Creating a Haven

My husband and I watch Go On together. The characters are kooky, the storyline is fun, and I don't feel like anyone is pushing an agenda. (The premise of the show is a radio sports announcer loses his wife and must go to a therapy group to cope.) A lot of the people in the support group use different coping techniques to deal with stress, anger, depression, or loss. One of the characters has an entire town in his mind that he can retreat into. While I think this is a little excessive, I think that creating an oasis is not a bad thing.  Do you have a mental and physical place that you can retreat, regroup, and recover? 

My haven is my home. In order to maintain this feeling I like to keep my home as organized and clean as possible. I love walking into my kitchen and seeing an empty sink. (Though this is often not the case.) I love being able to find the things I am looking for in a pinch. I love having a freshly made bed. But all of that takes maintenance. Surprisingly a lot less maintenance that one would think. A while back a stumbled upon the Fly Lady. Weird name but suprisingly effective website. She taught me the 15 minute rule.

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Do as much as you can in those 15 minutes. When the timer goes off stop and regroup. Sometimes that means setting a new timer and going on. Other times that means taking a short break to reward yourself.  There are 1440 minutes in one day. Using 15 of those is 1/96 of your day. I think I can give 1/96 of my day to create a better haven in my home. What about you? What can you accomplish?