To love pottering around.

[AuntieAunt]

I think I’ve just had bit of a eureka moment on something I haven’t been able to put my finger on.

I really like just pottering around. Not in a hurry, not having a plan, feeling a bit productive but not exhausting yourself. Just going with the flow and enjoying the day. Might dead head the flowers, tidy up the dumping chair, reorganise a cupboard.. As I’m in no rush, I’ll get started whenever I fancy it, put on comfy clothes, have a few tea breaks and at the end of the day the house will be more presentable and I usually feel the sense of achievement.

However DH is the complete opposite, he wants the jobs done as quickly as possible for us to ‘relax’. It’s the same in the evenings and especially at the weekends. He’s always asking me what he can do to ‘help’ and how much longer I’ll be etc. These are days we’ve got no zero plans/planned to ‘relax’.

It’s bloody obvious now I think about it. It makes me feel tense that I’m on some sort of clock and being asked to what I’m doing. I can be happily repotting some plants outside and DH will come out and remind me that we ‘planned to relax’. DH says he can’t relax whilst I’m doing jobs.

We spend a lot of time together, we’ll do ‘fun’ things at the weekend too. It’s just when we’re having ‘lazy days’.

Anyone else a potter?

I agree when it comes to the likes of the everyday housework like cleaning, filling the dishwasher, doing the laundry etc, and try and just get them out the way as quick as possible. A good potter will include things for me that could be deemed as chores, but if I looked at them that way I would just deprioritise them and probably never get around to doing them. Decluttering a drawer, repotting my houseplants, weeding a flowerbed, that sort of thing. Jabbing a podcast or audiobook on and doing these things at leisure, interspersed with cups of tea, a bit of a read or a few mumsnet threads etc makes the doing of it a pleasurable activity and then you get the pleasing outcome of a nice environment as PP said, or a sense of having done something productive or helping something else to flourish (as with the plants or gardening).

This thread has changed my life 😂
I now potter in my mind instead of having jobs to do.
I wash a few dishes up , put some recycling out, got some washing in , all small jobs but feel more productive.
It’s almost like things don’t seem to be chore.
Later I might potter about in the bathroom , clean the shower , then maybe do something else before I go back and do the floor.
Thank you @AuntieAunt.
Hope I don’t sound deranged.

I really envy you joyful potterers, it sounds lovely. It might be an ADHD thing as the dopamine set-up of our brains means we don't really get feelings of satisfaction from doing these jobs, just maybe some relief from the guilt and shame of not doing them and letting them mount up (I'm generalising, I know). But this thread has helped relieve the shame a little now I know people pottering might be genuinely enjoying it and not necessarily feeling anger at me for not pottering equally.

Haha all potters welcome!

My mantra is ‘well I being productive…’ and at the end of the day I collapse feeling like I’ve had a productive day.

It is definitely a mindset, my DH doesn’t have it.

I feel like having a house/garden there’s always something to do, might as well enjoy it as you do it!

I have diagnosed ADHD.

I think it’s because it’s my ‘down’ time I don’t feel guilty for working at my own pace. Do t get me wrong, I have days I wake up and see that the house is chaos and feel the sudden urge to get it all straight again but that’s what I call ‘blitzing’.

Love a potter especially early weekend mornings when it’s quiet

I love pottering, especially in the summer. It’s when I’m at my absolute happiest. I don’t enjoy being stressed or rushed, and I crumble under pressure, so doing things slowly means I get more done. Clip the roses, put some lavender flowers in a jug for the table, peg the washing out. I love it.

@AuntieAunt@Raggycrow also ADHD diagnosed. Maybe there is something in it.

I am confused are we saying pottering is mainly something ADHD ‘s would like or not ? I am not diagnosed but think I am definitely neurodiverse as always score highly as a HSP .

I spend my day off in the week pottering. No kids or DH in the house and I get loads done in my own time at my own speed and if I have time I’ll have a little nap!
I can’t potter with other people in the house (usually because I am running around doing things for them or tidying up after them). Pottering needs to be peaceful!