Q: Having been a homemaker for 23 years now, I find I am just plain getting bored with the same old tasks.  What can I do to overcome this negative attitude and help myself to feel energized and excited once again?

Daryl: I appreciate your candor about becoming bored with 23 years of homemaking.  I’m sure you’re not alone out there.  I would imagine that many jobs become tedious over time and require a “creative overhaul” periodically.  Some jobs are worse than others.  At least we’re not tethered to some assembly line or required to do piece work 8-12 hours a day!

Once, when my husband and I were in India (while serving a mission as welfare/ humanitarian administrators for the Church in Asia), we left our hotel early one morning and noted a woman squatted by the side of a vacant lot rubbing bricks together to rid them of mortar.  When we returned late that afternoon, she was still squatting there, sanding the bricks.  I might mention the temperature was over 100’ with humidity about equal.  There were flies swirling about her head and she was in a cloud of dust, stirred up from passing traffic.  All I have to do is picture her in my mind—I can still see her so clearly that I can almost hear the grating sound of the bricks as they were being rubbed against each other--and anything on my “to do” list that day is a pleasure. 

As I work about the house (dusting, ironing, cleaning plantation shutters, cutting/chopping food, doing handwork, etc.) I wear a head set (from Radio Shack for $35.00) and receive and send phone calls from my cordless phone.   I’ve been doing this for years and am not only caught up with my work but I find great pleasure in chatting with my daughters, daughters-in-law and various other family members and friends.   In addition, listening to CDs with talks, scriptures, music, etc. on a CD or MP3 player can provide an edifying distraction from routine housework.  

In my recent book, The Ultimate Career—the Art of Homemaking for Today, there’s reference to this challenge.  The entire chapter captioned, “The Climbing Bear Syndrome,” may have application, but the part about boredom specifically begins on p. 133.  There’s also related material on p. 130.

Most importantly, I try to visualize what I’m really doing—making a home, not just cleaning house.   The same principle applies to preparing meals and doing other routine tasks.  It’s the results, not the process, that are rewarding. 

Inviting friends over for dinner, taking dinner to someone who could benefit from a ready-made meal, or hosting a party can pep up an otherwise dull day.  Speaking of “dull” days, a woman once remarked that she didn’t keep a journal because her days were so ordinary.  Someone commented, “I’m grateful for an ordinary day—no one got sick, there were no accidents, all went as planned.  Now, that’s a journal entry!”  A wise person penned, “Normal day, let me see you for the treasure that you are."

For a more detailed treatment of this topic, please see my Spring Tune-up article.