Cleaning....

With so many people visiting friends and family for the holidays, I thought this would be a good time for this post!

There are people in the world who love to clean. I am not one of those people. This post is not for those people. It's for the rest of us who would rather (and often do) procrastinate and wait until something like the threat of visitors makes us clean. When I do this I find myself frantically cleaning every nook and cranny, afraid that my guests will be able to see that I haven't been diligent in my housework. Then when my guests do arrive (usual just moments after I have finished my marathon cleaning) I am exhausted. This happened 6 months ago and I decided that it had to be the last time. So this post is about how I changed my cleaning habits.

First off, it was not an easy change and is still ongoing. I am not a perfect cleaning robot so from time to time I slip up, but my habits are getting better. Here is how I did it:


I first made a conscious decision to change. I promised myself that I would strive to change my habits and keep a cleaner home, though I knew it would not always be easy.


I did a little research. I looked at blogs, articles, and talked to friends and family to see what helped others.


I then tried different methods to see what worked for me. I kept the ones that did, and threw out the ones that didn't.


Some of the methods that I kept: 

•  Set a timer! This helps me when I don't feel like cleaning. I set a timer for 15 minutes and clean until it goes off. If I don't feel like stopping then I keep going until I do but I never quit before that timer goes off. You will be amazed at how much you can get done in just 15 minutes.
• Music. Lots of articles, and blogs mentioned playing music while cleaning. While I do think music helps tremendously, I found that it works especially well when I am excited about a new song or album I have downloaded. 
• I think about how nice it will be to have friends over and enjoy their company instead of worrying about how I should have done the dishes or whether there are any clothes on the floor in the bathroom.
• Along the same line, I think about unexpected visitors. I don't want terror striking my heart when I see an unexpected guest at the door. I don't want to run around furiously cleaning as many things as I can. 
• Set a routine. I use to-do lists on my phone to track what chores I'm supposed to do when. It's satisfying to check items off of a to-do list.
• Be flexible. While I have a routine, I use it as a guideline: if I'm supposed to vacuum but I feel like dusting, I dust. 
• Rewards. It may sound childish, but on days when I really need some motivation I sometimes treat myself to a reward after I finish cleaning. I get something small, like a $4 bouquet from the grocery store or a new bottle of nail polish.   

Except for the dress, heels, apron, and posing grin, this is what I look like when I clean.

Here is a link to the image above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uppityrib/3852464078/