That dreaded C word – cleaning. I’m not sure there is a person in the world who actually enjoys it, but it’s something that needs to be done. Regularly. Over and over again. Especially if you’re a neat freak and can’t write if your house isn’t clean.
So, I’ve devised a schedule. Actually, I’ve been using it for years. It’s the pits to have to clean your house all in one day. Hours upon hours. And if something comes up that day, you’re stuck.
I clean my house in little chunks. One blog I saw touted it as cleaning your house in 15 minutes a day. That takes me a bit longer, maybe 30 minutes a day. Just grab a few minutes and before you know it, you’re house is shiny. Or at least kinda shiny.
Here it is:
Monday: clean showers, extra chore (for example, this week’s extra chore is to clean the downstairs windows. Because I’m extra busy, I’ve only cleaned the front ones so far, but I’m making progress).
Tuesday: clean kitchen. This includes wiping out the fridge, throwing out all the bad/expired food, giving the counters a good wipe, and cleaning out the microwave. Wiping down the cabinets is done as needed, then once a month as an extra chore.
Wednesday: dusting. My least favorite thing. Alyssa is usually assigned this chore, though I have to dust things she can’t reach. We alternate polishing the furniture: one week, the downstairs is polished. The next week, the upstairs gets the good treatment.
Thursday: clean bathrooms. Strangely enough, my favorite chore. I know. I need help 😉
Friday/Saturday: Sweep floors & wipe down the appliances. The boys do the vacuuming since this is a chore I can’t do with my bad back.
There you have it! Clean house in 15-30 minutes a day, depending on the size of your house. If you have 1000 square feet, lucky you. I can clean our cabin in no time at all. If you have 3000 square feet, you’ll probably need even more than 30 minutes each day. Then cleaning isn’t the odorous task it can be.
Oops, it’s Tuesday. Off to clean my kitchen 🙂
I did Flylady for a while but fell off the wagon (partly). I need to find a system again–one that doesn’t involve tons of emails and super duper pep talks. 😛
I’m not fond of cleaning either… but I am getting better at it. By the looks of your schedule, you seem very organized. I like to think of myself as “Organized Chaos.” I’m all over the place! LoL!
Cleaning is a great bother, I dislike the layers of dust more. Makes cleaning easier for me.
I am so glad you posted this bit about cleaning, confirming that my first instinct is to dread it. I also break mine into chunks but it’s usually a two-day process. The last couple of weeks I’ve done it in one day. My hubby vacuums rugs. I do all the rest. Several years ago when I needed a serious attitude readjustment about cleaning, I began a process of thanking God for each item I cleaned. Having an attitude of gratitude for the material blessings God has given me has helped tremendously. Even today while I clean, those thoughts of gratitude flow through my mind. I still have the mental background noise of wishing I were spending my time on something more fun, but I am so much better able to temper what was once a resentment over dust and dirt that must be attacked weekly. You have a much better organization and are more thorough than I am. I give you lots of credit for your approach! Again, thanks to you and your commenters for letting me know I’m not the only one with a “rather not” attitude.
My daughter is very, very good at sticking to plans like this. Me, not so much. But I have noticed the 15-minutes at a time thing seems to work pretty well.
Now I must tackle laundry.