How-Tuesday: Cleaning Routines

Hello, everyone! I'm excited about participating in this blog and was really excited when Katie asked me to help her. I get asked all the time about my cleaning routine, from people I know in real life to people I know through Internet forums. My routine is one that I developed over several years. I took my initial inspiration from Flylady, and then I adapted her basic concept into a routine that would better fit my own life. There are a few issues I take with Flylady's system, so I knew I needed to alter it a bit. Now I have a system that works fabulously for me, and I'm able to very easily keep my home clean with very minimal effort when I stick to my list.

The concept is simple: deep clean one room or area of your home each day. How you divide it up should be determined by how large your house is. When I first started my list, we were renting a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. We only had 5 rooms to clean, so I had my list set up to where I only deep cleaned one room each day. Now we own a much larger home, so I clean one area each day, which breaks down to 2-3 rooms on average. For example, on Mondays I deep clean the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and pantry. Our floorplan is really open, so all of these spaces naturally flow together. Thursdays I clean both bathrooms (kids' and master). I do the master bathroom on a separate day from the master bedroom simply because that way I only have to get out the cleaning supplies once and get it all done in one shot. Divide it up however is easiest for you, but try and create a list that allows you to streamline your chores. Group like things together, like doing all bathrooms on the same day, mopping all floors on the same day, etc.

One more tip before I post my actual list. I found this idea on a blog several months ago and thought it was beyond brilliant. This woman took her cleaning list and put it in a picture frame that she set up on her counter. I modified it just a bit and hung it on a wall near my kitchen instead (I hate clutter on the counters). I pass by this list a trillion times per day, so it's always in my face, reminding me to clean. And the real bonus is that it easily lets me see what I've done off my list and what I have yet to do. I just use a whiteboard marker to put a check mark in the box next to each chore as I accomplish it, then I erase it when the week is over and start again the next week. It's fabulous. At the bottom of my list, I left a few blank spaces for me to fill in whatever random stuff I need to do (go to the post office, do some household project, whatever).

So, here's my list:

It looks really overwhelming, I know. And it is at first. If your house is pretty disorganized to begin with, it'll be pretty brutal getting it under control. But stick it out because if you keep at it, by probably the second week you will be spending much less time cleaning and have a cleaner home to show for it.

Now, this is just my deep cleaning list. Along with the deep cleaning for that day, I also always do general upkeep on the house, such as dishes, laundry, picking up toys, etc. But from start to finish, ALL the daily chores and deep cleaning will take me about 2 hours max when I stick to this list. It's really great!

Flylady, in practice

So Flylady has this whole routine, morning, afternoon, and evening. If her views on cleaning resonate with you, it's worth a look into her routine. But she's just really sharing what works for HER, and really encourages you to do what works for YOU. After much trial and error with different parts of her system, I've settled into something that works pretty well for me.

I posted my daily cleaning routine a few months ago, in THIS post. As you can see, it's pretty simple. Nothing compared to Flylady's. I would cry if I was facing that routine every day! But these are the parts of my daily routine that were inspired by Flylady.

* Having a cleaning routine. This is one thing that has helped me to stop seeing the house as a huge undone list of chores. When I start stressing out about a messy cabinet in the bathroom, I just stop, and make a note to tackle that job on Wednesday (my day to deep-clean bathrooms). I know that I'll get there, I'll do that room. It doesn't have to be now. Just knowing that it will happen on Wednesday if I don't get to it sooner calms me down immediately. It also helps me feel productive. Can I ever check "Clean Kitchen" off my mental list? No, it is perpetually messy and getting messier throughout the day every day. But I can cross off "15 minutes in Kitchen" and feel like I actually accomplished the task at hand, and it will still be done at the end of the day.

* Getting dressed to the shoes. This is a must for me, every single day. I can't get anything done when I'm in my pajamas, and I just feel better when I look in the mirror, like I can take on more of my life. And I like being able to walk out the door for an impromptu lunch date or trip to the park with friends.

* A load of laundry a day. This is one of the absolutes of my cleaning routine. It's very do-able, and everyone has clothes when they need them, without piles of laundry all over.

* A shiny kitchen sink when I go to bed. And I'll add to this, the sound of the dishwasher running. I love going to bed knowing I have a clean kitchen, and I love waking up to a clean kitchen.

* Fifteen minutes of cleaning. Flylady is all about 15-minute cleaning sessions. If you've never tried it, you would be AMAZED at what you can accomplish in 15 minutes. In fact, once when I asked my mom what she wished she'd known as a young mother, she said, "The power of fifteen minutes of cleaning." Try it, seriously. Go into the room that bugs you the most, set a timer, and start with the job that bugs you the most.

* The idea of "zones." In my routine, I spend (in theory) 15 minutes a day deep cleaning or decluttering one zone of my house. Monday is Master Bedroom, Tuesday is Kitchen, Wednesday is Bathrooms, Thursday is Kids' Rooms, Friday is Living Room/Hall, and Saturday is Yard/Garage. I would LOVE to get to a point where I did my "regular" chores more, well, regularly, and I could really use this time to focus on the deep-cleaning and decluttering. I'll get there. I'm trying.

I'm slightly embarrassed by how emotionally high-strung I seem to be reading over these Flylady posts. I hope I'm not coming off that way. I actually consider myself a pretty mellow person. It's just that there's a lot of baggage that goes along with keeping a house clean, so much that it seems like it represents about you as a wife and mother. I admit my transition to a stay-at-home-mom was a rocky one. I chose my profession because I loved it and I was great at it. Staying home and raising kids and keeping my house clean.... I do it because I feel like it's the right thing for our family right now, but I do NOT feel particularly talented in this arena, and that's been hard for me. The thoughts and theories of Flylady have really helped me in this area, and hopefully all my blathering about my soul-searching can help someone else as well.

But enough about me. Have you ever tried Flylady? Did anything about the routine stick? What do you like and dislike?

Flylady, in theory

I've been asked a few times about the Flylady system, and to what extent I follow it. I wanted to talk a little bit about this system because I really do owe my (usually) relatively clean house to her. Today I'll sort of give an overview of her theories and why it's a good match for me, and then tomorrow I'll talk about her program and which parts I actually do.

If you're not familiar with Flylady, her website is HERE. She emphasizes letting go of perfectionism in house cleaning, and not being hard on ourselves when it can't be perfect. She also introduced me to the concept of cleaning with a timer, and the power of short bursts of cleaning.

I'll start you out with a story. As a young married, my house was usually always messy. I'm messy. So is my husband. But I hate the mess. And him? Not really so much. So I'm walking around our house with him, trying to get him to see what I see. I remember telling him, "And when I walk into the kitchen, all I see are those dirty dishes and a floor that needs to be mopped. And here in our bedroom, all I can see are those gross baseboards! When I look into our bathroom, I see toothpaste spatters all over our mirrors!" Naively expecting him to suddenly awaken to the filth around us and apologize for his lack of participation in our household chores, I was stopped in my tracks when he said simply and softly, "I'm sorry that's how you see our home."

I think that anyone who has ever lived with another person knows that "clean" is a relative term. One person can look at a kitchen and pronouce it perfectly clean, while another would still be scrubbing down surfaces for hours. And my husband? Truly doesn't see it. He honestly doesn't. He sees our home in terms of the beautiful family that lives here, not in terms of chores still undone. So how did that change me? It's not either "clean" or "not clean." It's a home. And I had to make my peace with imperfection in order to maintain my sanity.

Of course it's different for everyone. I assume that for some people cleanliness comes more naturally, and the perfectly clean home comes without those feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated by the task at hand. Others are fine with messiness, and focus their attention on children, hobbies, and more worthwhile pursuits than baseboards (How many times have I mentioned baseboards? Can you tell mine just haunt me?). And then there's me, and probably millions like me. I want my house to be clean, but the concept is overwhelming to me, and frustrating, and it makes me not even want to start because I don't have the time or energy to do it right.

And so began my love affair with Flylady. If you haven't read her website, check it out. It all starts with a shiny kitchen sink...