You know the phrase “Mount Washmore,” right? The first time I heard it, I cackled. You see, long before I was a mom, laundry was my nemesis. Washing? Sure. Folding? Eventually. Putting away clothes in the drawers? Ummmm… maybe never. 

I would save up laundry, wash seven or eight loads in one day, and then let them sit for days until I would end up having a marathon laundry folding session while binging a comedy on Netflix. It would take me at least an hour and a half to fold everything, and our living room would be covered in precarious piles of linens when everyone awoke the next morning (can’t put it away while the babies are sleeping!). I’ll even confess that after our second son was born, I didn’t put away a load of laundry until he was five months old. I purchased new laundry baskets to hold my clean laundry in various rooms of the house. So embarrassing!

However, a few months ago this all changed. I had a few friends rave about Emily Ley’s new book “A Simplified Life,” so I checked it out of the library and dutifully skimmed it while my sons were building with Legos one afternoon. To be honest, it’s not earth-shatteringly new information, but one sidebar popped out at me and, dare I say, changed my life.

She suggests doing one load of laundry, every day, start to finish. I was intrigued.

So once I had one final laundry marathon day, I decided to implement this plan. Some days we don’t have a full load, so I throw in a few towels or some sheets. But I always, always, always fold the laundry after I pull it out of the drier — and I immediately put it away. Since it only takes about five minutes to fold one load, I can finish the job while my sons have a snack or are playing and immediately put it away because everyone is awake and I’m not worried about making noise.

The effect on our home life was immediate and widespread. Suddenly, I had empty laundry baskets to store in the basement. Our home looked neater. Favorite shirts were always clean. I packed away three garbage bags of clothes to donate and emptied out half of my kitchen linen drawer. I felt like I was given the gift of time, which, to be honest, is the thing I’m always craving more of.

Maybe you are already a homemaking whiz and are rolling your eyes at my revelation. But if you, too, devote hours a week to laundry, give it a try and report back!