Becky Rapinchuk - Clean Mamas Guide to a Peaceful Home: Effortless Systems and Joyful Rituals for a Calm, Cozy Home

To my family, home is anywhere you are

Every single day were barraged with millions of decisions to makeeverything from how often to hit the snooze button to how to handle a conflict at work. Even something as simple as picking up milk at the store has turned into a complex process with dozens of options where once there was one.

Its too much. Our brains were not designed to handle the onslaught of stimuli that comes with our hyperconnected world, and our bodies were not designed to handle the stress of an increasingly demanding, frenetic pace. And while home should be the one place we can go to find peace and quietour sanctuary in the stormtoo often we feel stressed and overwhelmed when we get there.

At our house, for example, managing the dishes is a constant source of conflict. At the beginning and end of a busy day, the last thing anyone wants to do is load or unload the dishwasher! As someone who loves a good organized checklist and routine, I know there must be a way to make this task easier. A way that taking care of my home doesnt have to be yet another chore but could actually put my mind at ease and perhaps, just perhaps, even be a bit enjoyable.

Because isnt that what were ultimately after? Creating a home that feels peaceful? Making it a space for conversation and games and connection with those we love?

I want you to love your home again. So much so that I want this book to be a love letter to your home. Lets look at how to stop feeling overwhelmed and put some practices in place to turn your home into a haven.

How can we possibly simplify our lives and protect our limited energy? How can we save our mental and physical resources for what matters when were constantly overloaded with what doesnt? Ive found that it comes down to implementing two simple things: systems and rituals.

By definition, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a system is an organized or established procedure and/or a harmonious arrangement or pattern, while a ritual is an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner. Depending on your personality and the current state of your home, these definitions either make you more or less excited to read this book. Spoiler alert: systems and rituals can make the little things in life more enjoyable, even chores and tasks that you have previously disliked. If you think about it for a minute, youll realize that life is full of systems and ritualseating meals, answering emails and texts, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, signaling before you turn your car, washing your hands before eating, putting clothes in the dryer after they come out of the washer. All these systems and behaviors are learned: some are taught when we are young, some we learn by observing other people, but most of the time, we figure out what works for ourselves through trial and error.

What if these systems werent a chore but came with a little something that we enjoyed? Would that make the system work a little better? Would tasks be easier to complete? More enjoyable? Easier to remember? Systems are the salve our souls need in a chaotic world. They free us from the mundane and trivial so we can focus our time and energy on what really matters.

What if you reframed your thinking and regarded your home as a blessing and place of refuge regardless of its imperfect, non-social-media-worthy appearance? Comfortable, cozynot a house but a home. Reframing the way you view your home and how it works for you and your loved ones will change how you feel about it and how you treat it. Even when youre tired, even when you dont know where to start, even when youre embarrassed to open the doors to welcome a friend or neighbor. Finding systems that work and pairing them with rituals is what has clicked for me. Its about taking time to slow down and enjoy even the big and small details.

Attaching a ritual to a system not only helps us remember to do it but also brings a little happiness to it. Is it fun to clean a bathroom? Probably not, but if you use products you love, such as cleansers with pleasant scents that dont give you a headache, and if you have a system for getting it done quickly, you are rewarded with clean bathrooms. Is it fun to change the sheets? Not really, but when you feel that crisp, clean sheet on your skin and smell the lavender linen spray on your pillows when you finally settle in after a long day, you appreciate the effort you made.

Chances are you already have some systems in place in your home. Perhaps when your kids enter the house, they know they should take their shoes off. You might need to give them some reminders at first, but after a while, they dont even think about itthey just kick off their sneakers at the door. But in the constant churn of daily life, it can feel almost impossible to press pause and set up systems for everything you do in your home. And how will you know what works and what doesnt? You probably dont have the time, energy, or inclination to set up a system, then tweak and repeat it until it works flawlessly.

Thats where Clean Mamas Guide to a Peaceful Home can help.

Im going to walk you through your home and help you identify the Pain Points and trouble spots that are begging for a less complex, more intuitive system. Ill share simple solutions that have worked in my home while allowing you to identify your own specific needs and goals so that you can customize your processes to suit the way you live.

As we cover each area of the home, youll find spots where you can jot down what your Pain Points are, as well as beautifully illustrated decision trees that will guide you, step-by-step, to finding the best solution for your problems.

But setting up systems is about more than productivity. Its about making spaceboth physical and mentalfor things you actually enjoy doing. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but we all have certain tasks we dont mind doing around the house. Maybe its watering the plants, loading the dishwasher just right, or chopping fresh vegetables. Whatever those tasks areand theyre different for everybody!those are your rituals.

Rituals are the tasks that can bring you to a place of calm concentration, almost momentary Zen, if you perform them with the right tools and the right mind-set. After all, even our most enjoyable tasks can feel stressful if were rushed, dont have a proper work space, or cant achieve a positive frame of mind.

Which is where systems come back in. When we put the two together, we get something new: systems + rituals = bliss. As I discuss the various areas of the home, Ill help you differentiate between your Pain Point Tasks and your Happy Tasks so you can better understand how to manage each. Your Pain Point Tasks will get solved by systems, so you no longer have to think about them and theyll get done as quickly, efficiently, and painlessly as possible. Your Happy Tasks will become your rituals, and Ill help you find the space, time, and energy to squeeze every drop of enjoyment out of them.

Ultimately, my goal is to help you find joy in what you love and effortlessness in what you dont. Its about building the kind of invisible framework that can support the weight of daily life. This frameworkthis structure of systems and ritualsgives our days a natural rhythm and adds a new kind of freedom to our lives. Most important, it transforms our homes from just another chaotic space into a peaceful oasis where we can anchor ourselves and our families, safe from the storms of daily life.