Tomorrow is Father's Day (just a reminder- now go run to the store and get that card), so Ava will spend the day with her father. I think they're going to Nashville to go swimming. In the meantime, I will be home alone. What's a girl to do? Well, I like to call the concept a productivity scrub.

What's a productivity scrub? A productivity scrub is a cleaning, rearranging and work spree whose end purpose is to create a more productive environment for you to work in. You don't have to be a mom to understand the idea of there not being enough hours in a day, but it is certainly a poignant one when toddler is in tow. Chores pile up, house repairs begin to accumulate, and all those things you need to get around to clutter your mind. Maybe it's as simple as being unable to work when there's a mess in sight. Whatever it is, a productivity scrub can cure all.

Tomorrow, I will be deep cleaning the house. This means all the chores I would usually do, combined with the chores I avoid. The bathroom is going to sparkle. The living room is getting rearranged. The bedroom is being switched around. Heck- I'm cleaning out the outdoor storage unit. The house will look, smell, and feel sparkling clean. More than that- I'm further baby proofing the kitchen, as Ava's penchant for destruction has expanded since we were last home. I'm getting the groceries I need for the next week. That massive pile of laundry? Done. The pile of giveaways I've been staring at for the past several months? Gone.

I'm getting a desk and a chair. No more of this stupid sitting around and working on the couch. I'm getting a cork board where I can post visual reminders of workloads, deadlines and ambitions. Basically, I'm giving myself a makeshift office. Why? Because I'm serious about making a go of writing as a career- not just as something to do for now- and I'm committed to treating it as such.

So tomorrow, my first full day home, will be a day of work. I'm going to scrub out the clutter in my home that's getting in the way of my productivity. I'm going to exhaust myself- but it will be more than worth it. What do you do to keep your productivity up?