Spring is upon us and it's that time to tackle the wonderful chore of "Spring Cleaning" (if you haven't done so already).
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:
- Have more time on your hands. Since you won't be
constantly looking for "stuff", and trying to "spot" clean
here and there to post-pone the actual job a little longer.
- Being organized=Sanity. If you live in a mess, your life
may be a bit distraught and out-of-sorts. Why not make a
change?
- Gain a sense of peace and tranquility. Living in a clean
environment relaxes the soul and you'll find yourself actually
wanting to go and spend time in your home once it's clean.
- FINALLY, a clean house is an inspiration to accomplish
other goals. Since you are able to maintain a clean living space,
why stop there? Start tackling those other goals you have.
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 ten. 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 1-3 rooms are most important, or need the
most work, and dive right in only coming up for air and lunch ;-)
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.
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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 accidently forget your
idea(s) the next cleaning/reorganizing period.
Best of luck with your Spring Cleaning!!!
Copyright 2005 -- by Gregory Thomas, editor of
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