Weekend Warrior #65 Cleaning House

Weekend Warrior #65 Cleaning House

It is time. Time for me to get serious about cleaning my house this weekend. Being at home all the time, you would think I had all the time I wanted to clean my house now. Since I don’t like cleaning, this is not the case. However, I can totally appreciate how nice everything is when I am finished, the clean smell, the orderliness of things. I find myself at times doing everything I can to avoid unpleasant tasks. Sometimes doing the bare minimum is all I have in me to do!

On occasion, I get on a roll with cleaning, and I just go at it until I run out of steam. Subsequently, the problem with this method is that it takes time to build up the gumption to start after it is left for too long. Since there are different styles of cleaning, some are popular, and some are effective. I am trying to work on a schedule for cleaning my home, just like I am working on my writing career.

The different methods.

Popular methods of cleaning vary between different sources. I have a home organization challenge I am holding as the gold standard. Toni Hammersley is the creator of A Bowl Full of Lemons, a very useful resource of helpful information for cleaning, organizing and decorating your home.
She has books and printable documents to help you achieve your goals. She has a very active facebook group and I recommend looking it up and joining not just for cleaning, but also for ideas to help you clean and organize. If you are looking for the best spring cleaning challenge out there, this is what you want to check out.

Most importantly, I want to finish it this year. The cleaning I am working on this weekend is actually preparation for the deep clean in this style.

Marie Kondo is currently very popular. If you have seen anything referring to sparking joy, that is her method for decluttering your spaces. For example, it means that when you hold an item and it does not spark joy, you are to let it go. On the other hand, if it does, then you are to keep it. It is an interesting method, which might relate loosely to the Clean Sweep shows which were popular years ago.

Another cleaning method is by the fly lady. For busy people, a few minutes here and there every day will add up to a cleaning routine which requires little upkeep. As a result, in the long run, the maintenance of this method allows for cleaning on the fly. Hence the name for the fly lady.

How does cleaning compare to writing?

The thing is, I am an all or nothing person. I need to be all in, or I don’t bother with a lot of things. Changing how I approach cleaning and writing will be necessary so that I am able to adjust. As a result, I need to schedule blocks of time for each activity because I need to make them a part of every day. In addition, once I am able to manage this, I will create some positive habits to follow.

Realistically, for me, it is easier to think about these things than it is to plan them. In an effort to avoid having to overcome writer’s block, writing on a regular basis will instill the need to write every day. If I need to skip a day, it is not a big deal, as long as I go back and write the following day. This also relates to the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. If you go off the eating plan, you can correct it by going back on plan in three hours. A book is not written in one sitting, and this is something which is helping me with the thought process of a cleaning and writing schedule.

Writing Habits

If I clean for one hour, I should write for one hour. Adapting to working from home is something new to me, and if I start setting up my schedule early in the process, I will develop good habits that will make this plan sustainable. Likewise, exercise and sleep are also important to fit in. Breaks need to be scheduled to be reasonable. A break can be as long as I want it to be. This could be troublesome if it is left to chance. I can be distracted when I am not focusing on the time or what I am supposed to be doing.

If you are new to writing, the habit of five minutes, every day is how to start. For instance, I sit and hammer out on the keys whatever I am writing on when I write. I need to get things going but realize I will never accomplish either goal without making time for other projects.

When I am really in the creativity zone, I can become very involved with projects. It is hard for me to focus, sometimes so when I do, I can lose track of time when I am being creative. This can work against me if I am needing to split my time between different projects. Deadlines are also a concern, for the reason that they will force me to focus on the task I am working on. As a result, other projects are left aside, even if they are just as important to get completed. It is good to have a deadline to encourage me to complete projects.

What is your cleaning schedule like? Do you have a preferred method to share? Please leave a comment so that maybe we can improve upon our own strengths, and eliminate the weak points.