June Reset

What a week. What a month.

I had no idea the amount of dust and bugs I had invited over the last months or so.

I thought it'd be nice to be able to have an inside/outside feel by keeping the balcony door open, since the weather wasn't so hot yet and there was a nice breeze that came in whenever it rained. I was so wrong. It was so dusty outside and with Milky loving to rub her whole body on the floor, sidewalks and walls during her walks, she and the opened balcony door both were bringing home all the wrong kinda friends into my temple of cleanliness.

I had very bad OCD before Milky came to stay with me and I give myself plenty of credit for allowing her dirty habits (after all, she's just a dog) but having a massive dust mite / bed bug allergic reaction was the final draw to my patience.

So, I jumped into action the moment she boarded that flight. I checked myself into the closest comfortable hotel near my home and everyday, bit by bit, I got to cleaning:

1. mites vacuum + deep clean in the sofa, bed and fabric chair/cushions,
2. DIY store bought water-based bugs poison,
3. +50 degrees C loads tumble dry for all bedsheets/towels/blankets,
4. throw out things that no longer served me except collecting dust,
5. detailed dust wipes of every corner + surface of the house,
6. vacuum under bed and sofa (I found so much Milky hair!!),
7. deep clean and sun dry Dyson vacuum and mop, and the list goes on.

While I made my space livable again, I was taking care of myself too. I had such a bad allergic reaction to the bites that my body looked like it was attacked by chicken pox. Look was one thing but the physical feeling, oh my gosh: I felt like death when the itch was so itchy that it was painful. Luckily, I was able to find soothing creams and bath salts that eased the pain. Having a nice room that I do not have to clean also helped me stay sane while I had so much going on already. Having access to a balanced diet, meaning food that provided high macros and also food that made my brain/tastebud happy, was the key to my fast recovery both physically and mentally.

I have to note that there was no way I, alone, single-handedly, could've done all of that plus work on my businesses. And this is the next point I want to get to. I know I cannot do all of these things by myself. I might not have the tools nor the skills to execute properly. I could learn but that would also take time and money. So, my choice was to engage professionals who did them well, and trusted them that my hard earned money was well spent to fix the situation once and for all. With time spent not tackling the list by myself, I got to work and earn more money doing things that I am actually good at. See, win-win.

I was never this good at this kind of decision making. I had to think about the value of each service, compare the options and see if I can do it myself. That wasted so much time. Now, whenever I'm stuck, I'd think...if I had to learn this skill, will I use it often? Will I enjoy doing it? If answer is yes, then yeah makes sense to spend the time and money to acquire the skills for life. However, if the answer is no, then it makes much more sense to outsource it to other people who are so much better at it and they might be enjoying the work too. I usually filter the services by closest location -> highest rating -> highest price. Because think it, if it's so expensive yet people are still using their service often (returning clients is a plus), they must be good at it. So who am I to argue with the many previous happy clients?

Right now, I am processing and journaling this from my clean and comfortable home. I am able to focus on progressing in my work and plans for a healthier me.

Winner winner chicken dinner.