Part of every homeowner’s life is the ever-present chore: cleaning. If you’re a neat freak who loves to clean and is highly efficient, then salute! (How do I get you for a housemate?) But if you are a lazy poodle like me, then you’ll understand when I say that house cleaning is a dreaded task.
I do clean my house and it’s moderately neat, if I do say so myself. But before I pick up that vacuum cleaner, you bet, I’d have used up every excuse in the book and exhausted all delaying tactics beforehand.
So how do I maintain a relatively clean house, you ask? Over the years, I’ve developed a process that gets me through the dreaded major house cleanup before hosting that Sunday dinner for the family. I’d like to share it with you, if it’s any help.
Set A Day or Two
I always set a whole weekend for a major deep-cleaning. I tell myself absolutely have to start on that very Saturday. If for whatever reason, I still wasn’t able to finish (which is almost always the case), I’ll still have Sunday to complete the chore.
Create a Checklist
I would create lists labeled bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and so on. It helps to break these tasks down into tinier, easier-to-swallow pieces. Instead of taking the whole living room head-on, I would tackle one area at a time. First is dusting and wiping, next is floor sweeping, then vacuum, and the list goes on. Then, I divide those tasks into even smaller areas and focus on getting done with each.
The one thing I don’t do myself is window cleaning – I just hire window cleaners in my area – it’s much more satisfying to see somebody else do it and they do a better job of it as well.
Reward System
After finishing with a huge area or a room, I make sure to reward myself with a break and a piece (or bar) of chocolate or a cookie. Yep, I’m nom-nom motivated and proud of it! It gets the job done, no? If you like books, why not reward yourself a chapter? Or if you’re into watching TV series, celebrate each milestone with an episode.
After completing my major house cleanup, I could finally bust out the chocolate ice cream cake! You should reward yourself with one too. Or whatever your own version of decadent delight is. You deserve it!