. Every time I do laundry I see that nasty sad old thing! Today I'll Just Do It! Then pick my neglected chore for tomorrow!

My mantra for when things start building up, or when I have a seemingly overwhelming project, is "Do one thing". By doing just one thing, it usually leads to another and another, and before I know it, I've gotten so much accomplished and can cross them off my mental "to do" list.
It gives me permission to not HAVE to do the whole thing, and I don't feel guilty if I haven't gotten it all done. I've done what I set out to do...one thing. (and usually alot more) which gives me a sense of accomplishment.

The "do one thing" worked for me last night. I got home from work a few minutes early and decided I had just enough time to sort through my underwear drawer. It only took a couple of minutes, but looked so good that I decided to do one shelf of the linen closet. I ended up doing the whole closet except the top shelf before my DH even got home.
I think some chores get put off because we think they will take longer than they actually do.

Re: the "do one thing" idea--

Several years ago I came up with "do a dozen."

It came because of my apathy for folding clothes. So I said, "just do a dozen." (socks don't count, I decided.

So I folded 12 items. And, well, maybe 20. Or, some nights I stopped at 12. But hey--12 things were folded, right?

I started using it w/ my kids: take 12 things off the floor and put them in the empty clothes basket, quick--don't evaluate, just count. Then, put those 12 things away--can you do it in 2 minutes or less? Somehow chopping it down to those 12 items made it easier for them to see what to do. (Sometimes I'd be the one to put the 12 things in, and they'd put them away)