One of my favorite ways to motivate myself to clean is by breaking up tasks so that they are not so daunting. I have decided that I am going to adopt a strict regiment of doing one thing in each room each day. It may not sound like much but here is how it works. On days I am working, subbing and going to school, I will only have the pressure of doing on chore in each room at some point after I wake up and before I go to bed. On days I am home for 4 and a half hours, I will do a circuit of cleaning followed by a short break and then another circuit.
I AM NO LONGER GOING TO BEAT MYSELF UP FOR NOT GETTING ENOUGH DONE! If I am able to do one thing in each room each day, I will have done seven things in each room by the end of one week.
Today I am home and I was able to circuit through the rooms 3 times. I cleaned the sink, toilet and tub, folded and put away a load of laundry and took two bags of clothing out of my dresser and the kids dressers to donate. I started putting away some of the laundry (and I now have room for the laundry to go) and I made all of the beds. I took all of the toys out of the living room, folded all of the blankets that were all over the floors and beds and the couch. (I think there were 10!) I started dinner in the crockpot and even started my blog. If I could accomplish that much each day for the next two weeks, I know I will be able to start my semester without stress or frustration.
An additional step in this plan is that each family member is going to get one chore to complete each day. It sounds a bit pathetic, but I am so overwhelmed (and I am a control freak too!) that I don't make my kids do much. I want things done the right way and I know that it is overwhelming for them to walk into their rooms and wonder where to start.
Tonight my son will be working on recycling old school papers he has left on his floor and my daughter will be cleaning up dirty pj's and clothes she has left on the floor. It's garbage night and the cans are overflowing because of the holiday, so my husband is already planning on that for his chore.
I feel motivated and excited.
If someone is reading this, I hope you feel a little support from me if you feel the same way about chores. I'll be posting more tomorrow!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Blogging Begins
Maybe no one will ever read this blog, but I feel it will provide me with a chance to vent about how much I despise a messy house and I hate cleaning it. I have played many games in the past to motivate myself to clean. Using timers, apps and systems, I have tried to get a handle on my housework for years. I have a husband and two children and it seems the minute I accomplish something it gets undone. Things I love to do get pushed away because of the guilt I feel about my house. I am not a candidate for the show Hoarders. In fact, I love to get rid of things that I don't use or don't love. I think it is just a matter of motivation. I am a graduate student and I work as a substitute teacher. I never know if I will be working on a given day or find myself with a day to do chores. It makes it very difficult. During the school semester, most of my time is taken up doing homework.
My free time to do chores on my day off is between 9:30 and 2. I get back to the house from dropping my daughter off at 9:30 and I have to leave around 2 to get my son from school. After I drop him off at home I have to go get my daughter and go to work at an after school care facility. Once I am home it's dinner, homework and bedtime.
I haven't been sleeping well lately. I might as well say that there is an elusive spider in my room that seems to only attack me. I sleep on the couch most nights but I cannot get a restful nights sleep. So, it is very difficult for me to be motivated to clean during the few hours I have free to do so.
The weekends are very busy as well and it always seems my husband and I are marathon cleaning and we are both angry with the other for the mess.
I have a new plan that I hope will help bring peace and cleanliness to my home, prepare me for my upcoming semester and help to teach my children, as I learn, how to keep up with daily needs of a house, so that they never have to dig themselves out of a cluttered home.
My free time to do chores on my day off is between 9:30 and 2. I get back to the house from dropping my daughter off at 9:30 and I have to leave around 2 to get my son from school. After I drop him off at home I have to go get my daughter and go to work at an after school care facility. Once I am home it's dinner, homework and bedtime.
I haven't been sleeping well lately. I might as well say that there is an elusive spider in my room that seems to only attack me. I sleep on the couch most nights but I cannot get a restful nights sleep. So, it is very difficult for me to be motivated to clean during the few hours I have free to do so.
The weekends are very busy as well and it always seems my husband and I are marathon cleaning and we are both angry with the other for the mess.
I have a new plan that I hope will help bring peace and cleanliness to my home, prepare me for my upcoming semester and help to teach my children, as I learn, how to keep up with daily needs of a house, so that they never have to dig themselves out of a cluttered home.
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