LAST week my colleague Jessica wrote about her OCD regarding cleaning.

Whilst I completely respect her attitude towards keeping her home pristine I fail to get worked up by a speck of dust.

Jessica admitted that she feels her stress levels rise at the thought of returning home to find it a mess so she spends time in the morning clearing up her breakfast items and arranging cushions.

Personally I value those few extra minutes in bed.

Call me lazy, if you like, but arranging cushions on sofas would never come anywhere near the top of my list of things to do, unless perhaps The Queen was popping over for tea!

That’s not to say I live in a complete mess and I’m certainly not unhygienic.

I just don’t get stressed out by a bit of clutter.

I can quite happily leave items lying around the house, then have a big tidy up when I feel like it, or if we are expecting visitors.

And leaving breakfast items on the side until I return home from work certainly wouldn’t give me heart palpitations.

The problem is, of course, when you live with someone whose standards are different to your own.

As Jessica explained, she becomes exasperated with her other half for leaving things lying around.

Perhaps my husband feels the same way about me!

I often put off doing household chores and will leave jobs until the last minute or look for ways to cut corners.

I won’t do the washing until I’ve almost run out of clothes and I’ll leave washing up to dry on the side before putting it away.

This often means that my husband will end up doing the washing instead, or drying up the dishes, accusing me of “not finishing the job”.

By the time it’s on my radar of ‘things to do’ my husband has already done it.

Just as Jessica is teased by her family and friends for her tidiness so too am I for my messiness.

It doesn’t help either, when you are a bit of a hoarder.

I hate throwing things away and have many items of sentimental value, including, much to the amusement of my family, a chocolate rabbit which expired in 1993!

My husband, on the contrary, has far fewer personal possessions.

He’s constantly asking me to de-clutter but instead I deal with the problem by hiding things in boxes under the bed or squeezing them into tiny spaces in drawers that are already bursting.

It doesn’t make for a harmonious home, on occasions, but we all have to find ways of compromising.

Maybe it is time for a spring clean.