Are You Drowning in a Sea of Housework?

I am!

Oh am I!

But, not for long!

With Halloween just ending and November beginning like a lion, let’s work together to get ready for the holidays!

My house is in total disarray, as is most of my life right now. This isn’t about me, though. It’s about us coming together here on the inter-web to share our failures, our successes and everything in between.

For the month of November, I’ll be writing a series of housekeeping posts to share our journey, inspire my readers and hopefully exchange tips and tricks with all of you out there in cyberspace.

We’ll call this new series Homemaking Madness and to kick things off I’m sharing my speed cleaning strategy with you.

I shared a meme on Facebook yesterday that couldn’t be more true for me as I’m sure many of you (whether you admit it or not)

…and it’s true.

I’ve written of this before in (how to keep house with a million mess makers)

Why do we strenuously try to attain a clean home only when company’s coming?

Why aren’t WE good enough to just have a nice, tidy, neat, clean home to live in?

 

Well, it is what it is.

Before we can achieve the great pleasure of just having a clean home (maybe from a magical fairy) let’s straighten up like company is coming!

 

Do you dread certain areas? maybe the laundry, or cleaning the bathroom? Have you read home-cleaning books or blogs where they tell you to do certain areas of the home first… blah blah blah!

 

I’m not going to do that. I’m going to tell you the best way to clean the house is to just do it! (my husband tells me this) But it just doesn’t work!

I get sidetracked reorganizing a closet, or deep-cleaning a corner for an hour…this does not get us ready for company.

 

My most productive house cleaning endeavors usually involve some great tunes and a game. A game? a game!

First, assess the situation, either physically or mentally. Knowing what needs to be done and prioritizing is a key to being successful in a speed cleaning session.

In my home, it’s not so much dirt as is it is stuff, mess, clutter, crap etc.

So, usually I have to go to each room and get rid of the crap before I can do anything else.

 

But, in my home, there is so much crap in every room, I never know where to begin and just don’t do any of it. I get defeated before I begin, so I brake it down to simple zones and make a game of it. Want to play?

Sample list of zones:

1. Kitchen
2. Laundry
3. Bathroom
4. Family Room
5. Living & Dining Rooms
6. Hallway
7. Kid’s Bedrooms
8. Master Bedroom

Put the rooms/zones in a hat, pick one and spend no more than 30 minutes in that zone just doing what needs to be done. The key here is only spending the 15 or 30 minutes needed in each space. Doing only what needs to be done on the surface.

Set the timer on your stove, phone or alarm clock and when time’s up, pick a new zone and keep going until all the areas have been attended.

Please customize this game to your home size and needs. If each room only needs 10 minutes of attention for presentable display, don’t start ripping down curtains, please.

A speed clean around the house is for looks, not white gloves. Now, I’m not saying to shove the dirty dishes in the oven, here, people, let’s be reasonable. The object is to get the counters de-cluttered and floor clear of the obstacle course.

Keep the momentum going but give yourself some grace. If you need a break or a rest, take it, but not more than ten minutes (set the timer).

Before you know it, you’ve spent an hour or two and can see progress!

Follow me for more posts in this series and I hope you’ve had fun speed-cleaning!

 

Please don’t be shy, I want to hear from you! Comment on this post and share your tips, tricks, struggles and success!