Take Small Bites and Chew Slowly.

I'm mostly a Saturday morning housecleaner. Sure, I'll do laundry or straightening throughout the week, but the heavier cleaning is always on Saturday mornings. Since I was gone for several weeks, I have a LOT to clean tomorrow morning! I remember when the whole idea of "House Cleaning" was so overwhelming and I would do anything to avoid it. But since I hated living in a chaotic environment, I had to figure it out. Maybe I'm the only one in the whole world who feels overwhelmed with housekeeping or even any big project, or maybe I'm part of a very big club. Regardless, I feel compelled to share some of my hints to avoid overwhelm. I think this system will work for almost any large project.

During the week, I set the timer for 20 minutes. I just do overall straightening. I pickup anything that doesn't belong in a room, putting it in a laundry basket until the room is picked up. I move onto the next room until everything is put away. If I don't have a place to put every single thing I own, I either create a place or look very seriously at storing it (if I love it and feel sentimental about it) or giving it to someone who would appreciate and use it. When the timer goes off, either I'm so involved in what I'm doing, I can't imagine stopping right then or I know that I'm finished. In the bedrooms, I use small round laundry baskets that store just the amount of one load of laundry. I keep one for whites and one for darks. When that basket fills, I know that I can take it down (already sorted!) and run that load.

On Saturday mornings, I set the timer for 1 hour. I start in the kitchen and clean the counters, empty/load the dishwasher, clean the countertops, stovetop, microwave. After everything is wiped down, I straighten and organize the fridge. I sweep the kitchen floor, vacuum the rug and then mop. I then dust and do all the floors, to include the stairs. Usually about then I reset the timer and clean the bathrooms, which I do quickly in this order - mirrors/counter/sink/toilet/floor, take out trash. I don't clean the shower or bathtub every week and usually I try to get Ron or one of the boys to do it. :-)

One other hint I encourage is to use your children. When my kids were younger, I would have one follow me around so they could help. They should have their own responsibilities and when they're really young, they can do simple things like putting shoes away. I don't remember a time when my boys didn't have a spreadsheet of chores for every week. Course, when they were younger, the spreadsheets were cute and creative, but as they grew, the spreadsheets got more plain. Rewards work! Some people I've talked to believe that kids should learn responsibility without reward. But I don't live in that SUGAR-COATED CANDYLAND! I need rewards and I like to reward myself with quiet time, reading or making jewelry or cards or watching a movie. I do feel somewhat rewarded by just having a house that's neat and clean, too.

What I like best about my system so far is that I break everything down so much that I don't feel overwhelmed. But every system can be bettered. If you do something that works for you, please share!!