Have you ever noticed that there are two different standards to getting your house in order? There is, of course, the everyday standard of cleanliness and organization to which we all become accustomed. There is also the perfection you seek when you are listing your house for sale. You purge the clutter, you polish and shine all the surfaces, and fix all those things that were nagging you, but weren’t worth the time or energy in everyday life.

One of my colleagues and friends recently moved into new construction. I complimented her on the listing pictures of the property she had for sale. We laughed about how your house never looks better than when you are selling it. In fact, we both remarked that seeing the listing photos of your current home always make you wonder why in the world you would ever move.

With several kids now out of the house, we’ve talked about downsizing, but I hesitate at that idea. I love our current house, and after all, we just moved a few years ago. I’m not ready to begin that process once again.

I am in the midst of another move, one to another career opportunity. True to form, I am spending a lot of time cleaning up — my office, files, contacts — and tying up loose ends so I can leave the place in amazing shape for the next “owner.”

Why do we do this? What is the phenomenon that makes it ok for us to live or work in conditions that are certainly good enough for our every day, but somehow not good enough (in our opinion) for the next person? I have a couple of observations.

First and foremost, the pace of work and life is unrelenting. There are simply things that fall to the bottom of the priority list. Over time, you adapt and don’t even see it as a problem. At home, it may be a door handle on the pantry that is loose or a stain on the rug that you never quite got out. At work, it is the processes that you never got around to documenting or electronic files that didn’t get named correctly and filed in the right place. YOU have been able to adapt and live and work without noticing the disarray or inefficiency of these things. But it is certainly not acceptable to leave them for someone else to deal with.

Secondly, we do a poor job admitting we can’t do everything, and we often delegate tasks to those who are good at the things we are not. I have someone clean my house. It Is a luxury, but it is either that or give up time with my family and friends, which I am not willing to do. On the other hand, I still resist getting a repair person to come and fix that loose door handle (and the other things that have some loose over the years) because I will get to it someday. (As a side note, it is really hard to find a good repair person right now. We need more people in trades!) I have also learned about myself that I am good at establishing processes, but not always great about following all the finest of details. This is something I need to delegate.

Finally, deep down, we don’t want people to know that we are a little messy. No one is perfect and things fall through the cracks. Unless you have unlimited time and unlimited resources, tradeoffs happen and there are things that don’t get done. Until you are ready to move and then ALL the things get done. Or at least as many as you can get to before you turn over the keys (or they shut off your access to the network).

My challenge to you all as we start this new season is to do some fall cleaning – either at your house or your office, maybe both. Tackle those tasks that you’ve been putting off because of shifting everyday priorities. You’re just as deserving (if not more so) than the next person to have everything in order.

Preparing for a move

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