I haven't had much time (or success) in the kitchen the past few weeks, but I've been meaning to tell you about my attempts to keep my house clean when I'm super busy.
A couple weeks ago, I met my sister for lunch, and she complained to me that she usually spends her Saturdays cleaning, a chore that both her and I aren't too fond of.
I used to spend my Saturdays cleaning, too. But I hated it. I like to spend my weekends checking out events around central Iowa. (It seems like there's always something fun to do around Des Moines/Ames on the weekends.) Plus, I like to use the weekends as "catch-up" days for squeezing in a couple longer workouts, bike rides or runs.
Back in October, I started seeing cleaning schedules on Pinterest. After a little online searching, I decided to give this 30-day cleaning schedule a try. Cleaning the house in 20 minutes a day? That sounded doable to me.
At first, it seemed like I was cleaning way more than I'm used to. I usually only cleaned the bathrooms once a week, not twice every 10 days, for example. And I wasn't used to doing anything but sitting in front of the TV after I finished washing dishes in the evening. But after a couple months, I got into the habit of cleaning every night after work. Some of the tasks on the list take longer than 20 minutes, but most take less. I do watch less TV at night now, but that's probably a good thing!
I have to say, my house has never looked cleaner! It's certainly not perfect (my husband is very messy!), but the bathrooms and living rooms look way cleaner. I replaced a few of the daily tasks to accommodate my needs. For example, we don't have a linen closet (our old house only has two closets!), so I just replaced that day with "cleaning the laundry area/basement," which is something I typically neglected.
Now I don't always do everything on the list each month. Sometimes, I'm so busy on the weekends that I get out of my evening cleaning routine and don't complete my task for the day. So I'll either skip that day on the schedule, or do two tasks the next day.
So there's my secret to keeping my house somewhat cleaner. I still don't love cleaning; my dream is to someday hire a maid to do the work! Do you have any tips for keeping your house clean? Are you a weekend or weekday cleaner?
I really need to try this. I can spare 30 minutes a day!
ReplyDeleteEven when you have a maid, they have their own routines. They may not notice when you have cobwebs hanging from a light fixture and they do not do deep cleaning to rooms so this schedule is great for you to do anyway. I also remember having to straighten up to get ready for the maid when my kids were young. The maid wouldn't clean rooms when they were covered with toys or clothes.
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