The art of pottering about

[Indecisivelurcher]

Feel like I've had an epiphany, hear me out! I've got loads of jobs to do at home, it's making me feel a bit stressed to be honest. Decorating bits, clearing the loft, tidying the shed, gardening. I have been wondering how to get through it all, putting things into a mental list. Then I thought, why am I rushing to get through all these jobs? What am I rushing to do? Sit on my bum? Maybe for some people, the jobs are the point! So wise mumsnet, is pottering through jobs the point rather than the end?!

Yes I think so. Essentially all life is meaningless, and we will eventually be dust.

I work part time and have had/have issues regarding stress etc -I found pottering reduces my stress levels, things get done and there’s no great pressure - I’m a huge fan of pottering !
Today I put some stuff in the attic, hoovered the house, changed the bedding, put some bigger stuff away, baked a cake, swept and tidied the garden and did it all in my own time - had I written the list to do it, I’d have been totally overwhelmed.
Ps- I didn’t look at the ironing

Well you're not wrong @Cheekypeach but I'm trying to be a bit more cheerful about the pottering!

Definitely a fan of pottering. I feel that for every hour of housework completed, I deserve an hour of rest. It's a perfect ratio for a lazy Saturday.

Pottering fans, do you enjoy the actual pottering???

@Indecisivelurcher

Well you're not wrong *@Cheekypeach* but I'm trying to be a bit more cheerful about the pottering!

Sorry

No worries, I'm down with being eaten by worms one day and returning to mother nature 😁 Although hopefully not before I've got more of these jobs done 😂

Yes I do like a good potter, today I took some stuff to the charity shop, posted a card, went to the greengrocers, home, cup of tea, sent an important email, did a bit of tidying. Went into town to see an art exhibition, came home via Wilkos - fat balls and a few gardening bits.
I'm just having a cup of tea, then I'll drop the stuff up at the allotment, fill the bird feeders. Tonight I'll have dinner with my son, watch a bit of TV, will probably get his Liverpool FC quiz book out and put him through his paces.
I feel like I've been reasonably productive.
I like pottering on my allotment even more - thats for tomorrow

I love pottering. If I need to do a big rask then I'll just get in with it. But if I have a whole load of small jobs then I potter my way through them.

Big pottering fan!

Oh i hate my new phone. Hopefully you get the jist!

Yes! I love moving things around in my house - not heavy furniture, just lamps, ornaments etc. Changing things. Watering plants. Slowly clearing stuff out. Productive faffing. And all the time I'm muttering to myself and having imaginary conversations. It clears my head.

I love pottering aka productive faffing

It is what lazy weekends are made for as PP said. I think a bit of pottering amongst the must dos of life is great. Thinking about it now, pottering is what I do when I don't have the energy for what really gives me joy and have no inclination to do chores.

I like organising pottering which I feel takes precedence over housework. I sorted the hotpress the last couple of days & now have 3 empty baskets! I'm delighted!

I'm glad you started this thread. I have come to realise that I either work at 100% or 0%. I’ve been wondering whether pottering would be a better way to be, so I’m reading this with interest. I wonder whether it is possible to change.

Pottering is such a lovely thing. I love to have an unplanned day where I just dilly dally my way round and still somehow get things done.

I’m going to try to change my mindset! I like to have a list that I work through and then finish, but I actually think I might achieve more by pottering because there’s sudden end after which I sit on the sofa and start dozing…

This is a really nice thread it's made me feel much less overwhelmed and as a result I have done some pottering today

Pottering is the point 😊 productive faffing as described by cherry is the spot on.

Today as I've been pottering I've been pretending to be Dilly from Sort Your Life Out, only without the strictness . Full on monologue going on over here. I've realised what I like is to have the time to do something spontaneously. As in, oh while I'm here making a cup of tea I'll just tidy out this cupboard. So satisfying!

Yes I'm also adopting the term 'productive faffing' as my own!!!

This thread has inspired me, although I'm not sure to what extent because I still don't want to do some of the chores that need doing.

I thought pottering about was just tinkering with unnecessary things, not doing actual chores. In that case, I've been pottering about most of my adult life.

Seriously though, realising that I could potter about with real chores and errands has helped put things into perspective. Like someone wrote, I either function at 100% or 0%, so we'll see how it goes.

Oh I love a potter! Keeps me sane.

Am another one who lives life at 100mph or 0mph. Pottering is the answer

I absolutely love a good potter. It’s what I plan to spend my life doing in retirement! I try and get out in my garden most days for fresh air and will potter around with bits of weeding and so on. Then the pottering in the house is endless, a bit of cleaning, maybe sort a drawer or a cupboard out, do a bit of painting, a bit of time here and there on my hobbies or reading. When you give yourself big jobs to do, it’s so easy to put them off. Pottering works for me.

I like pottering in the garden. Housework and other chores - not so much!

The only thing that I've found that works is to make a list. Not of things to do, but of things done. Then you haven't got a list full of things you haven't done yet, you have a list of things you have done. Much more satisfying.