09
Sep

Cleaning Strategies, When You Just Don’t Want To

Cleaning. I know there are people out there that actually enjoy this. I’m not one. I LOVE organizing. You will not find much clutter in my home, as I do well at keeping things picked up and put away. But what I don’t do well at is picking up rags, spray bottles, brooms, mops, etc. and cleaning something that will be dirty again in a few hours. More housework beyond the daily laundry, dishes, after meal kitchen wipe downs? Yuck. But it is necessary right?!

There are tons of strategies and methods to maintaining a clean house. You can find printable after printable and cleaning schedules online. Upon request, I have helped clients come up with schedules that specifically suit their needs. It really is an individual thing, so resist the urge to compare yourself!

I recently developed a strategy for myself that works really well with my lifestyle & personality.  It is so simple and basic. Nothing fancy, but it suits me well. I am sharing in hopes that this may work for some of you!

Monday through Friday, I focus on one area of the house each day. I try to do this between when the kids leave for school and before I start work, but my schedule is very fluid as it changes from day to day, so I just make it my goal to simply complete the task by the end of the day.  I do not perform the same chores on the same days each week. I decide what I’m going to do at the start of each day! I do enjoy some spontaneity 🙂  I have an idea of how long certain jobs will take, and choose a cleaning task according to how much time I have. Or, I choose what needs attention most.

What helps me commit to it though, is writing it down. I have a slip of paper that I fill out in the morning, and use in addition to what’s in my planner. It is very basic and simple. It has two things listed.

Clean

Project

As pertains to the “project” line: There are so many incomplete areas in our house, as we have been renovating for the past few years. I have found the only way to keep moving forward is to regularly remind myself to take a piece of time to work on “something,” as many days a week as I can. My project task could also be something like backing up files on the computer (I’m behind on this!) or organizing recipes.

I do not pressure myself to devote time to a project EVERY day, as I don’t always have time for this with all that I juggle.  However, when it comes to cleaning I am disciplining myself to give time to perform a cleaning task every day, Monday through Friday.  Simply one thing each day. I get a sense of accomplishment, it doesn’t take long, and stuff gets cleaned!

If you’d like to try this, simply add the word: “Clean” to each day in your planner. Mark beside it every morning what you will clean that day. Or you can print out slips of paper like I did and fill them out.

It’s that simple, really!

For more ideas on how to stay on top of cleaning, check out these additional strategies I have for incorporating cleaning into your every day life: Clean As You Go

As always, thanks for reading!

Melissa

Get Organized. Simply Live.