I'm off to a good start with my cleaning and decluttering quest (there's that word again). Maybe I'll start calling it a "mission" instead. I got rid of five HUGE bags of clutter this week and filled a grocery sack 3/4 full of trash. I wish I had put this stuff on the scale so I'd know how much weight I'd lost. (If only.)
So, decluttering is all fine and dandy, but I found myself wondering where the cleaning part of my mission comes in. I'm not a perfectionist housekeeper by any means (and I expect Mike to pitch in too). If I walk into a room and it looks neat enough, I'm not bothered much by dust or cobwebs (within reason). Still, I did a little more investigation on Fly Lady's website, and I found this section: Detailed Cleaning List As I said, I'm not following her website to the letter, but it's a good place to get ideas. (And I'm still not shining my sink. Nope. Not gonna do it.)
I guess I do better when I'm told what to do. If I have a big task that I don't want to do, it's hard not to look at the whole thing and feel overwhelmed. It's something like the "Cough Syrup Syndrome" (which is defined in this previous post). Too much to work on, and I can't make up my mind where to start. So I don't start. The detailed cleaning list gives me a few things to choose from, and then I don't feel so overwhelmed. It's like if you give a kid a dollar and tell them to pick any candy bar they want, they'll spend fifteen minutes looking and they won't be able to choose. If you give a kid a dollar and let them choose between M&M's and a Baby Ruth, I'm betting they'll do it quicker. That's me when it comes to cleaning. Give me a couple of tasks, and I'll do them. Ask me to clean a whole room, and I'll stand there looking confused. Better to have my choices narrowed down for me.
And when I'm finished with my cleaning tasks, I get the candy bar.
So, decluttering is all fine and dandy, but I found myself wondering where the cleaning part of my mission comes in. I'm not a perfectionist housekeeper by any means (and I expect Mike to pitch in too). If I walk into a room and it looks neat enough, I'm not bothered much by dust or cobwebs (within reason). Still, I did a little more investigation on Fly Lady's website, and I found this section: Detailed Cleaning List As I said, I'm not following her website to the letter, but it's a good place to get ideas. (And I'm still not shining my sink. Nope. Not gonna do it.)
I guess I do better when I'm told what to do. If I have a big task that I don't want to do, it's hard not to look at the whole thing and feel overwhelmed. It's something like the "Cough Syrup Syndrome" (which is defined in this previous post). Too much to work on, and I can't make up my mind where to start. So I don't start. The detailed cleaning list gives me a few things to choose from, and then I don't feel so overwhelmed. It's like if you give a kid a dollar and tell them to pick any candy bar they want, they'll spend fifteen minutes looking and they won't be able to choose. If you give a kid a dollar and let them choose between M&M's and a Baby Ruth, I'm betting they'll do it quicker. That's me when it comes to cleaning. Give me a couple of tasks, and I'll do them. Ask me to clean a whole room, and I'll stand there looking confused. Better to have my choices narrowed down for me.
And when I'm finished with my cleaning tasks, I get the candy bar.
3 comments:
I decided to do my cleaning by dividing my rooms into major cleaning tasks. For example. Guest Bath.. Cupboard, toilet...each thing. Once I had them all listed, I put them all on index cards and wrote how often I thought those things would need to be cleaned. My idea isn't the same as other peoples.. I'm not the maid. Now, I start by doing ONE room or major job in a room and then writing up the cards. Now I have to do any daily cards in addition to moving on the next day to another major job.. like the hall closet.. HALL it all out and put back only what belongs there.. any thing else.. sort or toss. Then you are done for the day. Make your cards.. daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.. how often are you going to do this job? I have a chore box. I have daily chores. Weekly chores that I divide up throughout the week etc..
Thanks for the link~! It is just what I needed. I spent about two years getting sick, another being sick and another recovering and then jumped into working and gong to school full time. I used to have a system but when your sick you never seem to catch up and I stuffed alot of things in closets. I finished school last spring but still havent been able to get caught up or into a system. I think using flylady might help me manage. I thought it was just me. Its hard when you live alone .
your last line made me giggle :)
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