I am always up for a challenge. Well, almost always. But when my husband wrote this on his blog, it sounded worthwhile to me. I am the queen of dragging out my household chores. So when he suggested avoiding Parkinson's Law by making a list of things to do, assigning each task the time it would take to accomplish it, and then cutting that time in half, I took him up on it.
Today in my home is "Master Bedroom Day." Each area in my home has a cleaning day so that every day there is at least ONE area of the house that is spotless. That way when I'm feeling overwhelmed and, well, messy, I can go to this one room and feel like I have a little control. (Yes, the idea is from flylady. If it weren't for the 500 emails they send you a day, I would say the idea was a brilliant one.)
I began by making my list and assigning each task a time limit...
Make bed - 4 minutes
Pick up clothes in closet - 8 minutes (I'm a disaster inside my closet!)
Bathroom (incl. mirrors, counters, sinks & toilet) - 15 minutes
Vacuum - 8 minutes
I skipped the shower and tub today. I HATE cleaning the shower and tub. I'd choose 50 toilets over cleaning a shower.
Then I crossed off the times and wrote my new time beside each task. Cleaning supplies - check. Vacuum - check. Super Why for the kiddos - check. I headed upstairs to do some cleaning with a vengence. Here's my stats ...
Bed - 3 minutes (not bad)
Closet - 3 minutes (even I was surprised!)
Bathroom - 11 minutes (like I said, I skipped the shower)
But wait, what's that I hear??? Crying? Can't stop now, I'm in the zone! They'll be fine.
Vacuuming - 9 minutes (so I was a tad optimistic, but hey, if you don't take your time vacuuming, why bother?)
Total estimated cleaning time - 35 mintues
Actual cleaning time - 26 minutes
Not too shabby. I saved myself a total of 9 minutes. Hmmm. What to do with an extra 9 minutes?!?! Nap? Shower? Clean something else?
I start to head downstairs and -- grrr. I see that I will spend my 9 minutes scrubbing my entire stair rail that is now covered in tiny pen scribbles. I estimate it will only take me 20 minutes.
6 comments:
Skillz in DEED... Nice! Parkinson's Law has nothing over your cat-like speed and reflexes. You're like a cleaning ninja. Well, done M'lady.
(Oh, and thanks for the props... great, now people are gunna read my blog.)
Ha! I totally need to implement this. I need to perfect the art of QUICK cleaning. Like you, by the time I am done with a task I turn around only to find ANOTHER mess has been made. Oh by the way, can I add my 2 toilets to the 50 you would "rather clean"? If you do, I will come and clean your showers.... I pinky PROMISE ;)
You sure do a lot with a baby and three other little ones. I need to do the same thing but I always get sidetracked. Or then I don't "feel" like doing a particular room on the day that I'm supposed to do it. I'm the same way, I hate cleaning tubs and showers, but toilets are no big deal.
Way to go! My goal for myself is to just DO something. I've been slacking since school has been in. Much of my 3 week break will be spent getting my house in order.
Very nice! And good work- that is good time you made there. I so understand the returning to bigger messes as well... Jonas has become king at that.
My technique for fast housecleaning is to procrastinate it until I know I am within an hour of someone coming to my home. I am so panicked, I work like lightening! However, it leads to great humiliation when I have unexpected visitors show up at the door. But honestly, how many times a day can we do the dishes, pick up all the toys, and and straighten the rooms? I could go crazy if I tried to keep it that way constantly. I'll take my occasional humiliation to the daily insanity of trying to keep that up.
Today's goal for me is to be finally caught up on laundry post my morning sickness stage. It has taken three weeks of working hard, but I think I am finally going to have empty laundry bins today!!!
I love this post. This is totally the scenario in our home. Yeah, I got all the dishes done but meanwhile, Avery has toilet papered her room.
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