So, y'all know I perpetually struggle with clutter, disorganization (although I know where everything is and can find it easily, it's not pretty), and overwhelming amounts of fur. If you didn't already know that, I guess you do now. (bows head in embarrassment) Last fall, I started my "clean sweep" project. Then, curveballs flew and not much got done. I'm moving at a snails pace and whatever I did have decluttered and clean is now re-cluttered and not clean.
One of my sisters shared this Yahoo article with me recently. I found some great tips (and have implemented them), but I'd love to hear from YOU. What do YOU really, actually do to keep your house decluttered and clean? Do you have a schedule? Do you do certain things seasonally (like spring cleaning)? Do you just look around and do? How do you stay on top of things?
After you answer those questions, please give me your own personal favorite quick tip. Quick is key. Let me put this into perspective... for the moment and the near future, I work a full-time day job and a part-time 2nd job and my new health priority work outs, so most, if not all, weekdays I'm out of the house from 7:30am until 7pm or so. I work that 2nd job often on Saturdays for 4-8 hours, and every other Sunday we host a friends-get-together at our house. Honestly, Saturday nights, every other week, before those game days, is when the house is at it's cleanest. But I'd love to not have to rush around dusting and vacuuming (a necessary thing with 6 animals, though), cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, hiding the dirty laundry and closing the kids' bedrooms off because they are so chaotic. And recently, closing our own bedroom door because it is so chaotic.
So... tips and tricks on what I can do throughout the week and weekends to get my house clean and organized and KEEP it clean and organized are so very welcome. However... I don't want to give up MY things either... blogging, crafting, sewing, friend fun... and I'd like to find more time to read and write. So...
The challenge has been presented to you:
- What is one thing you do on a regular, scheduled basis to clean/organize? (I really am interested!)
- What is your personal best tip for quick cleaning/organizing? (Please, no more FlyLady... as much as I admire "her", I can't get past the shine your sink tip... it just doesn't work!)
- What suggestions do you have to fit cleaning and organizing around my LIFE?
I didn't get past the 'shine your sink' day either. A shiny sink is sooooo not at the top of my priorities. In any case DH does the washing up not me. I can't help you with any tips because I just ignore it - the mess, the dust, etc
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did vaccuum yesterday but only because my church group was held at my house. So that's probably it for the year now.
I have been decluttering for almost three years now. It is a long slow process. One thing I'm doing that is helping right now is following along with blog challenge at Simple Mom - http://simplemom.net/project-simplify-hot-spot-2-revealed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+simplemom+%28Simple+Mom%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
ReplyDeleteIt is a weekly challenge and we are in week 2 right now. Last week was your personal wardrobe, this week we are tackling paper clutter.
As for daily stuff... do you watch tv? I make it a habit with the family room to use commercial breaks to clean up in there - fold throw blankets that have been tossed on the floor, remove stray dishes and food wrappers, put dropped shoes back in the laundry room. And every morning after the girls leave for school I spend literally about two minutes in there picking up and restoring order. Today I did a quick vacuum before I started yoga. So at least that room (one place in my house) stays relatively clutter free!
FlyLady is just overwhelming. It didn't work for me. Nice to have a shiny sink for a few days, though.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly say that I've cracked it, as I look around me at the piles of accumulated 'stuff' that I need to start sorting out once I've finished on here, but the thing that helps me is just to focus on one small bit at a time. On Saturday, it was 10 minutes sorting through my wardrobe to fill a bag for the charity shop. On Sunday, The Doctor and I managed to free up an hour and went through everything in the garage to create 3 piles of (1) keep, (2) clean up and pass on, (3) get rid of. We're starting to gradually get rid of pile (3) now, then we'll clean up pile (2), then we'll have space to organise pile (1), but it'll take time!
Good luck - we're rooting for you xx