OHIO — Only Handle It Once

Since I read about OHIO a few weeks ago, i tried to do it from time to time. And i thought: Wow! This is crazy, this might change my chaotic life forever. But obviously I did not use it EVERY time in EVERY moment. This will change now. Starting on Monday I will give it the effort it deserves. Let's see how this week goes. Will I love it or hate it?!

Tommorow i start. It's my day off and i want to make some order in the house. In the childrens room and so on. I hope somebody else will do this with me, this might make it easier.

So I started. I am not a natural OHIO person, this I am sure of. Maybe OHIO was invented by OHIO people. I struggled a lot. In the morning I thought that if I touch something, I have to handle it. So the solution was: Don't touch anything. I kept trying and obviously it's a solid way of living your life. I might get used to it. Also it's a lot of interpretation: what does "handled" mean (is putting the dirty clothes in the laundry handled? I think so, but is it handled if I put them on the floor next to the laundry basket? I am not sure). I need to write something positive, although I felt more stressed than relieved during the day. Maybe tomorrow! I did have some wins too. Can't remember them exactly but I do remember that I wanted to remember them for the blog.

Day 2 and I'm starting to get the hang of it. I spent time in the garden — which is basically a museum of everything my children have ever picked up. Normally that's a stressful experience for me. Marie Kondo says everything needs a home, and when something doesn't have one, I immediately feel anxious about where to put it. My usual solution? Move it somewhere else and call it done. Today I tried something different: if I couldn't properly handle it, I simply didn't touch it. I decided it would wait until I actually knew what to do with it. That small shift was surprisingly freeing — I could focus on the things I did know where they belonged, and for once I actually put them there. That's my takeaway from day 2. Looking forward to day 3 — hopefully more wins like this.

A 9-5 training day at work — not much room for OHIO in the usual sense. But in the small pockets of time I had, I tried to apply it anyway. And it worked better than I expected. There's something quietly powerful about the method: it slows you down. As a mother I've gotten so used to doing everything fast and stressed, to not let anyone wait. OHIO reminds me that doing something well — once, properly, with full attention — is actually the healthier path. To whoever invented this: thank you for that feeling.

I do like it. I think I apply it in about 50% of my daily tasks. But being a full-time social worker, with two small children, building a house by ourselves, developing apps and creating websites, I am often very tired and I need to be gentle with myself and the expectations I set. I am proud of myself, and it helps me a lot.

I am so good at it already! I feel so productive. This will stay a part of my life. I am very sure! Nothing special to report today. I took something, I thought about where to put it, and I actually put it there.

I was at work in a 24h shift. I had a lot of things to do, and I was very busy. I think I applied OHIO in about 30% of the tasks I had to do. I am not sure if that's good or bad, but I am happy that I could apply it in some situations.

I am officially an OHIO person now. I am not sure if I will apply it 100% of the time, but I will definitely keep it as a part of my life. I think it's a great method for people who are overwhelmed by clutter and open loops, and who want to find a simple way to deal with them.