How I clean

I so wish I was a better housekeeper.  I love to organize, purge and re-arrange things, but the actual cleaning process is not my strongpoint.  I've tried  various systems, both online and of my own creation, schedules and such, and nothing sticks.  I just put it off, and clean as needed when I see it.  And in that schedule, the whole house is never clean at the same time. 

But today was one of those days where I really needed to clean and get the whole house ready at one time. 

Here is my method for that, and one that keeps me 1) on target, and 2) reduces distractions, and 3) builds in a bribery system.





We have a totally open floor plan on our first floor, which makes it really hard to keep focuses on one space and stay on task.  I start in one room, and everything that doesn't belong in that room goes into the next room, just over the threshold.  I don't allow myself to cross over into that room AT ALL (or else I spin my wheels and get nothing done).  Once everything is out of the room that doesn't belong, I put away everything in that room.  I don't "clean" anything, but leave that for last. 
As I go into the next room, I repeat the process.  Things that  belong in the garage go on the steps down.....

....and things that belong upstairs go on the steps up.

 

 

And yes, it gets really messy in the interim. 

I've found though, for me and the way my brain works, that if I took the dirty laundry upstairs, I'd start a load, get onto something else up there, and the downstairs would still be unfinished.  And if I took the tools down as I gathered them, I'd get distracted in an unfinished (and a lot more fun) project down there.  So I restrict my area mentally, and stick to it. 

And today, everyone got on the system.  You took a toy out, you need to put it back.

When I feel like I need a break, I set the timer for 10 minutes, and enjoy some cyber surfing.  When the timer goes off, I get back to work. 

Once everything is out of the first floor and on its way to it's rightful home, I clean.  Dust (yes, I really dusted today!), wipe counters, vacuum and clean floors. 

I'm amazed at how quickly I actually can get this accomplished when I stick to this plan, and it does feel great to have one big space clean at the same time!  Then I treated myself to a walk through our brand new HomeGoods store after some boring errands!

So at least one floor is presentable: bring on the ten year olds for a birthday celebration tomorrow!