Your stack of dirty dishes is turning into a massive mountain, growing larger every minute you put off the dreaded task. You’d rather be doing just about anything else than cleaning those dishes. But what if life’s mundane tasks didn’t have to feel like a huge mountain? What if doing the dishes felt fun, almost magical? In this article, learn how to make everyday humdrum tasks fun.

Podcast Version

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Putting It Off

You have things on your to-do list that aren’t fun. They’re not awful, they’re just mundane.

For example, today I have to clean my office and do bills. These things aren’t annoying or awful, but they do feel mundane.

I just hate doing them so I try to avoid them at all costs. It’s funny because doing my bills only takes about 15 minutes. But the amount of drama I have around it, you’d think it takes 3 hours.

Do you know why? Because it’s boring. And I’d much rather be doing something more exciting, like recording a podcast.

You have a thousand mundane things you also need to do. Let’s talk about how to make your mundane tasks more magical so you have more fun in your life (and spoiler alert — you’ll also knock your to-do list out of the park!)

It’s Mundane

So much of life is mundane.

Here’s part of my to-do list for the week:

-Schedule my yearly physical (it’s been over two years)
-Clean the bathroom
-Meal Plan
-Wash the stack of pots in the kitchen

I don’t know about you, but for each of these, I’m not jumping out of bed to get started.

Thank goodness for my GEMS system because without it, nothing would ever get done.

Because none of us wants to do mundane tasks.

How Can We Make Boring Things Magical?

How can you shift your energy from feeling bleh about these tasks to make them more fun, almost magical?

What would make cleaning a kitchen something that didn’t feel mundane?

Oh, did you expect an answer?

Nope. I’m going to throw that question right back at ya.

Take one thing that you have to do TODAY. How can you shift it from feeling mundane to something positive?

The reason why I threw this back to you is because you and I are so different. What uplifts me may not uplift you. So this is something you really need to consider and reach deep inside you.

I’ll give you some examples but know that this is the type of thing you’ll have to pay attention to.

Notice when you’re feeling bleh about doing something.

And then ask yourself, what can I do to make this more magical?

Example #1: Cleaning the Kitchen

Let’s talk about something that for most of us, is not exactly a treat. Let’s imagine that your kids have helped you bake in the kitchen. And your kids are about 6 or 8 years old.

First, you’re exhausted from all the excitement. It was so much fun but now you’re ready for a nap. Actually, the kids are watching TV because they’re exhausted, too.

Now you just want to climb into bed but you have a sink full of dishes, and not easy ones. Bowls with greasy butter and other things that need to be hand-washed.

There’s flour everywhere. Even the bottom of the counter. How’s this even possible?

Okay, so how do you make this gross, exhausting scene magical?

Well, let’s learn from my husband. Sometimes our spouses are the best people to learn from.

Here’s what he does. I’m not kidding you. He lights a candle, puts on music or a podcast, if it’s night, he dims the light, and with no one else in the room (that’s the most magical part of all this. How does he finagle that one?) he starts cleaning.

I would say that’s pretty magical. It’s almost like it’s his self-care time.

I’m sure he doesn’t consider it as such, but when you make the time truly magical, you have a two for one! Time to nourish yourself and time to get stuff done.

Where Does this Concept Come From?

I was inspired for this episode from the ONLY you-tuber that I follow. You know she’s good because I don’t have time to be watching YouTube videos.

Her name is Jennifer Scott and her channel is the Daily Connoisseur.

She tends to her house and family like I dream of doing. She believes it’s important to take care of our house and ourselves and this is the message she teaches.

She teaches we shouldn’t see the work we do as mundane. It’s not mundane. It’s important. It blesses our family and our ourselves.

In every video she practices what she preaches. She cleans with mindfulness. She enjoys the process. I was recently listening to a video where she mentioned that instead of putting on an audiobook, she chose to listen to the sounds of cleaning.

She lights a candle and off she goes to her cleaning.

I thought her message was so important and I wanted to share it on the podcast even though

I haven’t mastered this concept. I’m not even close.

But we don’t have to be perfect to talk about something, right?

And once I thought of this, I realized that there actually are many areas where I do make the mundane magical and I don’t even realize.

Same with you! I’m sure you do this many times naturally, so think about where you do this and what a difference it makes in your life.

Example #2: Working

Let me share where I do this so you can start thinking about where you make the mundane magical, and how you can do this more.

And I can’t help but share what the scene looks like as I write my outline for this episode.

I’m was in my office and I bought a beautiful handblown glass timer. It has turquoise sand. It’s a beautiful shade that makes my heart sing. I turned it upside down and the sand is flowing, marking in a non-digital way that I’m doing some focused work.

It’s so beautiful.

I was also typing my outline in a beautiful app called Bear (it’s for Mac). I just found it and it’s a beautiful app. The user interface is clean and clear. The default font is so beautiful, I love it.

I had my favorite mug that says “hope” next to me.

Does this scene sound magical? It sure feels that way to me.

I’m making something that could feel like hard work instead feel so nourishing.

If I wanted to take it up a notch, I could be diffusing essential oils.

See where I’m going with this?

Your Challenge

Think about something you’ve done that you’ve elevated so it feels fancy. Elegant. Nurturing. I bet you can come up with something.

And then, think about how you can do this more in your life.

How can you elevate doing the laundry so it feels like “me time” instead of yet something else on your list?

And once you think of some ways you can do this, you need to share.

Please let us know in the Facebook group so others can learn from you..

So go ahead. Start taking your to-do list and find a way to elevate it so it feels magical instead of mundane.

With fun and fairy dust,
Rina