I do To Do

I am a list maker.  When my mind feels like it is stuck on loop and I can't sleep I like to make a list of all the stuff I need to do the next day to settle my mind.  I keep a yellow legal pad on my desk at work and every morning I write out my new list for the day and then cross things off as I complete them.  Lists make me feel like I know everything I need to do and I don't have to worry about forgetting something.

The problem with list making is if I really think about everything I have to do I get overwhelmed.  Aside from things like errands, cleaning, and organizing, I usually have more than one project going on at a time.  A couple of years ago I came up with a system to deal with the problem.

First, I found  a good to do list manager that allowed me to create multiple lists and move items between them.  Then I created several lists.  I made a list for life maintenance items such as renewing my license or making an appointment with my dentist.  Then I added a list for errands I need to run such as "go grocery shopping" or "buy a new vacuum filter".  After that I created a list of any home maintenance I needed to do such as mopping the floors or cleaning out the coat closet.  I also made lists for any long-term projects I had going on.

Next, I made a master list for the items I planned to do each day.  I took one item from each list and moved it to the master list.  Most importantly, I gave myself permission to not do any more than that.  Even if all together I've got hundreds of items to do, finishing a few items every day is enough.  This allowed me to stay organized without getting overwhelmed or trying to do so much that I stress myself out.

I am still a happy list maker, but now I don't get mind boggled by everything I've got to do.  I feel productive even only doing a few things each day.  I don't spend the time I should be relaxing thinking about what I have to do. 

7 Days to Clean: Day 7 - The Full Routine

Welcome to the last day, or more appropriately to every day.  Stick to this routine and feel free to smirk when people tell you that you shouldn't have cleaned just for them and they wish their home could look as nice as yours.  Or you could always tell them how you learned to be a "neat freak".

In the morning:

• Make your bed
• Swift swipe the bathroom
• Throw a load of laundry in the wash
• Put away the clean dishes

In the evening:

• Check the mail
• Dry and fold the laundry
• Spend five minutes decluttering
• Wash the dishes after dinner.

Don't forget to do your Hump Day Half Hour and that's it! 30 minutes of cleaning once a week and a few minutes of cleaning here and there.  The best thing about habits is the more you do them, the more efficient you get at doing them.  

You can think of cleaning as something that's a drag or you can think of it as something nice you're doing for yourself. It might not be as relaxing as getting a massage, but you'll enjoy living in a clean home none the less.  Going to sleep in a bed with tidy sheets and waking up to a clean bathroom and kitchen with plenty of clean clothes is going to start to feel like a treat. 

7 Days to Clean: Day 6 - Do the Dishes

We're almost there!  By now you've probably gotten used to making your bed every day and things are starting to look nicer.  We only have one new habit to start and tomorrow we'll put it all together.

• Make your bed!
• Swift swipe the bathroom
• Throw a load of laundry in the wash

Head out and be a happy, productive busy bee. When you get home:

• Get and sort the mail
• Dry and fold the laundry
• Spend 5 minutes decluttering

Relax and enjoy your dinner, then afterward wash the dishes and wipe down the kitchen.  Dishes are much easier to clean when they're still fresh and nothing says  "ugh" in the morning like trying to make breakfast around a sink full of dirty dishes.

When I'm doing dishes every day, I like to wash them by hand, but that might not be practical for a big family.  Remember that the system has to work for you.  All told you might have spent 20 minutes today cleaning but in no more than 5 minute increments. 

7 Days to Clean: Day 5 - Laundry Patrol

You may have been raised with the concept of a laundry day, but by the time that day rolls around you might have heaps of laundry and no clean socks.  My maximum capacity is to wash, dry and fold about 2.5 loads of laundry in any given day which means I end up with a pile of laundry left that I don't feel like folding.  Let's fix that!

First thing in the morning:

• Make your bed!
• Swift swipe the bathroom.
• Throw a load of laundry in the wash

When you get home:

• Get your mail
• Throw the clothes in the dryer and while they're drying...
• Sort your mail
• Spend 5 minutes clearing a clutter pile
• Then fold the load of laundry and put it away

If you live alone, doing a load of laundry every day might not be necessary but you could try washing your bedding, rugs, or curtains on a day when you don't have a load of clothes to wash, or just give yourself a day off.  If you have a family you might need to do a little more, but start with one load a day and see how far that gets you. 

7 Days to Clean: Day 4 - Clutter Control

I love Thursdays.  You get to feel like the week is almost over, but you're not yet rushing around to tie things up before the weekend.  Let's get started!

• Make your bed
• Do a swift swipe of the bathroom 

When you get home, sort your mail then grab your kitchen timer and set it for five minutes.  Now it's time to start doing the thing that is going to make the biggest difference in the long run.  Everyday dirt is easy to clean up, even if you skip a few days, but clutter is what we see when we look at a room.  It's what we dread having to clean up.

So we're going hunting!  Look for a pile of clutter, and start the timer.  Spend five minutes throwing out the trash and putting things away.  Today your clutter pile might be a basket of laundry you washed a week ago, or it might be the top of that end table that you haven't seen since Christmas.  Maybe it's the top of your desk or that pile by the front door.  Stick with one clutter magnet until you've eliminated it and move on to the next.  At first, finding visible clutter might be easy but eventually you might start looking out in the garage or in the pantry.

The saying "A place for everything, and everything in its place" applies here.  Think about what belongs in the space you are cleaning and what doesn't.  Move things that don't belong to a place that makes more sense for them.  Hats and scarves should be in a coat closet or hung on a rack.  Maybe it makes more sense to have mail on your desk where you pay your bills than on the table in the dining room.

When the timer goes off, give yourself a pat on the back and put your feet up.  You're done for the day!  At this point you will have spent less than 15 minutes cleaning each day and you should be noticing a difference.  Only a few more days to go and you'll have all the habits you need to keep a happy home without making yourself neurotic.

7 Days to Clean: Hump Day Half Hour of Housework

It's Wednesday, aka Hump Day.  Doing a few minutes of cleaning here and there throughout the day will keep most of your home clean, but some cleaning either doesn't need to be done every day or isn't time efficient to do in small chunks.  Today we're going to do the Hump Day Half Hour of Housework. Use a kitchen timer to time yourself so you don't go over the limit.

1. Dump cleaner in the toilets of each bathroom
2. Spend 10 minutes vacuuming.
3. Spend 10 minutes sweeping or dusting
4. Take the trash out, this should take no more than 5 minutes
5. Scrub the toilets and flush

That's it!  Depending on how messy your house gets you can play around with what you do each week.  Maybe you want to scrub the shower instead of toilets or maybe you don't have any vacuuming to do so you might sweep and mop.  The important thing is not to spend too much time on anyone one thing.

Again, the point isn't to clean everything.  We're not going for floors you can eat off, just hit whatever looks dirtiest.  Chances are you're not doing this stuff every week right now so you'll start to see after a couple of weeks that everything looks cleaner and eventually you'll only be cleaning up last week's dirt.

7 Days to Clean: Day 3 - Get the Mail

So far we've only been doing stuff in the morning.  Now we're going to start doing things in the afternoon as well, to spread out the effort throughout the day.  This morning:

• Make your bed!
• Spend two minutes doing a swift swipe of the bathroom.

When you get back home, check your mail.  You might not be in the habit of doing this every day and usually that means you have a huge pile to sort with when you get around to it.  Not anymore!

Start by sorting the mail in to recycling and things that need to be dealt with.  When it comes to the recycle pile, be cutthroat.  You don't need store fliers for stores you don't go to, you don't need return envelopes for bills you pay online, you don't even need the envelopes the mail came in.  All that should be left is stuff that you need to either file or deal with in some way.  Spend a few minutes to file or respond to the mail you kept as needed. If it's more than you can manage in 5 minutes, feel free to put the rest of the mail aside in a designated spot to handle the next day..  It might take you a few days to get caught up but eventually you'll be able to deal with it all as it comes in.

Don't forget to check for the Hump Day post later today...