It Can Save You Money And Time In The Long Run
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It may seem a bit odd to relate saving money to a clean household, but you would be surprised to learn the impact one has on the other. When you have a clean, organized household, you'll:
What's your "cleaning" timeframe?
Depending on the amount of "free" time you have, it is important to set a schedule and stick to it. Even if you aren't able to devote entire days to cleaning and reorganizing your home, still take into account the few hours you have here and there, and plan your schedule.
Depending on the number of rooms you have to clean/organize, take it a step at a time regardless if it's one room or 10. Don't overdo it and burn yourself out. You'll never accomplish your goal that way.
Here are a few sample agendas for various time allotments:
A Whole Week Plan
A room a day, finishing each one before moving on to the next
The Weekender Plan
No set time limit, just steady progress from room to room
Two Day "Quickie" Plan
Determine which one to three rooms are most important, or need the most work, and dive right in only coming up for air and lunch.
Let's start the "walk-through"
Once you have a time frame to work with, it's time to do a "walk-through" of the areas/rooms that NEED cleaning. ONLY go through the rooms you have the time to finish according to your schedule.
Take a pen and pad of paper and list exactly what you want to accomplish in each room. In order to keep your notes organized, designate one piece of paper per room . You can even list the tasks per room in some type of "order of importance" so you'll know what to do first, second, third, etc.
Get to work
Before you get started on your tackling your list, get all your cleaning supplies ready: bucket, rags, towels, cleansing liquids, duster, trash bags, gloves, etc. Once you have those items ready, crank up your favorite cd or tune to your favorite radio station and jump right into your first task.
Be effective while working. Remember your list of goals. When you accomplish one of your goals, get ecstatic and cross it off your agenda. It's very important not to let yourself get distracted when cleaning all those nooks and corners. Don't start looking at every picture and trinket you come across. You'll never accomplish your goals that way, and more than likely, your cleaning efforts will be short lived.
Review and revise
Once you finish for the day, review what you have accomplished and check to see if any revisions need to be done to your agenda/schedule. You may find that once you start cleaning one room/area, another idea or obstacle will present itself and you will need to revise your agenda to accommodate the new task. Just be sure to make the adjustments to your written plan so you won't accidentally forget your idea(s) the next cleaning/reorganizing period.
