Just a Spoonful of Sugar: Why Chores Don't Have to Suck

Just a Spoonful of Sugar: Why Chores Don't Have to Suck

Let's face it, there are a lot of things in this life that we have to do that we don't want to do. I personally find myself constantly overwhelmed with work plus home responsibilities. Add in some depression and endless fatigue, and you have the recipe for a pretty miserable day (week, month, year...). Honestly, even without depression, with all the demands on us nowadays, it can be hard to keep up!  As with everything else, depression only makes it worse. When I'm having an episode, even the simplest chores seem like they take enormous amounts of effort. I want to be in bed, not spring cleaning my house!

In the movie Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins (Julie Andrew) sings a fun little song about how a little bit of sugar can make even the yuckiest tasting medicine go down a little better. She uses the metaphor to illustrate how work can become bearable (dare I say even fun), when you add something to it that you enjoy. 

The chore I hate more than anything in the world is washing dishes! So when I  finally make myself do them, I always put on my favorite music and sing my heart out. The same thing goes for when I clean my house on the weekends. I'm in a karaoke singing group, so sometimes I put on my songs and practice; combining two things I need to do, practice and clean. Other times, I may put on some Cuban music and add some (bad) dancing  as well. Does it take me a little longer to finish? Sure. I could put my head down and grind through it a lot quicker without the extra stuff, but where's the fun in that?

Adding a little sugar doesn't just apply to chores, either. When I did data entry work, I use to listen to exciting audiobooks. My favorite? Dracula! The story would be so thrilling, I would forget I was doing the most mundane boring work in the world. I also listened to audiobooks back when  I  was commuting 3 hours a day.  It's amazing how much faster that time goes by when you are engrossed in a novel.

So now it's your turn. Try to come up with ways to make things you don't want to do more enjoyable. Commuting to work everyday draining your soul? Pop in a language learning cd and learn a new language. Exercising the bane of your existence? Put of some music and dance around your house to burn those calories. Hate folding laundry? Put on that new movie you've been wanting to check out and fold away. And of course, we can't forgot to the power of literal sugar to help sweeten things up. I'm not suggesting you eat a whole bag of mini snickers (put the bag down!), but maybe you can have one of them as a reward for following through with that project (we all have one), that you didn't want to do but did.

Please leave me a comment on what you plan to sweeten up this week. I'd love to hear from you.

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