Do It Like Jane

I have a lead foot when I drive. I get onto the open road and I go fast. Don’t get me wrong. In the city, residential areas, school and playground zones, I obey the rules of the road. But the open highway? I just go. Fast. I know that people hate the multi-nova cameras, but for me they are a blessing. Yes I get lots of fines. I also don’t pay them on time so I also get extra penalties. But I don’t get demerits on my license. Because the big penalty is then losing my license. Which happened to me some ten plus years ago. Only for a month but that was long enough for me. But my shitty driving isn’t what this is about. It is what happened after I was forced to hand over my license for a month. I turned to my friend and neighbour Jane.

I had a rental property 2 hours away from my home. I was in the middle of renovating the building when that final ticket sent me over the number of demerits. It was at this time that Jane wasn’t busy at work. They ran a business that was somewhat seasonal and we were hitting the slow time. And so I hired Jane to be my driver. I had a man hired to do the renovations but I was his helper. And so Jane became a helper too. Just between you and me she was his favourite. She was focussed. Task oriented and hard working. I on the other hand am ADHD. Many a time I would leave the room Jane and I were in to find a tool, or talk to Jake, the carpenter. Inevitably when I would fail to return, Jane would come and find me. She would take my hand and laugh as she led me back to the task we had been working on. I would be in the middle of something different, having completely forgotten why I was where I was. And so I would just start on something else. I am not the finisher in life. That was when Jane got a very personal glimpse into my life and how I approach things. It was also when I got a glimpse in the life of someone who wasn’t ADHD. The closer.

We had a lot of fun that month. We would stay in a motel for a few days and then come home for a few days. Then back we would go. Man we accomplished a lot. All because of her and her work ethic. Jake was sad to see her time with us end. I may have owned the house and paid the bills but in his eyes he was the boss I wasn’t the greatest helper. I have known Jane for 35 years. We are not the same. In fact whenever I see something in my neighbourhood changing and I like the change, my first thought is, Jane is going to hate this. Politics, religion, everything, we are not on the same page. We learned so much about each other during the days of my self induced license loss. She earned why I am the way I am. Even today when talking about things that need doing, she gets a little smile on her face. Jane knows what’s up. She knows my annuals aren’t finished being planted into mid July. Just because. But she also knows if I am cleaning my garage I won’t be seen for five days and all of the tools will be sorted and put away. But she also isn’t surprised that my Christmas tree is still on my deck in July. Not stored away in the garage where it should be. That takes 5 minutes. I have come to realize that we both have our downfalls as well as our strengths. But sometimes I just want to borrow her superpower for a day. I want to do it like Jane.

Since my husband died I have really noticed the things he used to do. Silly things but important. I bought a new printer on June 17th. I brought it home, set it up on the dining room table and spent a lot of time getting it ready. The box and all the Styrofoam was put in the living room. I proceeded to use the printer and left all of the test printouts and printer paraphernalia on the table. Now in the past my husband would leave it for a day or two. Then he would have put things away. Recycling for the box. The printer would be moved. Maybe not where it belonged, but out of the dining room. So now, living alone it doesn’t take long for me to create utter chaos in my home. I don’t notice it normally so it takes awhile before I do something. Well that was last week. As I wandered through the house I felt the urge to deep clean my home. As I stood in the hallway I was overwhelmed by the visual nightmare I was witnessing. Now I am more of a cleaner than a tidier. So I will clean my bathrooms often. I clean out closets regularly and wash down baseboard and casings more than the normal person. But if I drop something by the front door when I enter, it may sit there for weeks. My golf clubs are on the window seat in the living room as I write because I am too lazy to bring them into the basement when I am just going to golf in five days.

So last week I stood looking around. Trying to gather my thoughts and make a plan when it hit me… Just do it like Jane. So I started at one end of the house and moved to the other. The rule was I had to finish a room before I could start on another. My bedroom was the first to be tackled. I removed the bedding. The eiderdown was hung outside to air out. I put the bedding in the washer and got to work. Pillows were put in the dryer to fluff and the mattress was vacuumed and then turned and vacuumed again. I dusted and vacuumed and then washed down all of the baseboards and casings. I removed the screens from the windows and rinsed them replacing them after washing the window. The floor was vacuumed and lightly washed and even the ceiling fan was washed down. All the bedding was replaced and I left the room feeling accomplished and somewhat Jane like. Next came the TV room. I was on a roll. Dust vacuum. Wash down everything. I got rid of toys from the toy drawer and put them in my car to take to the charity shop. It was hard because every time I left the room there was something to distract me. Through it all I just muttered to myself. Do it like Jane. You can do this.

Now for some reason I decided to start in the area where people don’t go. I mean guests. My go to is usually start with the rooms people see. But I changed that up. I thought it would give me the motivation to finish every room. But alas, as per usual, I overestimated my abilities and the living room was my down fall. Oh yes I moved the printer and the recycling. I brought the box to the recycling bin in the back alley. I know they recommend keeping it just in case you need to return the printer, but I have kept numerous boxes and never needed them. I threw caution to the wind. The box was gone but not really gone. It was still out there. Reminding me that I had only used the new printer once. I was rattled. Overthinking. I lost focus and started wandering into other rooms. I put a pop bottle into the return bucket and then decided to empty it into the garage bucket. The big one that I would eventually take in for refunds. So there I was in the garage. I tried to leave. But my God, the Reindeer and sleigh ornaments were just piled there. Where they had been tossed months ago. No they weren’t there since December or early January. I am not crazy. I left them in the front yard until March. So, you know. Before you know it I was cleaning the garage. Out came three hockey bags to air on the lawn. Emptied out, I then washed all of the socks, jerseys, towels and other washable crap. Bags were cleaned and after a week or so I’ve now finally put it all away and the bags are back on the shelves in the garage. I managed to take down the garland from the front deck as well and put it away with the Christmas decorations.

Exhausted I sat on the front deck with an iced coffee and wondered how it had all gone so wrong. But then I congratulated myself on all that I did get done. Yes perhaps the perfect hockey bags which no one used anymore weren’t seen by anyone. No one would care. But for some reason it made me feel good. And while I was muttering the mantra of “Just do it like Jane”, I did get lots done. Maybe not the whole house but my bedroom was so lovely that evening. It just felt spectacular. I realized my comfort in my home is the greatest priority. But I learned a great lesson that day. If you want to get things done the Jane method is fantastic. But I also learned that it is easier if Jane is there to keep you on task. The biggest lesson is this though. Jane doesn’t care what my house looks like. She understands why I struggle to get rid of the printer box. Which by the way I did leave in the alley bin. I know. It is a gamble but one I am willing to take in this new Jane era. To be fair. I didn’t fail, because I got so much more done than I would have if I had chosen the old familiar Cindy way. So I think I will continue to try the Jane way going forward and embrace the turning point when the Cindy way creeps in. The golf clubs are still on the window seat but I am golfing in 5 days. And they are heavy As for the Christmas tree, well, Christmas is only 23 weeks away so I guess it will stay where it is. Unless Janes comes over. I know she will put it away.