I recently went to transfer my laundry from the washing machine to the dryer when I panicked. Part of my process is putting a Bounce sheet into the dryer. I opened the drawer where I keep them and realized I was out. What should I do? Can I just skip that step? I’ve been following the same ritual since the week before I went to college and my mother showed me how to do laundry. I usually buy a new box of dryer sheets before the current one runs out. For some reason I had not.
Now what?
Do I hang and air dry all the clothes?
Do I wait until I get to the store to replenish my Bounce supply?
Do I rush to the store now?
Do I (gasp) run the dryer anyway, Bounce-free?!
What would happen if I chose the last step? Would my well-trained dryer know what to do? Would my clothes not smell spring-fresh? Would my pajamas create dangerous lightning strikes as I pulled them away from my husband’s T-shirts?
As I started to realize how ridiculous my concerns were, I thought about why I use dryer sheets. My dryer doesn’t mechanically require them. My clothes smell clean because I use laundry detergent. Am I really worried about static cling? I concluded that I use dryer sheets because: I always have.
Is that a good reason? No! By eliminating this laundry habit, I could save time, money, and waste. What would I lose? After a Bounce-free month, I’ve learned that I haven’t lost anything.
This revelation could be a goldmine. What else do I do just because I always have, but gain little or no value? Do I need to read the entire Boston Sunday Globe every week? Do I have to respond to every email my mother sends me? Is checking every single rental car company’s rates daily before renting a car really saving me money after spending all that time researching? Is answering or returning sales calls to be polite gaining me anything? Do I hold recurring meetings that aren’t accomplishing much? Is my intricate email and file folder system over the top?
Think about it. What habits do you have that are not adding value? Can you kick those habits and replace them with something more beneficial?