You've heard me
mention before in a post I did last fall that I do my housework on a schedule
and I only spend about 15 minutes at a time doing so. Sometime less, sometimes more, but for the
most part I try to stick to just 15 minutes.
And it really work well too.
I make a habit of
picking up after myself. When I change
clothes I hang up what needs to be hung up, put my shoes in the closet and put
dirty items into the laundry basket right away.
I also make my bed the moment I get up every morning. It only takes a minute and then it is done.
My girls aren't as
good about it as I am so we have a rule that at the end of the day we go
through the house and collect our things and get everything put away. It is a good time to tidy up the living room,
vacuum the floor if it is needed, wipe up any spills on the floor, dump the trash
or whatever we find needs to be done. We
spend no more than 15 minutes doing this.
When we do dishes,
we also wipe down the stove and counters as well as the dining room
table. We all help with cooking, setting
and clearing the table as well as putting away the food after each meal.
I try to do
something extra on each scheduled day for deeper cleaning. For instance, when I cleaned the dining room last
week I dusted the ceiling fan and the shelves, this week I focused on removing
and cleaning the mini blind, next week I plan to wash the window and the floor.
Every day we swish
the toilet bowl and wipe the sink and counter.
When I cleaned the bathroom on my schedule last week I mopped the floor
and shook the rug. This week I super
scrubbed the sink and toilet with a scour pad and cleanser, next week I plan to
wash the mirrors and tidy up under the sink.
The following week I plan to bop the cobwebs and wash the walls.
Not everything needs
to be done every time. You can rotate
the deeper cleaning on a weekly basis and still manage to keep up on things
just fine. Admittedly it helps that all
three of us work together and get things done.
I take care of the downstairs bathroom and the girls share the
responsibility of the upstairs bath. I
vacuum and dust downstairs, they take care of the upstairs. Every once in a while we switch off so I make
sure things are done thoroughly.
It is truly amazing
to me how much I can accomplish in just 15 minutes when I really focus. This method saves me a ton of time which
allows us to do other things, like have fun.
I still spring clean each room every six months and we declutter on a
routine basis. But for the most part 15
minutes a day on set chores it more than enough.
Absolutely! I have set up cleaning supplies in a basket, right next to my toilet, so I can clean without having to travel to get supplies. I would love to do this in every area of my home.
ReplyDeleteI have supplies in both bathrooms and the kitchen. Makes it much easier!
DeleteI'm a firm believer in the 15 minute thing - it works! I once told a friend who was having issues cleaning her sewing room to do 15 minutes a day and she would see progress. It made a believer out of her. It also helped me get my sewjo back- I would think just 15 minutes.
ReplyDelete