This is a guest article from Dianne Levy, our Web designer. We like it so much, we ran this in August and are including it again for September. She swears she "never" cleans house, yet her house is always clean. She says she does not care if people just stop by 'cause the house is always ready for company. How does she do this?
Dianne's Tips
Keeping your home clean is nothing more than time management skills, which may be innate in my case, or I may have developed out of necessity from living in small spaces much of my life and juggling jobs, ongoing education, kids, volunteer work, art projects, and commutes.
The basic tip: I clean as I go. Nothing, absolutely nothing is left anywhere to be revisited to "deal with." I don't have time. Neither do you. Example: When changing clothes, either immediately hang up those you are removing, or throw them into a cleaning or wash basket. When you finish reading a book, it goes back on the book shelf. When meals are finished, the dishes are done immediately. If you are walking from one room to another and if something was left in the wrong place, take it with you. Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.
An obsessive friend who had a large family actually labelled various shelves, especially in her kitchen. No one was ever confused about what went where and they never had down time while trying to find something. While I thought it a bit overboard, it worked beautifully. Her family had time to play.
Once a system is in place, household inhabitants can finish this task speedily. Why take all day scrubbing when you can be out the door to more enjoyable endeavors? Here are some tips for being a speedy cleaner -- some are my own and some were culled from eZine:
TIMER: Choose a timeslot and set the timer for one hour or two -- whatever you need. Knowing that once the buzzer dings, you will be off the hook will help you get through it. I also recommend selecting a specific day -- I used to clean Thursday nights after work so I could enjoy Friday through Sunday with family, friends, or on my own working on art projects such as the pen-and-ink illustration of a hummingbird above.
MUSIC: This is key. Some years ago, I painted a living room to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." It went quickly, I had fun. My family thought I was nuts. But they did like the result and they didn't have to do anything at all. (It's great driving music, too.) Whatever you choose, make sure it's one that gets you dancing around your home 'cause you'll clean faster, have fun, and even lose weight in the process.
HOUSEMATES: Everyone should have a task, no questions asked. A friend who has taken in housemates to help cover her mortgage has a list on the refrigerator. Nothing is up for discussion -- the weekly duties are there and the day they are to be done. Someone suggested dividing up the rooms and having a race, which seems like a good idea. Put on the music and get to it! The winner gets to choose where you go for dinner or gets a backrub.
ORGANIZE CLEANSERS: Set up your cleaning supplies so you never had to look for anything . . . put them in a caddy: window cleaner, feather duster, furniture polish, cleanser, rags. This alone will save hours of searching during the month.
TRASH BAG(s): Carry around two large bags: One for trash so you can take it directly to the garbage bin and another to be used as your donation bag -- anything collecting dust that you have not used in 365 days (which allows for holiday ornaments), you don't need. This will keep you from being featured on TV's "Hoarders."
METHODICAL CLEANING: No tracing steps. If you have all your supplies, it will be easy.
FOR THE HEAVY STUFF: Call We Clean 123 at 415 331 2111. They will take care of your windows, gutters, and heavier maintenance that is beyond the scope of most homeowners.
