Hand Washing

I’ve developed a new theory for washing dishes.  I used to think it was easier to do a large load of dishes at once.  The problem was the bigger the pile became, the more I avoided doing dishes.  I usually ended up needing to fill multiple sinks full of water to get the job done. 

I’m hand washing dishes when I have 3-4 dishes that need to be done.  I let a few items soak while I work on a different chore. I wash the dishes until they are done or the water gets dirty.   When the water is dirty, I wash off the first layer of dirt off the dirtiest pots and pans.  Then I save what are left of the dishes for another day.

The plan is nothing spectacular, but it’s happening.   I know I should wash dishes the moment they get dirty and wash all of them until they are done, but that is not happening at this point.  Babty steps.   Now I have to put all of these little tricks together to make a clean house. 

Clean House

We had a lovely get together watching Frozen.   The house was clean.  There was still piles hiding and plenty of projects, but most of the surfaces and floors were cleared and clean.  I realized that once the clutter is gone.  The actually cleaning (sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing, etc)  really isn’t too bad. 

Today was lovely has I had the whole day without a huge to-do list of basic chores.  I could get a work out in, go to the library, and  play games with my family. It was relaxing to not feel like I should be cleaning something.   Now to keep it that way. 

I am off to get ready for the work week.  Maybe I will do a few small chores so the mess doesn’t attack while I sleep.

Ready, Set . . . . .

I am about ready to start cleaning.  I have 3 families coming over on Saturday and need to have the main level  and basement cleaned.  I took some time last week to start decluttering, but while useful had a minimal impact on the visual appeal of the house.  Then our family got sick.   Now I have 3 days to get the house clean. 

Aaah!  I always have a grand plan of going from chaos to sparkling in a short period of time.  My first plan is to take  the garbage bag I should refill and walk around the house with it picking up things that should be tossed.    First, I need to get the kids to the bus. 

Wish me luck!

Why of Cleaning

I am starting to figure out the reason why I want the house clean.  I’ve always felt like I should have a clean house.  I have a high tolerance for mess.   When I was in college, the mess became a frustration for my roommates before it bothered me.    It was something I felt like I should be better at , but something else was always more interesting and more meaningful to me at that time.  I’m starting to figure out when mess gets in my way and why I want it clean. 

• I want to be able to show off my house and invite people over.  I want to be able to have neighbors come over impromptu and not feel embarrassed.
• I want to be able to spend time with my family rather than cleaning.  We spent an afternoon cleaning as a family.  While it felt good that the house was neater,  I kept thinking of what else we could have done as a family instead had we maintained the cleanliness of the house. 

Off to bed.  It will be a fun, but busy day at work tomorrow.  Have a great day!

Time

I was talking to someone and they say that they schedule 3 hours a week for cleaning. I had never thought of the total amount of time required to clean the whole house. Does that seem like a realistic amount? Do you know how much time you spend cleaning/organizing each week? Sometimes I’ll say I’ll clean it all on the weekend and then get burnt out or have other stuff to do and not get to it. Having that time amount may help to divide it up through out the week or not too many other tasks scheduled if I choose to cram it in one day. I can always adjust the time as I see realistic for my house. I may also just keep that time frame and get more and more done as the house gets cleaner and I get more efficient.

I have also heard of people timing how long specific chores take. It could help with knowing how much to schedule for the task, but mainly I think it would help me from procrastinating. If I knew the chore only took 5 minutes, I think it would be harder to put it off and stay on the couch.

I’d love to hear if you have done this and if it helped motivate you.  Have a great day!